In the interest of not holding up newsletters, I’m going to try refining recipes in the open. This is an example of what, given the tests I’ve done so far, I think *should* work, but need another opportunity to put everything altogether. I’ll remove the disclaimers when I’m at peace with it being a thing I wouldn’t be mortified to encourage someone else to try.
I wouldn’t say our trip to the Basque Country was predicated on a single dessert… but this style of cheesecake was certainly a non-trivial contributor. During our trip we got to try quite a few different examples — regrettably, La Viña was on vacation for the the entirety of our stay — and my love for the cake remains intact now that I’m back state side.
At the risk of overestimating my palate, the difference I picked up on came down to the character of the dairy. I won’t get into a rant about American industrial agriculture standards, but I hoped to try and do something to zest up the cream in this cake. I was tempted to buy crème fraîche but... one, I’m not made of money, and two, cultured cream is pretty easy to make at home. The cake came out a little funkier, for sure, and perhaps with a better texture that attempts I tried made in the past.
Often paired with a glass of sherry, I thought maybe there was a way to keep things hyper local and incorporate either Basque cider or Patxaran as an acidic counter balance to the main event.
I played around with using coconut milk in lieu of heavy cream, and hojicha as a flavor additive. Both tasted pretty good, but didn’t move me the way only this cultured cream baddie could.
It’s a fairly large, rich cake — for smaller audiences, you can scale all the ingredients down by half and use a 6” springform pan to make a cake more appropriate for 4 (or likely: two people, two times over).
Burnt Basque Cheesecake w/ Cider-honey Reduction
8 servings / 30 mins active time / start cultured cream the day before intending to serve (24 hour rest + 90 mins total time)
Cheesecake
2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp buttermilk
2 lb cream cheese, room temperature
6 eggs, room temperature
275g granulated sugar
1/4 cup AP flour
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Cider-honey reduction
1/4 cup Basque cider
1/4 cup honey
Sea salt flakes & olive oil for serving
In a sterilized glass jar, add 2 cups heavy cream and 2 tablespoons buttermilk. Stir and leave loosely covered at room temperature for 24 hours
Preheat convection oven to 400°F degrees (non-convection, 425°F). Grease a 10” spring from pan and line with parchment paper, the paper will fold over itself at places, creating creases and the signature crackle crust look.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix room temperature cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until well combined, about 3 mins
Reduce speed to low and add eggs one at a time, letting each fully incorporate before moving on. Sift in almond flour and mix until well combined
Bake for 60 mins or until the cake is puffed up and deeply caramelized1
While the cake bakes, add cider and honey in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 mins
Let cake cool for 15 mins before releasing tension in the spring form pan, and then cool completely2 before carefully peeling back parchment paper.
Cut and serve each slice with a bit of the cider honey reduction, a drizzle of good olive oil, and salt flakes.
The cake will keep covered in the fridge for a few days
Trust your instincts, if it doesn’t look that deep brown color, and is still jiggling in the middle when you gently shake it, let it keep going.
Once the cake is at room temperature, cooling for couple hours in the fridge can help provide a creamier texture