Burnt Basque Cheesecake

Although the name makes it sound like it has a long history, Basque Cheesecake was created in 1990 by chef Santiago Rivera of La Viña in San Sebastian, Spain. According to interviews, Rivera was looking to add a dessert menu to his Pintxos restaurant after taking it over from his parents and settled on a custardy cheesecake.

The original recipe from La Viña contains just 5 ingredients: Cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, eggs, and flour. I personally like to add some vanilla bean paste to the batter, but you can leave it out if you want something closer to the original. I also add a pinch of salt, depending on the type of cream cheese I use.

It’s widely thought that Rivera uses Philadelphia, but in 1990, when this cake was created, it’s more likely that he was using a Spanish brand of cream cheese such as San Millan. I’ve never tasted San Millan, so I can’t say what the differences are in taste, but what I can say from comparing nutrition labels, is that San Millan has two and a half times the amount of salt as Philly, and it contains about 40% less fat.
All that being said, I’ve made this using Philadelphia as well as Kiri (French brand), they’re both delicious (though I think I prefer using Kiri). If you do go with Philadelphia, I recommend adding a pinch of salt.

By the subjective standards of cheesecake, Basque Cheesecake is burnt, but it is not cooked so long that the top turns to carbon. There are two non-enzymatic browning reactions happening here. The first is the caramelization of the sugar, which creates aromatic compounds such as Diacetyl and Maltol, which give the top the flavor of caramel. The second is Maillard browning, which is a reaction between the proteins in the cream cheese and sugars, which not only creates additional flavor compounds; it also creates the taste of umami. This is why the seemingly burnt layer on top tastes so good.

Every recipe seems to have their own way of combing the ingredients, but I’ve found that the easiest way is to throw all the ingredients into a blender and spin it. The only slight drawback of this technique is that it introduces air bubbles to the mixture, which is why I usually let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes before I pour it into the pan.

Time and temperature are the most important parts of this recipe, but unfortunately, the answer isn’t clear cut. The goal here is to get a burnt hue that’s just shy of carbon black before the center of the cake is fully set. This is what creates that magical contrast of the cake-like sides, caramelized top, and custardy center. If the temperature is too low, the cake fully cooks before the top takes on enough color, and if the temperature is too high, the top will turn to carbon before the center has a chance to thicken to the desired consistency.
In my convection oven, I bake it at 230 degrees C (about 450 F) for 22 minutes. Unless you’ve had yours recently calibrated, the thermostat on most ovens is off by a significant margin. Additionally, the airflow passing through the oven has an impact on how quickly the cake cooks. If you have a convection oven, you can use my temperature and timing as a starting point, but you may need to make some adjustments in subsequent batches, depending on how it turns out. If the cake is too firm in the center, turn up the heat and bake it for a shorter time. If the cake is too runny in the center, turn down the heat and bake it for a longer time.
If you don’t have a convection oven (i.e., there’s no fan moving the air around), I’d recommend going with the high-temperature something closer to 250 C (480 F).

The time for baking this cheesecake is tied to your oven setup, so the goal should be to get a very dark brown top, that’s just shy of being carbon black on top. In my convection oven set to 230 C, this took 22 minutes, but the time will vary, depending on your setup. Read the section above for more details.

I’m using a 6-inch x 2.5-inch cake pan with a removable bottom. There are a couple reasons for this. The first is that a small deeper pan makes it easier to burn the top without overcooking the center. The second reason is that for the size of parchment paper I have, anything wider would require two overlapping sheets of parchment paper, which would be prone to leaking.
The removable bottom is not necessary, but I find it makes it much easier to get the parchment paper molded to the shape of the pan because you can use the bottom to press the paper into the pan. Then, after you have the sides of the paper creased to fit the pan, you can put the bottom back onto the pan, and the paper should fit perfectly into the pan.

Yes! While it’s delicious served hot, if you’ve baked it for the right amount of time, the center will still be runny when warm, which means you’ll need to eat it straight out of the pan with a spoon. By covering and refrigerating the cake overnight, it gives the center a chance to firm up enough so that you can slice it.