basque cheesecake

The original recipe was created by a restaurant called La Viña. This version is my contribution to humankind.

Before you start

Recipe cost: €10

Prep time: 1½ hours over 2 days

Difficulty: low

Ingredients

Sour cream

25 g lemon juice

50 g whole milk

200 g cream

Cake

200 g Milbona® whipping cream

600 g Milbona® cream cheese

250 g Milbona® mascarpone

320 g granulated sugar

6 eggs and 1 egg yolk

10 g Vahiné® vanilla flavouring

10 g orange blossom water

50 g flour, thoroughly mixed with
4 g fine salt

Equipment

Electric whisk or hand whisk

20 cm ∅ cake tin, 10 cm deep

Kitchen paper, baking parchment and kitchen foil

In 2021, The New York Times named it Flavour of the Year. Today, the cake costs a whopping €55 and is only available in San Sebastián (Basque Country). Unless it contains the secret of eternal youth, I think this homemade version is well worth a try — after dozens of attempts, this is the one I settled on.

The bitterness of the browned parts contrasts with the tanginess of the sour cream and the richness of the dairy products. To finish things off, serve the cake with a good red berry jam for an extra sharp kick.

Sour cream

Prepare the sour cream the day before. Combine the lemon juice, milk and cream in a large glass and stir. Place a sheet of kitchen paper over the top and secure it to the glass with an elastic band. Leave to stand overnight at room temperature.

Preparing the tin

  1. Butter the base and sides of the tin. Grease one side of each sheet of baking parchment as well.
  2. Place the sheets one at a time against the sides and base of the tin. Make sure the greased side is facing inwards and press them down so they stick and lie as flat as possible.
  3. Overlap the sheets so that they cover the sides and base.
  4. Leave them extending above the rim, as they will help when lifting the cake out after baking.

Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 210°C with top and bottom heat and the fan on.
  2. Prepare the ingredients.
  3. Add the whipping cream to the sour cream.
  4. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone with an electric whisk on low speed until softened.
  5. Gradually add the sugar. Increase the speed and continue whisking until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth and creamy.
  6. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.
  7. Add the sour cream and whipping cream mixture and the flavourings. Whisk to combine.
  8. Sift in the flour and salt mixture. Whisk to combine.
  9. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25 minutes. Then cover with kitchen foil and bake for a further 30 minutes. The top of the cake should be slightly burnt.
  10. Once baked, leave the cake in the tin for 20 minutes. Then carefully lift it out by the ends of the baking parchment and place it on a wire rack. To prevent the cake from losing its shape, clip the ends of the parchment together and leave the cake until completely cool.

Keep refrigerated. This dessert is even better the next day.

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