What’s your favourite kind of cheesecake? I bet a lot of you will probably say New York cheesecake, but you may know by now that I’m actually not very fond of this style of cheesecake. I’d rather have Japanese Cheesecake or Burnt Cheesecake anytime! And if I really had to pick which I prefer between these two favourites, I think I’d probably lean towards the latter.

Burnt Cheesecake was invented at La Viña restaurant and pintxos bar in the food capital of San Sebastián in Spain’s Basque country. Hence, it’s also known as Basque Cheesecake, Basque Burnt Cheesecake or San Sebastian Cheesecake. With the two main ingredients being cream cheese and heavy cream, you can imagine how dense, rich, creamy and velvety smooth the cake is. There’s just nothing like it!

Not to mention, Burnt Cheesecake is the simplest of all cheesecakes (or all cakes, for that matter!) to make. This is the perfect first cake for a beginner baker because it’s practically no-fail and requires minimal basic ingredients and equipment. It really is that easy! You don’t have to bother with a water bath or making a crust, as you would with most cheesecakes, and you don’t need to whip up a meringue, which gives Japanese Cheesecake its signature airiness. You can literally mix all the ingredients in one bowl, pour the batter into a pan, stick it in the oven and wait for it to turn out gloriously burnt, cracked and sunken in the middle.

While I’ve made a few flavour variations on the basic recipe, this was my first time incorporating pumpkin puree and warm spices into the cake. Needless to say, I was delighted by the results. If you want to celebrate pumpkin season this year with something other than Pumpkin Pie, do give this Pumpkin Burnt Cheesecake a try. It’s truly delicious!

Did you make this recipe?

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PUMPKIN BURNT CHEESECAKE

Makes 1 – 7″ cake

Ingredients:

500g cream cheese, room temperature
120g canned pumpkin puree
150g sugar (can reduce to 110g)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
200 ml heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon flour

Method:

1. Move oven rack to the upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 450F. Line 7″ springform pan with parchment paper (leave a couple inches of overhang around edges).

2. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth.

3. Add pumpkin puree and sugar. Beat until well combined.

4. Add salt, all the spices and vanilla. Beat until smooth and lump-free (don’t worry if there are some small bits of cream cheese).

5. Add in eggs, cream and flour. Beat until thoroughly combined.

6. Use a sift to strain batter to get rid of any remaining lumps.

7. Pour into pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, until centre is still jiggly and top is dark brown. Depending on your oven, you may need to rotate pan halfway to ensure even baking.

8. Remove cake from oven. Let it cool in the pan, on a cooling rack. Once it’s cool enough to handle (it can still be warm), place the whole pan in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.

9. Unmold cake, peel the parchment paper from the sides, and enjoy the cake chilled, or if you prefer, leave it out until it comes to room temperature before eating.

Note: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.