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Basque Cheesecake

Amarula No-bake Cheesecake is a traditional Spanish recipe (from the Basque region) for a classic crustless baked cheesecake of cream cheese, eggs and crème fraîche, that's baked until the top is well caramelised (which is why it's sometimes called Basque Burnt Cheesecake). The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Spanish version of: Basque Cheesecake.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

55 minutes

Serves:

6–8

Rating:

Tags : Cheese RecipesCake RecipesSpain Recipes

This crustless cheesecake makes an excellent dessert centrepiece for Christmas or Easter but is so simple to make. The cake itself comes from the Basque region of Spain, San Sebastián to be exact. It is not, however, traditional, having been invented in 1990 by Santiago Rivera of the La Viña restaurant. Rivera himself is not fussy about the recipe and when you first cook it you might well be forgiven for thinking that something has gone wrong as it emerges from the oven looking almost burnt. But don’t worry all is well… Now, Rivera himself uses no flour or other thickener; which is fine if you make it on the day and eat it all at one sitting. However, if you are storing it in the fridge for a few days its best to add some flour or cornflour (cornstarch) otherwise the cheesecake will turn weepy.

I’m not a big fan of sweet things (neither is my wife) so I use 150g of sugar only in this recipe. That makes the cheesecake almost savoury. However, if you like it sweeter you can use up to 350g sugar (it’s all a matter of preference). The milk ingredients can also vary. The basis of this is cream cheese. I typically use Paysan Breton but you can even use Philadelphia but add a generous pinch of salt as Philadelphia is less salty than most traditional cream cheeses. Double cream and soured cream are also typical, though I have used crème fraiche in this version.

As for additional flavourings… you don’t need any though I have added lemon zest and sweet sherry in this festive version (you can omit them with no real detriment). This version uses whole eggs, but if you want a richer cheesecake substitute two of the whole eggs for four egg yolks.

Ingredients:

700g (2 2/5 cups) cream cheese, at room temperature (or you can use my home-made cream cheese recipe to prepare your own)
350g (1 ½ cups) crème fraîche, at room temperature
300g caster sugar
½ tsp sea salt (optional)
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
4 tbsp sweet sherry (optional)
5 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), or plain flour

Method:

Grease and line a deep, 20cm cake tin with baking paper, so the paper comes up at least 2cm above the top of the rim, lay in a second sheet of paper at right angles, and weigh down the paper with a bowl, if need be. Note that you really need a deep cake tin for this recipe, Victoria sponge tins or similar simply won’t work.

Turn the cream cheese into a large bowl, food processor or food mixer, and beat or whizz on a low speed until soft and spreadable. Add the crème fraîche and beat together until evenly combined. Add the sugar, lemon zest, sherry and salt and once again beat until evenly combined. Finally, beat in the eggs one by one, scraping down the walls of the bowl as you go, until they’re thoroughly mixed in.

Put the cornflour (cornstarch) in a small bowl, whisk to break up any lumps, then beat in a spoonful of the batter until thoroughly mixed in. Pour the cornflour mix into the big bowl of batter and stir to
combine.

Pour the cake mix into the lined tin (if need be, remove the bowl weighing down the paper first), smooth the top, then pick up the tin and drop it a couple of times on a work surface to knock out any air bubbles.

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 230C (210C fan/450F/gas mark 8) and bake for 30 minutes, after this time you need keep your eye on the cheesecake as it can vary drastically in the time it took to finish baking (for example, mine in a conventional electric oven took about 45 minutes in all), as the cheesecake is ready when the top is deeply brown and, more importantly, the middle is still wobbly and liquid; you’ll think it will never set, but it will as it cools. The internal temperature should be at least 60C.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool, before using the paper to help lift the cake out of its tin (personally, I think it’s nicest served still slightly warm on the day it’s baked, but if you’d like to cut it into neat slices, you may prefer to refrigerate it for several hours prior to serving).