Basque burnt cheesecake: a scorched top, a creamy centre, no base
The cheesecake from San Sebastián that conquered Polish cafés in a few years: cream cheese, sugar, eggs, cream and a little flour, poured into a tin lined with crumpled paper and put into a very hot oven. The top scorches nearly black while the centre stays as creamy as custard. Everything you were taught about classic cheesecake is reversed here: high heat, no water bath, cracks welcome.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Batter 15 min
- Baking 45 min
- Cooling 120 min
- Chilling 240 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneLine the tin with crumpled paper
Heat the oven to 220 °C. Dampen two large sheets of baking paper slightly, crumple into a ball, smooth out and press into a 22 cm springform so the paper rises 5 cm above the rim. The folds are deliberate: they give the characteristic wrinkled sides and nothing needs greasing.
Crumpled, dampened, well above the rimBeat the cream cheese with sugar
Beat the room-temperature cream cheese with the sugar, vanilla sugar and salt on the mixer's lowest speed or with a spatula, 2 minutes, only until smooth. Don't aerate: air bubbles puff the cake in the oven and it then sinks unevenly.
Ingredients: 900 g full-fat cream cheese · 200 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs · 300 ml whipping cream (30%) · 25 g plain flour · 1 tbsp vanilla sugar · ½ tsp salt
TipCold cream cheese leaves lumps that can't be beaten out later. Take it out of the fridge 2 hours ahead, with the eggs.
Smooth, low speed, no foamAdd the eggs one at a time
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each only until absorbed, ten or so seconds. Scrape down the bowl between eggs.
One at a time, until absorbedCream and flour
Pour in the cream and mix. Sift the flour over the bowl and fold in with a spatula until no lumps remain. The batter is pourable and smooth, like thick cream. Pour into the tin and tap the tin on the counter a few times to release bubbles.
TipThe eggs give this cheesecake its structure; the two tablespoons of flour only stabilise it, so it slices better and the centre doesn't ooze away. More flour makes it dense and dry.
A pourable batter; tap the tin on the counterBake hot
Bake on the middle shelf at 220 °C for 40–45 minutes. The top should be deep brown, nearly black in places, and the cake risen well above the tin. The centre should wobble clearly when shaken, like jelly: that is the sign it is done. If the top is still pale after 35 minutes, switch to 240 °C for the last 10.
TipA wobbling centre is alarming the first time, but the cake finishes setting over the hours of cooling. Taken out 'to be sure', it will be dry and grainy.
Dark top, risen high, centre wobblingCool and chill
Leave in the tin on a rack 2 hours; the cake sinks and wrinkles, as it should. Then refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Serve lightly chilled, not ice-cold: take it out half an hour before cutting. Cut with a knife dipped in hot water. Keeps 4 days in the fridge.
Sunk, wrinkled, into the fridge
Before you start
A runnier centre
Bake 35 minutes instead of 45 and serve at room temperature: the centre flows like a cream, as in many San Sebastián bars. The eggs in the centre are then less set, so don't serve this version to small children, pregnant women or the elderly.
With Polish curd cheese
Half cream cheese, half finely ground curd cheese: less rich, more cheesecake-like in flavour, baked the same way.
Top too pale or too dark
Ovens can differ by as much as 20 degrees. Pale after 45 minutes: 230 °C next time. Black after 30: 200 °C and 5 minutes longer. The cake itself will be good either way.
