If you have never tried Basque cheesecake you really haven’t lived. It’s the easiest cheesecake you will ever make – no crumb or pastry base to be seen (or missed) just a mix and bake batter and the result is a delicious fluffy cheesecake, lightly scented with mandarin. You can do away with the caramelised mandarins altogether if you wish as the cheesecake on its own is incredibly good, but I think they bring another level of intense flavour and aroma. This has become my go to cheesecake recipe and it has been very well received so I hope you and your family love it too. Karen x
SERVES 8
PREP 15 MIN
COOK 50 MIN
What you’ll need:
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ cups (330g) caster sugar
6 eggs
2 cups (500ml) cream
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 mandarin, finely zested
½ tsp salt
¼ cup (30g) plain flour, sifted
Caramelised Mandarins
¾ cup (140g) caster sugar
1 mandarin, juiced
1 tbs Grand Mariner (optional)
3 mandarins, segmented
1 vanilla bean, split & seeds scraped
What to do:
Preheat oven to 180°C Fan or 200°C Conventional.
Line the base and sides of a 25cm springform tin with baking paper.
For the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer, scraping down the sides, until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, until smooth and combined. Slowly beat in cream, vanilla, mandarin zest and salt. Add flour and beat again until smooth and silky.
Pour into prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is dark brown and the edges are set, but the centre is still wobbly. Cool cheesecake in tin, allowing it to sink in the centre and firm up as it sets.
Meanwhile, for caramelised mandarins, place the sugar and ¼ cup water in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium-high heat, stir together, then once the sugar starts to dissolve continue to cook without stirring, until it turns to a smooth golden caramel. Reduce heat to low. Carefully add the mandarin juice, Grand Marnier, vanilla bean and seeds and stir to combine.
Serve cheesecake at room temperature with caramelised mandarins.
