Charlotte Ree's Burnt Basque Cheesecake

Dessert

15 MINS
|
70 MINS
|
SERVES 12

"I cannot stop baking this cheesecake. It’s a cake so good it will make you cry. A cake that is impossible to stuff up because it’s a cake that wants nothing more than to be burnt and blistered, cracked and crinkled, and yet still comes through in a cloud of captivating creaminess. A cake that is so perfectly imperfect, I long to bake it again and again and again because life is like that—perfect in all of its imperfections." — Charlotte Ree

Ingredients

1kg cream cheese, at room temperature
300g caster sugar
6 free range eggs
500ml thickened cream
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
80g plain flour

Method

Step 1.

Line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper. There is no art or precision to this, I simply tear two sheets of paper and crisscross them so the paper extends above the height of your chosen tin.

Step 2.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Beat the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition to combine.

Step 3.

With a large spatula, scrape down the side of the bowl before adding the cream and vanilla and mixing to combine. Scrape down the side of the bowl once more, add the flour and mix to create a silky smooth batter.

Step 4.

Pour into your tin and bake for 65-70 minutes, until you see the cheesecake's deliciously darkened top.

Step 5.

Remove from the oven. The cake will still wobble as though it is undercooked, but as it cools it will harden. Leave it in the tin for 10 minutes before removing it to cool completely. Serve at room temperature, on its own. This cake does not need a single thing added to it.

Charlotte Ree's Burnt Basque Cheesecake

Prep: 15 MINS
Cook: 70 MINS
Serves: SERVES 12

Ingredients

1kg cream cheese, at room temperature
300g caster sugar
6 free range eggs
500ml thickened cream
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
80g plain flour

Method

Step 1.

Line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper. There is no art or precision to this, I simply tear two sheets of paper and crisscross them so the paper extends above the height of your chosen tin.

Step 2.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Beat the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition to combine.

Step 3.

With a large spatula, scrape down the side of the bowl before adding the cream and vanilla and mixing to combine. Scrape down the side of the bowl once more, add the flour and mix to create a silky smooth batter.

Step 4.

Pour into your tin and bake for 65-70 minutes, until you see the cheesecake's deliciously darkened top.

Step 5.

Remove from the oven. The cake will still wobble as though it is undercooked, but as it cools it will harden. Leave it in the tin for 10 minutes before removing it to cool completely. Serve at room temperature, on its own. This cake does not need a single thing added to it.