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Burnt Basque cheesecake

Name: Burnt Basque cheesecake
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Ingredients: sheep's or cow's ricotta 500g; mascarpone 500g; whipping or double cream 500g; caster sugar 250g; vanilla pod 1, seeds scraped out; plain flour 50g; eggs 6 large; blood oranges 6, segmented, to serve

1 hour 30 minutes + Cooling
serves 12
Easy

This elegant burnt ricotta cheesecake with blood oranges from Ombra restaurant in London is bound to impress. It's somewhere between the Basque classic and the Roman-Jewish version

By Mitshel Ibrahim

Published: September 22, 2021 at 1:00 pm

Make this burnt ricotta cheesecake, then check out our vanilla cheesecake, raspberry cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake and more decadent cheesecake recipes.

This is somewhere between the classic Basque torta de queso made famous by La Viña in San Sebastián, and an Italian version commonly found in the Jewish ghetto in Rome. Either way, it’s extremely easy to assemble and almost impossible to mess up. If you’re planning to make the cheesecake a day ahead, be sure to remove it from the fridge at least an hour before serving.

Ingredients

sheep's or cow's ricotta 500g
mascarpone 500g
whipping or double cream 500g
caster sugar 250g
vanilla pod 1, seeds scraped out
plain flour 50g
eggs 6 large
blood oranges 6, segmented, to serve

Method

Step 1

Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Line a loose-bottomed 25cm cake tin with two sheets of baking paper, ensuring the paper comes at least two inches above the top of the tin on all sides.
Step 2

Put all the ingredients except the eggs in a stand mixer. Add a pinch of salt and beat on a medium speed for 4 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for a further 30 seconds.
Step 3

Add one egg at a time while continuing to mix, only adding the next once the previous egg has been fully incorporated. Once you’ve added the final egg, transfer the mixture into the lined cake tin and, with the help of a spatula, even out the top of the cheesecake. Put the tin onto a baking tray and put the tray in the oven. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour or until deeply golden brown on top yet still very jiggly in the centre.
Step 4

The cake will collapse slightly in the centre as it cools, but don’t worry. Let it cool completely for at least six hours and then carefully peel off the baking paper from the sides. Slice into wedges and serve at room temperature. Cut a few slices or segments of blood oranges and serve as a garnish.