If you follow a ton of food publications and blogs on Instagram, you might have come across something called a Basque Burnt Cheesecake trending away. Essentially, this crustless cheesecake breaks every rule about traditional cheesecakes. It’s the quickest one I’ve ever made, the most fuss-free and really, really delicious!
This cheesecake was first created at La Viña in San Sebastián, part of Spain’s Basque Country. It began to crop up in the US this year and if you’d like to know more about it, this is an interesting article. The cheesecake uses flour as a thickening agent, so the texture is somewhere between creamy and dense. It also contains heavy or whipping cream which makes it soft and rich. Baked at a high temperature, the cheesecake rises, literally burns on the top, and then falls as it cools, creating the signature dark, sunken centers. The jagged edges are also part of the magic, thanks to baking paper folded and layered into the dish. The burnt tops have a caramelised, slightly bitter flavour that goes so beautifully with the sweet, soft but firm filling. It’s really unlike anything I’ve tasted!
This version is based on a popular Bon Appetit recipe. I scaled it down by almost a fifth to make 3 ramekins of cheesecake. This is for two reasons: I didn’t have a ton of cream cheese on hand, and also, I wasn’t sure whether I would like a cheesecake that’s so far from the kind I usually love. Of course, in the end I did, but I also liked the small, cute serving sizes.
I flavoured the batter with vanilla and lemon zest which isn’t usually done depending on what recipe you’re looking at, but they both add a lot to the final result and also, no eggy flavours which is always a great thing. It comes together in minutes and can be eaten at room temperature as well, in fact, that’s recommended.
So without a biscuit base that needs to be chilled and an overnight refrigeration of the baked cheesecake, this is the kind of cheesecake you can eat almost without a wait. And also big bonus, there’s no panicking over not allowing a single crack to appear, making sure the top doesn’t brown, making sure the heat is low. All those rules go right out the window!
I hope you’ll try this today!
Please read the recipe notes before beginning.
Mini Basque Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 180 gms cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup caster sugar (60 gms)
- 1/4 tsp lemon zest, optional
- 1 egg, at room temperature (see notes)
- 1/4 cup whipping or heavy cream (60 ml, see notes)
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 C. Cut out large pieces of non-stick baking paper (essential in this recipe) and line three ramekins (3.5 inches wide and 2 inches high), letting the paper rise at least 2 inches above the rims. Fold and crease the paper as needed to properly line the ramekins and get those signature jagged edges on the cheesecake.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest with a hand mixer on medium speed, until smooth.
- Add the egg, cream, vanilla and salt and beat again to combine until the egg is incorporated.
- Now sprinkle the flour into the bowl and beat on low speed until the mixture thickens and is completely smooth, about 15 to 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter equally among the three ramekins, filling them about 3/4th of the way. Tap them lightly on a flat surface to burst any air bubbles.
- Place the ramekins on a tray and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the tops are deeply browned and puffy. I found that there wasn't much of a jiggle in the center by the time the tops were fully done, but if your cheesecake still looks jiggly, that's ok.
- Let the cheesecakes cool to room temperature, the tops will fall and create sunken centers. You can either eat them now, or do what I did and chill them for about 2 hours first. Lift them out of the ramekins using the paper, peel it off and dive in! The texture is soft but firm, creamy but dense, all at once. Some recipes say the center should be gooey but I like this texture more and in the mini size, the cheesecakes cook quicker and more evenly overall.
- These cheesecakes need to be kept in the fridge at all times, where they will last for 4 to 5 days. You can also freeze them for a few weeks. Happy baking!
Notes
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Hi, could you pleasde tellme which cream cheese did you use?
Hi, I usually use Dlecta or Dairy Craft 🙂
Hi Gayatri, I will try this out! Glad I found this.. it’s a struggle to find smaller burnt basque on the internet. I am not very proficient at baking. Should I use an electric hand mixer to mix these ingredients together or should I use non electric one and lot of handwork?i have read too much mixing will affect the cake consistency. Also should I put everything together.. the liquids like egg? Thanks!
Hi Upasana ! A hand mixer is best here, be gentle and the cheesecake should turn out fine. And it’s best to follow the order of beating the ingredients as written in the recipe. Happy baking!
