Basque burnt cheesecake

Name: Basque burnt cheesecake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 600 g full-fat soft cheese, at room temperature; 175 g caster sugar; 3 eggs, at room temperature; 300 ml soured cream, at room temperature; ¼ tsp fine sea salt; 25 g cornflour

This easy to make cheesecake has no crust, it’s just a wodge of tangy cheesecake that, although burnt on top, is only barely set in the middle. It is supposed to be served plain, with perhaps a glass of excellent sherry, but if you wish to provide a rhubarb compote or a bowl of berries to eat alongside, go right ahead.

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Vegetarian

Serves8
CourseDessert
Prepare20 mins
Cook50 mins
Total time1 hr 10 mins

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600g full-fat soft cheese, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
300ml soured cream, at room temperature
¼ tsp fine sea salt
25g cornflour

Preheat the oven to 200˚C, gas mark 6. Get out a 20cm round springform tin and a roll of baking parchment. Unfurl a long piece from the roll, and when it looks like you’ve got enough to line the tin with an overhang of 5-7cm, tear it off and press it into the tin, and down into the edges at the bottom. Now do the same again with a second piece, placing it perpendicular to the first so that the tin is entirely lined. Push this piece down, too, and don’t worry about any pleats, creases and wrinkles; this is The Look. Sit something heavy in the tin to keep the paper in place while you get on with the cheesecake mixture.
I use a freestanding mixer fitted with the flat paddle for this, but you could easily use a large mixing bowl, wooden spoon and elbow grease. First beat the soft cheese with the sugar until light and smooth; I beat for quite a long time, certainly not under 2 minutes, and it would be at least 5 minutes by hand. It is absolutely essential – and I’m sorry to repeat myself – that the cream cheese is at room temperature before you start.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, waiting for each one to be incorporated before adding the next, and when they’re all mixed in, you can – beating all the while – pour in the soured cream.
Once that is also incorporated, you can slow down the mixer a little (or risk getting cornflour all over yourself) and then beat in the salt, followed by the cornflour, one teaspoon at a time. Remove the bowl from the mixer, scrape down the sides with a silicon spatula, and give everything a good stir.
Pour into the lined tin (removing whatever’s been sitting in it), making sure no cheesecake mix is left in the bowl, then rap the tin on the work surface about five times to get rid of any air bubbles.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, by which time the cheesecake will be a burnished bronze on top, even chestnut brown in places, and it’ll have risen, like a dense soufflé. It will, however, still be very jiggly. It’s meant to be. You’ll think it’s undercooked, but it will carry on cooking as it cools, and it should have a soft set, anyway.
Remove the tin to a wire rack and leave to cool. It will sink in the middle a little, but that too is part of its traditional appearance. I reckon it’s cool enough to eat after 3 hours, although you may need to leave it for a little longer. If you want to chill it in the fridge, do, but not for more than 30 minutes.
Before serving, unclip and lift the sides of the tin up and away, and then lift the cheesecake up with the edges of the parchment. Place this on a board, and peel the paper back, and take it like that, rustically beautiful, to the table.

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