High-Altitude Basque Cheesecake

To get started on pie month over here, today I’m sharing a recipe for a creamy Basque Cheesecake that would sit perfectly on any Thanksgiving table, and it’s a lovely dessert all year round.

A Basque Cheesecake is a crustless cheesecake that gets baked at a high temperature to create a deeply golden brown top. It’s much easier to make than a traditional cheesecake, but it gives you an ultra silky texture and a beautiful finish that tastes amazing. Let me show you how to make it!

How to Make Basque Cheesecake

Making the batter for a Basque Cheesecake is a similar process to a classic cheesecake, and it’s incredibly important that you work with all room temperature ingredients here to make sure everything mixes together smoothly.

To start out, you want to beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, scraping down the bowl several times. It’s really easy for cream cheese to clump up or get stuck to the bottom of the bowl, so taking the time to scrape your bowl throughout mixing the batter is important! In a measuring cup, whisk together your flour and heavy cream until very well combined and mostly smooth- it’s ok if there’s a few lumps, we’ll deal with that later.

To the cream cheese mixture, stir in the vanilla extract, salt, and water until fully mixed through. Then add in the eggs all at once and mix everything until just combined- you do not want to over mix after adding the eggs so just mix until the eggs are worked through mostly.

Then add in the heavy cream mixture and gently stir until it’s worked through and the mixture looks evenly combined. Then press the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining lumps and leave you with a super silky batter.

Spread the batter into your prepared cake pan. I’m using a springform pan, but you can also use a classic cake pan if you have a deeper one here, and you want to line the whole thing with parchment paper. There is no crust here, so you simply pour the cheesecake batter into the pan directly.

Bake the cake until deeply golden brown all over the top. We’re baking at a high heat here, so that should take about 20-25 minutes. The cake will still be very jiggly at this stage, which is what you want to see. Remove the cake from the oven and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature before covering and chilling for at least 4 hours.

Once the cheesecake is completely chilled, remove it from your pan using the parchment paper to pull the cake out, and gently peel the parchment away. You should have a deeply golden brown top, and the cake may settle in the middle slightly as it cools, which is normal. Slice and enjoy!

Tips & Tricks for Basque Cheesecake

Here are my tips and tricks to help along the way to the perfect Basque Cheesecake:

• Be sure to use room temperature ingredients. This matters a lot for cheesecake recipes because cream cheese can easily clump up if it’s cold, or if other ingredients make it cold in parts. It’s important to make sure everything is at room temp before you start.
• You want to avoid over mixing your ingredients, although it’s less important if this type of cheesecake cracks a little bit. Regardless, it’s best to mix everything only until just combined, and do not over whip the mixture at any stage. This cheesecake batter gets passed through a mesh sieve to remove any lingering lumps, so don’t worry if there’s a couple in your batter and do not over mix to fix this!
• It can be tricky to line the pan, but remember that it does not have to be perfect or overly smooth. Basque Cheesecakes are often rough around the edges from the parchment paper. I like to crumple the paper up first before lining the pan, which makes it easier to press in tightly.
• The cheesecake will be very jiggly when you remove it from the oven, which is what you want to see here. It will settle as it cools, and it should look very jiggly when the top reaches a deeply golden stage.
• Do not remove the cake from the pan before chilling, but instead let the cake come to room temp and then chill fully while keeping it in the pan so it sets properly and can easily slice.
• I’m at about 5,000 ft. above sea level and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft. above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!

Print

Basque Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 3 8 oz. blocks cream cheese room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbs. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 3 tbs. all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line an 8-inch springform pan (or a deep 8-inch cake pan) with parchment paper that goes up the sides. I like to use two full sheets of parchment crossed over each other, and I find that it’s easier to press and form the parchment into the pan if you crumple it up first and then unwrap it. It does not have to be perfect, but it will impact the edges of your cake look- I don’t mind the rustic look here!
2. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until well combined and smooth. I like to mix this for about 30 seconds, stop and scrape the bowl, and then mix for another 30 seconds or so.
3. Add in the water, vanilla extract, and salt and stir until just combined. Add in the eggs all at once, again mixing until just combined, and then scrape your bowl again.
4. In the measuring cup with your heavy cream, add the flour and whisk to combined until well combined and no lumps remain. Switch to a spatula for mixing and pour the heavy cream mixture into the batter, stirring until just combined.
5. Press the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining lumps, and then pour the mixture into your prepared cake pan and spread evenly.
6. Bake the cake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. The top of the cake should become a deep golden brown all over, slightly puffed, and the cake should look very jiggly still when you gently shake the pan.
7. Remove from the oven immediately and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature for about an hour. The cake will sink a little bit in the middle as it sets. Cover and chill the cake (still in the pan) overnight or for at least four hours.
8. When ready to serve, use the parchment paper to release the cheesecake from the pan and gently peel the parchment away from the cake. Slice and serve. Enjoy!

Nicole Hampton

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!

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