These have been around forever apparently, but they just came into my view. All along I’ve thought “You know what would make cheesecake better? No crust.” Add to it that this is super not fussy about temperature and time and the cake potentially splitting. It is rustic looking, but in the field of spectacularly elaborate cakes, rustic is just fine. 

Basque Burnt Cheesecake

900g cream cheese, room temperature

300g sugar

6 eggs, room temperature

580g cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

40g flour

Preheat the oven to 400F. All my temperatures and times use conventional time and temp metrics. If you have a convection oven adjust accordingly.

Line a 10 inch springform pan with two pieces of parchment so that there is at least two inches of parchment past the lip of the pan, all the way around. Insert a second smaller pan into the parchment to help create a shape. Pleat the parchment as necessary, but it’s going to be craggy. That’s part of the charm. Set on a baking sheet. 

Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth. Scrape the sides. Add the sugar. Beat 3 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Scrape the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time. Scrape the bowl. Add the cream, salt and vanilla, mix for 1 minute. Using a mesh strainer, sprinkle the flour over the mixture, mix into the batter gently. 

Using the same mesh strainer and a second large bowl, strain the cheesecake batter into the bowl. Use a spatula to force any lumps through the strainer. Stir then pour into the prepared pan. It will fill it nearly to the top. 

Bake for 55-65 minutes. Watch the last 5 minutes that you don’t take it black burnt. Off the oven and open the door. Let sit for an hour. Bring to room temperature, then serve. If you need to hold the cake, refrigerate but allow the cake to come to room temp before serving, about 3 hours on the counter.