Brown Sugar Burnt Cheesecake

Wonderfully creamy and custardly, the Basque burnt cheesecake is a crustless cheesecake baked at high heat. It has a rustic look with cracked edges and an almost burnt surface.

While the original recipe from La Viña in San Sebastián contains only 5 ingredients, there’s plenty of room to get creative. This version uses brown sugar as well as Brie for an enhanced caramelly finish. You can also add matcha powder, cocoa powder, Camembert or Blue Cheese – so simply get creative and have some fun!

What you’ll need

  • 400g cream cheese, room temperature
  • 50g Brie
  • 80g brown sugar
  • 20g caster sugar
  • 3 large eggs, room temp
  • 200g heavy cream (35% fat)
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp rum


How to make it

  1. Line a 6” circle cake tin with 2 layers of baking paper and trimmed to have an overhanging amount of 1.5″-2″.
  2. Beat sugar and cream cheese together on medium until smooth and there are no more clumps. Scrape the bowl.
  3. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium until smooth. Scrape the bowl again to ensure that nothing sticks to the sides for even mixing.
  4. Add the rum, vanilla, lemon juice, cream and beat until just mixed. Sieve the flours into the mixture and mix to ensure it’s just combined.
  5. Bake in convection oven at 220C/430F for at least 40 minutes, until top is dark amber and almost charred at parts but the middle is still jiggly.
  6. Let cool in the tin fully on a wire rack at room temperature, then place in fridge to allow the cheesecake to set. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Note: If you prefer a more runny/molten centre, bake the cheesecake at 240C/470F for 30-35 minutes.

Oreo & Chocolate Cheesecake

This tri-coloured, light and decadent cheesecake is the perfect weekend treat! It’s double the goodness when paired with coffee or a coffee-flavoured drink.

What you’ll need:

For the Oreo bottom:

  • 3/4 cup finely ground Oreo cookies
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

  • 500g cream cheese, softened
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 11/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs. room temperature
  • 1 cup melted chocolate

For garnishing:

  • 4 oreo cookies (3 cookies quartered, 1 crumbed)

How to make it:

For the Oreo bottom

  1. Line 12 muffin cups on a muffin tray (foil liners are preferred over paper liners)
  2. Put cookie crumbs and butter in a small bowl and mix with a fork until the crumbs are evenly moistened.
  3. Portion the crumbs evenly among the liners, tightly. Chill in fridge while you make the filling.

For the cheesecake filling

  1. Melt chocolate in a bowl over a double boiler, set aside to cool at room temperature.
  2. Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 300 deg F/150 deg C.
  3. Beat cream cheese on medium high speed until light and fluffy, and until there are no more lumps.
  4. Add sugar, vanilla and salt, and beat until well combined.
  5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until just combined.
  6. Scoop out 1 cup of the vanilla batter, set aside.
  7. Add melted chocolate to the remaining batter and stir until well blended.
  8. Portion the chocolate batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.
  9. Portion the vanilla batter evenly among the cups. Make sure the cups are completely filled.
  10. Drag and fold the tip of a toothpick through the two batters in a swirled pattern so there are solid streaks visible.
  11. Tap muffin tin on the counter to settle the batters.
  12. Bake in preheated oven until the centres barely jiggle when the pan is nudged, about 20-22 minutes.
  13. Settle the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool completely
  14. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours,
  15. Top with a quartered wedge of oreo cookie and some cookie crumbs.

Notes:

  • This recipe is best made at least a day before serving.