I’m not generally a fan of cheesecake but when my friend Jerry produced one of these burnt Basque-style cheesecakes at our Christmas party last year, I was sold. There’s no biscuit base and it’s very light and easy to make. Basically it’s like a giant souffléd creme caramel with slightly more structure. The burnt top and caramelized sides are just delicious, you’ll find it served in bars and restaurants all over the Basque region of Spain. I used Rick Stein’s Spain and a Youtube video Jerry found at Black Cat Kitchen to create this ‘best of breed’ baked cheesecake recipe and served it with black cherry compote for my sister-in-law’s birthday lunch. She described it as ‘heavenly’. Enjoy!

Serves 8 to 12

• 23cm clip sided cake tin and two large squares of baking parchment
• 3 x 300gm tubs of Philadelphia cream cheese
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 500ml double cream
• 30g plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pinch salt
• To serve: fresh strawberries or raspberries or black cherry compote

To make…

• If you’ve had your cream cheese in the fridge, take it out and bring it up to room temperature as this is important to the finished texture of the cheesecake.
• Preheat the oven to 220C.
• Lightly butter and then double-line the cake tin with baking parchment. Cut off two large pieces so that each piece covers and overlaps the bottom and the top stands up above and around the sides. This is important to support the cake when it rises during cooking, creates the creased side pattern and helps when it comes to removing the paper before serving. Stand it on a flat metal baking sheet.
• Beat the sugar and cream cheese together with an electric hand whisk or in a stand mixer. Keep beating until the mixture feels smooth. Pour the eggs in slowly, mixing constantly. Add the cream, vanilla, salt and flour and mix thoroughly.
• Pour the creamy mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 45 minutes until well browned on top and almost set but still wobbly in the middle. It will firm up as it cools. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar and leave it to cool inside. This is what helps to give it its silky-smooth texture.
• Once it’s completely cool unclip the sides of the cake tin and slide the cake onto a serving plate. Carefully peel the baking parchment away from the sides and then gently pull it from under the bottom from each side. This is why using two pieces of parchment helps.
• Cut into slices and serve with your fruit of choice. The Spanish serve this with slices of membrillo but I think fresh strawberries or raspberries go beautifully with it. I used a bag of frozen black cherries made into a compote with some sugar and a splash of red wine.

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