Basque Cheesecake

Preppy Kitchen posted a recipe for Basque cheesecake, which does not have a crust.  I instantly thought how great that would be for a Passover dessert.  And because it's supposed to look burnt, it's pretty hard to mess up.

Then I had a ridiculously difficult time finding matzoh cake meal to use in place of flour.  I didn't even need much.  Finally went to a Ralphs in a more Orthodox neighborhood and they had a respectable array of KLP foods.  I could have gone to one of the big kosher supermarkets, but I didn't want to go through that drama for one item.  I restrained myself to what I was there to buy, plus a bag of baking chocolate.  I can make biscotti with that and the cake meal.

You can serve this with whipped cream and/or chocolate sauce.  I served it with some Sabra-infused cherry preserves I made last year.  Sabra, the national liqueur of Israel, is chocolate with a hint of orange, and KLP.

I'm writing the recipe more or less as John posted it, and will go into KLP substitutions as necessary.  I also made a 1/3 version in a 6" springform, just adding a little extra boxed egg white to make up to make up for 4 eggs not being divisible by 3.

3 8oz bricks of cream cheese, room temp
1 C sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, room temperature
2 Tb flour
1-1/2 C cream

1.  Preheat oven to 400º.  Line a 9" springform pan with two pieces of parchment, placed 90º from each other.  All the recipes I looked at agreed on this point.  You can crumple the parchment first, to make it easier to get in the pan.  The ends of the parchment should overhang the top of the springform, as the cake is going to puff up really high before collapsing as it cools.  For extra security, I placed the pan on a baking sheet.

2.  Beat together cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  I had made vanilla sugar with some of the vanilla beans I ordered, plus used my homemade KLP vanilla extract.  Once creamy, beat in eggs one at a time and whip until smooth.

3.  Stir in flour on low.  I used matzoh cake meal.  For gluten-free, I would recommend tapioca starch or a GF flour blend.  You only need a minimal amount of stabilizer.  Many Basque recipes omit flour entirely and make it up with an extra egg.

4.  Slowly add the cream with the mixer running and stir until batter is smooth.  Pour into prepared springform.

5.  Here's where the artistry happens.  Bake for 45 minutes, then take a look.  The top should look slightly burnt, like milk chocolate, and it should only jiggle a little when shaken.  If it's still light or jiggles a lot, bake at 5 minute increments until done.  It's going to be super puffy, so you can't use the toothpick test.  Basically, the only thing you have to cook is the egg, and the cake will continue to cook as it cools.

6.  Cool the cake on a rack to room temperature, keeping it in the pan.  It's going to deflate down to about 1-1/2 inches.  That's normal, so don't panic.  Chill another 4 hours, or even up to two days.

7.  When ready to serve, pop the springform and remove the parchment liner.  It's going to have crinkles around the edge, which is the rustic coolness.  Slice and serve with sauce or preserves of choice.

Makes one 9" cake, at least 10 servings

Difficulty rating  :)