Growing up I lived about 50 metres down the road from a cheesecake shop (although not THAT cheesecake shop) and they would sell half cheesecakes which my mum would sometimes get us as a treat. My favourite was the baked cheesecake topped with a layer of jelly/jello set with blueberries. Oh how I loved those cheesecakes.
Actually now that I am telling you about it, I am thinking I should try and recreate it. But this story is not about my childhood cheesecake it is about chocolate Basque baked cheesecake.
About a year ago we found a dessert restaurant a few suburbs over that makes on site delicious gelato and Basque cheesecakes. They use good quality ingredients, which I am sure of as I am a little bit of a food stalker and I peer into their stock room and check out what they use.
But alas for me (although happily for them) they seem to be very busy and every time we go now they are devastatingly out of my favourite chocolate Basque cheesecake.
Luckily baking is what I do so I decided to make my own and now I have cheesecake when ever I want and my only problem is that I eat way too much cheesecake. As a solution I have been making smaller cakes and the recipe below is for a 6" cake which is a lovely size if you have just a few people to serve.
Basque cheesecake differs from regular baked cheesecake as it is has no biscuit base and is cooked at a high temperature which results in a dark top and creamy centre. It is important to cool the cheesecake for enough time for the middle to set, at least 4 hours for this recipe but preferably overnight.
Happy Baking
xx
Linda
Chocolate Basque Cheesecake - makes a 6" cheesecake which will make 6-8 snack serves. I like to serve mine with cherries which is a lovely contrast to the velvety chocolate cheesecake. I use a good quality chocolate like Callebaut. Cheesecake slices can frozen wrapped individually in plastic wrap and thawed in the fridge.
450g (16oz) cream cheese at room temperature
200g (7 oz) dark chocolate melted
100g (3 1/2 oz) caster/ superfine sugar (use regular granulated sugar if that's all you have)
10g (4 tablespoons) cocoa sifted
3 eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
225g (8oz) thickened cream (dollop cream) (heavy cream)
good pinch salt
Line a 6 inch wide by 3 inch high, round baking tin with baking paper. To do this crumple up the paper in your hands and then place over the baking tin and press down I used a spoon to press a line around the bottom rim and then turn the edges over the top rim.
Place cooking rack into middle of oven and preheat to 220 C Fan forced (430F).
Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe dish. I melted mine for 2 mins at 60%, stirred and then another 2 mins. Alternatively if you only have high setting heat for 20sec intervals stirring between each burst and being careful not to overheat. Set aside until needed.
Sift together the caster sugar and cocoa to ensure there are no lumps.
Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so the mixture will be silky smooth. Place into mixer bowl and mix at low speed until smooth and creamy. You do not want any lumps at this stage and also we are not trying to incorporate extra air or volume. The room temperature ingredients and slow mixing are key steps.
Scrap down the sides of the bowl add the caster sugar and cocoa and mix at slow speed. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla and mix until well. Continue to scrap down the sides of the bowl until the mixture is completely combined and smooth.
Add the melted dark chocolate and fold in with a spatula, there should be no lumps and no streaks when you are finished.
Add the thickened cream and salt and mix well.
Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins, increase temperature to 230C (450F) and cook for a further 5 mins.
Turn oven off and allow to cool in oven with door ajar for 15mins.
Put cheesecake into fridge for at lease 4 hours or overnight.
Prior to serving remove from tin and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 mins. If your cheesecake is stuck and you can't get it to release, it's just some of the fats set hard. Run a plastic spatula around the edge between the paper and tin and if it still won't come out pop the base into hot water for a second being careful not to splash the cake and it should easily slide out.
