How to make cheesecake – New York style versus Basque version
A light and gooey Basque version or heavy and dense New York style – choose your own cheesy adventure
Basque cheesecake
The ingredients listed in the recipes I found for Basque cheesecake, including one that says it’s the official version, were the same: 1kg of cream cheese, seven eggs, a high proportion of cream and a small amount of flour. Because this would make a restaurant-size cheesecake that serves at least a dozen people and is best eaten the day it’s made (if refrigerated overnight, it will become firm), I halved the ingredients.
Done rigidly, I’d have to use 3½ eggs – three eggs plus one half of a fourth egg (whisk the egg, weigh it, then divide it in two) – but using only three eggs has worked fine. You can leave out the flour for a gluten-free cheesecake (I’ll admit, I realised this by accident, when I forgot to add the flour during recipe testing). I experimented with adding vanilla extract and lemon zest but I think it tastes best plain. I also decreased the amount of sugar, but if you like your desserts sweeter, use up to 200 grams.
The main problem I had was in baking it. Too long and the cheesecake becomes firm, not gooey (although some people prefer it that way), and if the oven temperature is too low (most of the recipes advise baking at 200 degrees Celsius) you don’t get the rustic-looking burnt top. So I crank up the temperature to 250 degrees, let it bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 200 degrees and let it finish cooking.
The cream cheese must be at room temperature, or you can’t beat it properly. It’s not necessary to line the pan with parchment paper but, as with the burnt top, it gives the cheesecake a more rustic look.
500 grams plain (unflavoured) Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
110 grams sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
250ml cream, at room temperature
5 grams plain (all-purpose) flour (optional)
1 Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Spray an 18cm springform pan with pan coating, then press a large sheet of parchment paper into the pan to line the bottom and sides, leaving some overhang. Pleat the parchment paper as needed so it lies somewhat flat against the sides of the pan.
