This mini Basque cheesecake recipe (also known as San Sebastian cheesecake) makes the creamiest, most delectable mini burnt cheesecakes in cupcakes sizes, perfect for parties!
This mini Basque cheesecake recipe is a small batch mini cheesecakes recipe, and makes a total of 6 mini cheesecakes. It can also be made into a slightly large mini version of the San Sebastián cheesecake size of 6 inches round cake pan.
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❤️Why you will love this recipe
- This is an easy mini burnt Basque cheesecake recipe and uses very simple ingredients.
- It is a small batch recipe, and you can whip up a batch anytime you feel like eating a Basque cheesecake and not worry about having too much to eat.
- This is a crustless cheesecake recipe, which means you can make these mini creamy cheesecake fairly quickly.
- It makes a perfect dessert for cheese lovers and cheesecake lovers.
📋Ingredients
- Cream cheese - Use full fat cream cheese that comes in blocks (and not the spreadable ones).
- Granulated white sugar (or caster sugar) - fine sugar works best as it is more readily dissolved as compared to coarse sugar.
- Eggs - use large eggs (large sized eggs)
- Heavy cream - use either whipping cream or cooking cream with at least 35% fat for a rich and creamy cheesecake.
- All purpose flour + salt - mix these together and sift into the cheesecake mixture.
- Vanilla extract - adds a lovely flavor and aroma to the cheesecake.
*Refer to the recipe card below for exact quantities of the ingredients above. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*
🧾Substitution and variations
- Vanilla extract can be replaced with vanilla bean paste. Since the paste has a stronger flavor than the extract, use only two thirds of a teaspoon instead of half a teaspoon.
- To make slightly larger mini cakes, double the recipe and pour the batter into two 6 inch round cake tins to make two six inch cakes. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!
👩🏻🍳How to make
Preparing the parchment casings
A distinct feature of these mini burnt cheesecakes is their signature slightly crumpled parchment paper lining.
- To make the lining, start by cutting square pieces of parchment paper (baking paper) pieces. The size of the squares will depend on the size of your muffin tins. For a muffin pan with holes size of 2.75 cm diameter at the top and 2.25 inches diameter at the bottom and 1.25 inches deep, I cut parchment squares measuring 5.5 inches by 6 inches. Place the paper on your muffin tray, making sure it is well centered.
- Press it into the holes.
- Use your finger tips to press into the edges.
- Trim off excess corners of the paper at the top. Do not cut too much, there should be excess paper above the rims of each muffin hole of the tray. This will help ensure your mini Basque cheesecake batter does not overflow in the oven. These mini cupcake cheesecakes tend to rise quite high during baking.
Mixing the cheesecake batter
Before you start, make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature, especially the cheese. Also, preheat the oven to 225 degrees Celsius.
- Add the room temperature cream cheese into a large mixing bowl. Beat it with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer (on paddle attachment) until smooth for 30 to 60 seconds on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the granulated sugar and beat again for 20 seconds.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, salt and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth for 20 seconds.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Fold in the flour.
- Finally, add the cream. Mix well. You can use a cake mixer to beat the cream in or use a spatula. If using the machine, limit the beating time to 20 seconds. Too much beating will cause the cheesecake batter to incorporate too much air bubbles. It will leave unsightly bubbly surface to your mini Basque cheesecake.
Baking and chilling
- For easy pouring, transfer the batter into a large mixing glass.
- Pour the batter into the prepared parchment lined muffin cups until the rim of the muffin cup holes. The excess parchment paper on the sides is also meant to ensure there are no overflows of the batter.
- Bake the mini Basque cheesecake cupcakes on the middle rack in your oven at 225 degrees Celsius for 10 to 12 minutes. Keep close watch of the mini Basque cheesecakes after the 10 minutes mark. If your cheesecakes are well browned on the top, you can turn off the oven and need not wait until the 12 minutes are up.
- These mini Basque cheesecake cupcakes should ideally be well caramelized at the top (not entirely burnt) and yet the batter should still have a slight jiggle in the center as you shake the muffin tray. Turn off the oven and let the cakes rest in the oven for about 30 seconds before removing them and cooling them on a wire rack to room temperature.
The cakes are best served after refrigeration for about 3 to 4 hours.
🍽️Serving & storage
- These mini cheesecakes can last in the fridge for a good 4 to 5 days. Keep them covered in an airtight container to prevent them from becoming dry.
💡Expert tips
Here are some of the important factors to take note when making this delicious cheesecake:
Oven temperature
- These mini Basque burnt cheesecake are baked at a higher than normal cakes and regular cheesecakes temperature. While a traditional cheesecake is best baked at a slightly lower temperature and in a water bath compared to a normal cake, these Basque cheesecakes are best baked at a higher temperature of 225 degrees Celsius for about 10 to 12 minutes. No water bath is required.
- Do take note, however, that results may vary from one oven to another, so it is always best to try out to see if the temperature yields the results expected.
Baking time and cake texture
- Given that these are mini cupcake sized Basque cheesecake, the baking time is quite short. This is similar to traditional mini cheesecakes.
- Baking the cakes for too long will give them a quiche like texture. The taste will still be fine, but Basque cheesecakes are meant to have soft and creamy texture and you achieve this by controlling the cooking time.
- Larger Basque cheesecakes typically have gooey centers, but that is hard to achieve with smaller version like these mini cheesecakes as the high heat they are baked in tend to cook the centers more than it does to a larger cake. It is however, possible to achieve a soft, light and creamy texture for these mini Basque cheesecakes by placing them in the middle rack in the oven, baking at a high temperature of 225 degrees Celsius and keeping the baking time short.
