It’s been a while since I did some recipe development and recipe writing. I have been quite busy this month as I usually am around this time of year because my birthday is mid-October, two weeks later it’s my fiancés birthday, and two weeks after that it’s our anniversary. Time especially flies by during this time, even more so now because of COVID and the weird perception of time that’s askew ever since the pandemic started. Everyday my emotions still bounce from giddiness to hopelessness as I think about how lucky I am to be where I am right now, then my thoughts will do that thing where it stumbles over to “things will never be the same — restaurants, social gatherings, travelling, are all impossible and dangerous, there isn’t anything to look forward to”, etc, etc, down the dark hole. Rinse and repeat. Being in the moment is harder than ever and yet so much more rewarding when it happens. These days my fiancé and I are trying to take it day by day, meeting every weekend, and working on ourselves as the days go by. This week I’ve decided to get back into some recipe writing with a very simple yet slightly controversial basque burnt cheesecake.
As I’ve mentioned before in my pumpkin spice basque burnt cheesecake recipe, these types of cheesecakes are so unique because they’re full of imperfections, and they’re the complete opposite of the standard New York style cheesecake. It’s got a burnt crust, cracks all along the edges, no graham crust, it’s baked high and fast, and requires no water bath. It sounds amazing. The end result is a cheesecake that yields a more custardy, fluffy, lighter, airy, less-sweet cheesecake. I also think it is arguably easier to consume due to its lighter texture and flavour when compared to its cousin from New York. This Spanish creation has been mine and the internet’s latest obsession, rightfully so, because it is so delicious and so easy to make.
The previous burnt basque cheesecake that I made was a 9″ pumpkin spiced cheesecake and it was delicious. Meanwhile, this ube cheesecake is more delicate in flavour, and you get a sweet hint of colour and flavour of ube.
Feel free to watch the video tutorial below or on youtube, but in the meantime, here is the recipe below.
Ube Basque Burnt Cheesecake
This recipe makes enough for a 6″ cheesecake.
Ingredients
250g (1 cup) cream cheese
100g (1/2 cup) sugar
2 eggs
3g (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract
3g (1/2 tsp) ube extract
220g (1 cup) heavy cream
63g (1/4 cup) ube puree
17g (3 tbsp) cake flour, sifted
Method
- Preheat the oven to 425F/218C. Line the bottom and sides of the 6″ pan with parchment paper, folding over any creases to get the parchment to sit flush against the pan.
- In a stand mixer, medium mixing bowl, or large blender, mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and combined. If using a blender, add in the rest of the ingredients, then let the batter sit for an hour to settle before baking.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl and mixing thoroughly between additions.
- Add in the extracts and mix.
- Slowly pour in the cream and stir to combine.
- In a small separate bowl, mix the ube puree and about 1 cup of cheesecake batter to loosen the ube puree.
- Combine the puree cheesecake mixture with the plain cheesecake mixture.
- Add in the flour and stir with a spatula to combine.
- Before pouring the batter into the lined tin, strain through a sieve to remove any lumps.
- Bake the cheesecake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is deep brown and still jiggles when gently shaken. Take out to cool to room temperature.
- Cut each slice with a hot clean knife, dipping and wiping the knife in-between slices. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.
ally bakes 