life with tuyen

How to make a soft, creamy, goey burnt basque cheesecake

This Burnt basque cheesecake took me wayyyy too many tries to figure out. One of the reasons why this took so long was I actually was really particular about my cheese texture lol. After many trials, different types of cheeses, and too many eaten cheesecake slices, I finally got down my ideal basque cheesecake: smooth, goey, creamy, sweet, carmelized.

I actually went down a San Sebastian cheesecake rabbit hole and found that the OG burnt basque cheesecake actually contained CHEESE CHEESE (closes thing we have to it is actually Manchego cheese)– how interesting! Perhaps my next quest.

Mini Burnt Basque Cheesecake:

• 1 block of cream cheese, 8oz, room temp
• 1 large egg, room temp
• 1/4 cup of sugar 
• 3 tbsp of heavy cream
• 1 tbsp of sour cream 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 1/2 tsp corn starch*
• good pinch of salt

• Preheat your oven to 480F
• Mix together your room temp cream cheese and sugar until smooth, try not to incorporate too much air in the batter
• once smooth and creamy, add in your room temp egg and vanilla extract and mix until smooth
• separately mix together your heavy cream and sour cream until smooth, then add into the rest of your cheesecake batter
• sift in your corn starch and mix until everything is incorporated
• OPTIONAL: POUR BATTER THROUGH SIEVE BEFORE POURING INTO BATTER LINED BAKING PAN– this will ensure everything is smooth and creamy once baked
• BAKE FOR 13 MINUTES AT 480F, BROIL IF NEEDED FOR AN EXTRA 1 MINUTE
• CHEESECAKE SHOULD BE extremely giggly coming out of the oven!! (like uncomfortably giggly… trust the process)
• let it cool outside for 30 minutes to 1 hr before placing in the fridge for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight)
• before eating, take the cheesecake out and let it come to room temp for ~30 minutes before slicing to get the perfect creamy texture

IMPORTANT TIPS AND TRICKS:

• INGREDIENT TEMP: CREAM CHEESE AND EGGS SHOULD BE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE, THIS WILL HELP WITH MAKING SURE THE FINAL CHEESECAKE IS SMOOTH AND CREAMY (AND NOT LUMPY)
  • ROOM TEMP CREAM CHEESE HACK: CUT INTO SMALL CUBES AND PLACE IN MICROWAVE FOR 10 TO 15 SECONDS INTERVALS, MIX AFTER EVERY INTERVAL UNTIL just barely soft!! don’t overdo it or you’ll end up with warm cream cheese!!
  • ROOM TEMP EGG HACK: PLACE EGG(S) INTO WARM WATER AND LET IT SIT FOR 5 MINUTES BEFORE USING
• CORN STARCH VS FLOUR: CORN STARCH TYPICALLY GIVES MORE OF A SILKY TEXTURE WHILE FLOUR MIGHT GIVE A MORE FIRM TEXTURE, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND USE FLOUR IF THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE ON HAND (1 TSP FLOUR)
• sour cream: most regular burnt basque cheesecake does not have sour cream. however, after recipe testing a few times I found that i love the tiny bit of tang that it provides, reminiscent to typical new york style cheesecake (but not as strong obviously) so i added a small amount!
• mixing: be careful not to OVER MIX OR INCORPORATE TOO MUCH AIR INTO YOUR BATTER!! mix until just combined or necessary
• baking pan: my baking pan size for this mini cheesecake is 4inches, make sure to line it with crumbled up parchment paper that folds over– having parchment paper that sticks up will prevent the burnt caramelized top from developing and toasting as well
• BAKING TEMP: IF BAKING IN A SMALL TOASTER OVEN, PLACE YOUR RACK CLOSER TO THE TOP OF THE OVEN while baking SO YOU’RE ABLE TO easily get a burnt caramelized top
• CHEESECAKE SHOULD BE extremely giggly coming out of the oven!! (like uncomfortably giggly… trust the process)
• chill time: ideal chill time is OVERNIGHT TO A DAY! IT’LL HELP THE FLAVORS DEVELOP BUT I’M OBVIOUSLY IMPATIENT SO another hack I LIKE TO do is to BAKE my cheesecake BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP AND SO I CAN WAKE UP AND JUST ENJOY MY dessert LOL
• slicing: to get a perfect smooth slice, heat up your knife over your stove top for ~10 seconds on each side, wipe clean in between each slice

okok, lots of extra notes, tips and tricks but each one was so important to get a good burnt basque cheesecake– especially texture wise! let me know if you guys try 🙂

perhaps i’ll look into a brown sugar burnt basque cheesecake next!

love,

tuyen 🍓