- When fully baked, the center of these burnt cheesecakes should be wobbly. The cakes continue to cook as they cool down, and therefore, you should stop cooking them when they reach this stage.
💭FAQs
Basque cheesecakes are cheesecakes that are baked at a high temperature, without any crust, yielding perfectly caramelized tops and soft and gooey centers.
These cakes are also often referred to as burnt cheesecakes but they are not meant to be burnt in literal sense. The term 'burnt' is used to describe the dark caramelized top of the cheesecakes.
In fact, an important factor to remember when making these mini Basque cheesecakes or any other Basque cheesecakes is to not over brown or burn the tops. Ideally, the cakes should be baked only to the point the top of the cheesecake is well caramelized and not beyond that.
Firstly, there is not crust for a Basque cheesecake (crustless cheesecake), unlike a typical cheesecake (like New York cheesecake) that has a cookie crust (or biscuit base).
Secondly, burnt cheesecakes are baked at high temperature to achieve the caramelized top (often referred to as burnt top). Traditional cheesecakes are require a much lower temperature and often in water baths to avoid overbrowning of the tops.
Thirdly, Basque cheesecakes are often lined with folded parchment paper and can be baked in a normal round cake tin. The rather irregular sides of the Basque cheesecake is its distinct feature. A traditional cheesecake with cookie or cake crust require to be baked in a springform pan for easy removal.
And finally, a Basque cheesecake has a lighter texture compared to a normal cheesecake. It rises up during baking and settles down as it cools down. A perfect Basque cheesecake should have a gooey center. A traditional cheesecake, on the other hand, has a denser and firmer texture. Both types of cheesecakes are however, best served chilled.
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📖Recipe
Mini Basque Cheesecake (Mini Burnt Cheesecake)
For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.
Ingredients
- 250 g cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 150 ml cream
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
Preparing the parchment casings
- This recipe can make about 6 to 8 mini cheesecakes depending on the size of your parchment casings.
- To make the casings, start by cutting square pieces of parchment paper. The size of the squares will depend on the size of your muffin pan. For a muffin pan with holes size of 2.75 cm diameter at the top and 2.25 inches diameter at the bottom and 1.25 inches deep, I cut parchment squares measuring 5.5 inches by 6inches.
- Place the paper on your muffin tray, making sure it is well centered.
- Press it into the holes and use your finger tips to press and push the paper right to the edges of the muffin tray holes.
- Trim off excess corners of the paper at the top. Do not cut too much, there should be excess paper above the rims of each muffin hole of the tray. This will help ensure your mini Basque cheesecake batter does not overflow as you bake it. These mini cupcake cheesecakes tend to rise during baking.
Mixing the mini burnt cheesecake batter
- Before you start, make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature, especially the cheese. Also, preheat the oven to 225 degrees Celsius.
- Add the cheese into a mixing bowl. Beat it until smooth for 30 to 60 seconds on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the granulated sugar and beat again for 20 seconds.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, salt and vanilla extract.
- Beat until smooth for 20 seconds.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl again. Fold in the flour.
- Finally, add the cream. Mix well. You can use a cake mixer to beat the cream in or use a spatula. If using the machine, limit the beating time to 20 seconds. Too much beating will cause the cheesecake batter to incorporate too much air bubble. It will leave unsightly bubbly surface to your mini Basque cheesecake.
Baking and chilling the Basque burnt mini cheesecakes
- For easy pouring, transfer the batter into a large mixing glass.
- Pour the batter into the prepared parchment lined muffin cups until the rim of the muffin cup holes.
- The cakes will rise during baking, and the excess parchment paper on the sides will help ensure there are no overflows of the batter.
- Bake the mini cheesecake cupcakes on the middle rack in your oven at 225 degrees Celsius for 10 to 12 minutes. Keep close watch of the mini Basque cheesecakes after the 10 minutes mark. If your cheesecakes are well browned on the top, you can turn off the oven and need not wait until the 12 minutes are up.
- These mini Basque cheesecake cupcakes should ideally be well caramelized at the top (not entirely burnt) and yet they should still be wobbly in the center as you shake the muffin tray. Turn off the oven and let the cakes rest in the oven for about 30 seconds before removing them and cooling them to room temperature.
- The cakes are best served after refrigeration for about 3 to 4 hours.
Notes
Oven temperature
- These mini Basque burnt cheesecake are baked at a higher than normal cakes and regular cheesecakes temperature. While a traditional cheesecake is best baked at a slightly lower temperature and in a water bath compared to a normal cake, these Basque cheesecakes are best baked at a higher temperature of 225 degrees Celsius for about 10 to 12 minutes. No water bath is required.
- Do take note, however, that results may vary from one oven to another, so it is always best to try out to see if the temperature yields the results expected.
Baking time and cake texture
- Given that these are mini cupcake sized Basque cheesecake, the baking time is quite short. This is similar to traditional mini cheesecakes.
- Baking the cakes for too long will give them a quiche like texture. The taste will still be fine, but Basque cheesecakes are meant to have soft and creamy texture and you achieve this by controlling the cooking time.
- Larger Basque cheesecakes typically have gooey centers, but that is hard to achieve with smaller version like these mini cheesecakes as the high heat they are baked in tend to cook the centers more than it does to a larger cake. It is however, possible to achieve a soft, light and creamy texture for these mini Basque cheesecakes by placing them in the middle rack in the oven, baking at a high temperature of 225 degrees Celsius and keeping the baking time short.
- When fully baked, the center of these burnt cheesecakes should be wobbly. The cakes continue to cook as they cool down, and therefore, you should stop cooking them when they reach this stage.
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