Made this new it’s very different. It’s more like a custard and definitely not a cheesecake. Probably will not make it again.
It tastes good, just very different .
Thanks for trying it out !
Loved loved loved the recipe! Thanks alot! Perfectly Goey and Burnt on top! Perfect serving size! 🙂
So happy to hear that !
These are so cute!! 35 minutes was not long enough for me to achieve the browned tops although the cheesecakes were no longer jiggly- so I broiled the tops for an additional two minutes and they turned out perfect
Glad you enjoyed them ! Ovens vary a bit so some adjusting is sometimes required, the broiler is a great trick 🙂
Hi! My cheesecake cracked. Is this normal? is there a way I can do to reduce cracking? thanks
Hi, cracking is usually due to either over mixing or over baking. Some small cracks are ok, but larger cracks can be fixed by mixing the batter more gently or adjusting baking times since ovens do vary a bit. Hope that helps !
Hi I just tried this but the cake has an eggy flavour. Any tips to reduce that? Thanks!
Hi Terri, you can try increasing the lemon zest and/or vanilla, that should work 🙂
What mode do we keep the oven on?
Do we heat only the bottom rod like with regular cakes?
It depends on what you normally do with your oven, the same settings should work here. I have a morphy Richards OTG in which both rods come on during baking.
Tried the recipe and it turned out well. I didn’t add salt as my cream cheese already had salt. But had to bake it for 50 min to get the desired burnt effect . I guess that’s down to my oven.
Thanks for trying this recipe Noria ! Yes ovens do vary so sometimes the baking time might need to be adjusted 🙂
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Can you please tell how much condensed milk should be used instead of eggs? How many ml?
I’d say maybe about 50 ml, I can’t say for sure without trying it myself. You could also check out https://bakesalotlady.com/2020/07/eggless-basquecheesecake/
Hi! Mine didn’t really rise well nor did I get a sunken centre . Any idea why ? I used a 7 inch round dish for the same quantity
I think the batter might have spread a bit more in a 7 inch dish and therefore didn’t rise a lot. The rise lets it sink later on so a smaller baking dish will probably help. Let me know if you try it again, I know some readers have made it in muffin pans too!
Hi! About how many grams does 1 ramekin contain?
I’m not too sure because I bought these ramekins based on their dimensions, but a little googling told me these are most likely 6oz or about 170 gms capacity
Hi Gayatri! These mini burnt cheesecakes look so cute😍I can’t wait to try it. I don’t have ramekins, so do you think I can use a
cupcake pan?
I think you could , but I definitely recommend using cupcake liners in the pan. Bake time might be a little lesser so best to go by the appearance described in the recipe 🙂
Thank you for the tip! Will let you know how it turns out 😊
Hey can I use tropolite whipped cream instead of amul?
Can’t say for sure without trying it myself, ideally it should be dairy fat not vegetable fat for the right flavour, so instead use regular cream if you don’t have whipping cream
This turned out yumm. Though my top wasn’t all browned. I felt if I cooked more for Browning it would turn out over cooked. How does it take out the parchment paper without breaking the cheesecake up?
Ovens can vary a little so the browning might be a result of some uneven heating, try increasing the temp just a little or move the cheesecake closer to the rod, keeping an eye on it. Once the cheesecakes have cooled a bit they don’t really crack when you remove them, and overnight chilling firms them up more. Hope that helps !
Hey! Can I substitute the cream with Greek yogurt?
Hi, I haven’t tried it so can’t say for sure but my guess is the cheesecake might be a little softer and not as rich with yoghurt
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I just encountered this recipe and I appreciate that you made small portions. I am always having a hard time looking for recipes with small portions as my family could not finish the usual large portions. Thank you very much! This is a total life saver especially when you suddenly want to eat cheesecake. 😊
Thank you so much Jill ! Small portions are always useful, plus cute 🙂 Let me know how you like this recipe !
Followed your instructions and its perfect! Not too sweet and not too salty. Thank you! 😁
Yay that’s awesome !
wondering if I can use a muffin tray fl
That should work, with cupcake liners for easy removal and this batter should be enough for 4 to 5 muffins I think
What size ramekin did you use? I have 200 ml ones.
Forgot to mention that I used ramkins 3.5 inches wide and 2 inches high