Burnt basque cheesecake has become increasingly popular over the last couple of years, and rightly so. It’s luxurious creamy cake combined with the caramelised slightly crisp top never fails to provide mouthful after mouthful of pure bliss. Due to its expertly indulgent foundations, it works perfectly paired with that slightly acidic citrus element from the beautiful blood orange, all topped off nicely with a Cointreau syrup to make it that extra bit special. The perfect dessert to bring to all the BBQ’s this summer.
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 725g Cream Cheese
- 227g Clotted Cream
- 300g Caster Sugar
- 4 eggs
- 30g Plain Flour
- Pinch of Salt Flakes
- Dash of Vanilla Extract
- 4 Blood Oranges
- 50ml Cointreau
Instructions:
- Start off by removing the cream cheese, clotted cream and eggs from the fridge ahead of baking to get it to room temperature.
- Turn the oven to 200C and double line a deep cake tin with greaseproof paper, allowing the paper to stand over the tin at about twice the cake tins height, as the cake will rise dramatically while baking.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 250g of the sugar, leaving some behind for the syrup later on. This can be done by hand or using a hand held/ freestanding whisk. Beat until smooth and combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, continuing to beat at a low speed, ensuring the egg is fully combined before adding the next one. Repeat until all the eggs are combined.
- Next, add in the clotted cream, stirring until combined and smooth.
- Zest 2 of the blood oranges and add to the mix along with the vanilla extract and salt.
- Sift in the flour and gently fold in, doing the figure of 8 motion to be careful not to knock the air out.
- Tip into the lined cake tin, banging it on the side to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until caramelised and catching on top but still jiggly in the middle.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 1 hour before removing from the tin and serving.
- Meanwhile, juice 3 blood oranges and add to a saucepan along with the Cointreau and remaining sugar (50g).
- Put on a medium heat and stir while the sugar melts and a thick syrup begins to form.
- Taste (careful, it will be very hot) and add any more sugar/ citrus to get to your liking.
Serving note: Serve with the remaining blood orange diced and the jus drizzled over the top, even with an extra blob of cream if you are feeling really naughty, listening to some Joy Crookes.
