Tarta de Queso/Basque-Style Cheesecake

This recipe makes one 9-inch diameter cheesecake, using a round cake pan. Honestly, at first I thought it might be too big for just two of us. After all, in my mind I was thinking about having one big slice of cheesecake everyday can be too much and I should get tired of it soon. Wrong, so wrong. Ended up I was literally eating it with morning cup of tea, again in the afternoon, and usually few more bites after dinner. The cake was gone in no time.

Tarta de queso/Basque-style cheesecake - 

Ingredients (for one 9-inch diameter cake)?

• 680 grams cream cheese
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

How?

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit/260 degrees Celsius. Remove the cream cheese from the fridge in order to soften before use.

Use a 9-inch diameter round cake pan if available, otherwise plus or minus one inch should be fine, but the baking time can differ and need some adjustment accordingly.

Use two sheets of parchment paper. Crumble the paper first then unfold. Line the parchment paper in opposite direction to fully cover the inner side of the pan.

Take a big mixing bowl, I simply use the stand mixer bowl. Add in softened cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extra, granulated sugar, and salt. Also break in the eggs. Beat till smooth, at least 5 minutes.

Pour the batter to the cake pan.

Into preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Mine took about 27 minutes. During the baking time, remember to check on the cake once a while, you might need to move around the cake pan once a while. The goal is to get evenly browned color on top.

So the top part should look brown, or even slightly burnt. The edge is about to set firm, but the center still slightly wiggly.

Once ready, take out the cake pan and set aside till cool down a little.

When the cake pan is cool enough to handle by hand, carefully take out the entire cake by grabbing the parchment paper on the side, and set the cake with parchment paper on rack to firm up a bit more.

However, if the cake seems about to fall down or break apart when you try to remove it from the cake pan, might as well let it cool down completely inside the cake pan. Only remove the pan when the cake firms up and able to hold its shape.

Slice and serve.

For a firmer bite, simply bake the cake a bit longer to reach heartier center. Do remember to keep an eye on the heat and avoid severe burn marks the top.

Other dessert recipes:

• Lemon crumb muffins (recipe makes about 10)
• Two-color madeleines 雙色瑪德蓮
• Super addicting M&M's chocolate chip cookies