Making and not faking Cheesecake
Oven-baked cheesecake has always been a mystery to me. Most people that have done an oven-baked cheesecake complain about how hard it is to do. The recipe has gotten more and more intimidating to me over time.
Growing up my Mom went to cooking classes. One class was all about cheesecake, no-bake cheesecake to be precise. Since then that has been the recipe I swear by but it has one little issue, gelatin. Most people don’t have an opinion on gelatin but I can’t stand it. No-flavour gelatin has a distinct smell I can’t get off my head. It smells horrible probably because of what it is made of.
Gelatin is a common ingredient for many Chilean desserts, especially for tart and sweet pies. My family was never a big fan of Chilean desserts. We thought the flavour got shielded by this layer of bouncy consistency. You can tell by my reaction that I do not partake in jello. Once I got extremely dehydrated and had to go to the hospital and get an IV. The worst part of that experience was that I had to finish a whole piece of jello before I could leave. That is how much I dislike jello.
People have recommended I try vegan gelatin for my Mom’s cheesecake recipe but I’m skeptical. I think it will have a strange taste and it won't hold its shape. The main reason is, why ruin a perfectly good batch of ingredients when I can face my fear and make a delicious baked cheesecake (that to be honest always taste better).
In my quest to make a good cheesecake, a few weeks ago I took a class on Basque Cheesecake, also known as Burt Cheesecake. I got 2 major takeaways from that class.
How to always make the perfect cheesecake in only around 30min instead of 1hr
I have a very big stand on food traditions and culture
Recipes are also part of culture
Let's start with the second point. The class was promoted as a Basque Cheesecake class. This type of cheesecake comes from San Sebastián, the Basque region in Spain. Chatting with a coworker from that region they are extremely proud of this type of cheesecake and it's all about the burnt top and the fully cooked middle. The ingredients are simple so it's all about knowing how to bake it properly.
During my class, the chef showed us his unsuccessful attempts to make Basque Cheesecake. How it will burn too much on top and not cook all the way through. Again, this was promoted as a Baque Cheesecake class so I was sure he would show us his successful attempt, and we would all learn. He didn’t, and I don’t think he has ever done a successful Basque Cheesecake in his life. His solution to make this cheesecake is to flambe the top after is fully cooked, overlooking the whole tradition of the cake. This is like if someone wanted to make Feijoada and use chickpeas instead of black beans. You can do it, but it's no longer Feijoada.
I’m all about food innovations, I love it when cuisines merge and create a completely different type of food, I mean, Tex-Mex for example! YUM! There is one thing to talk about innovation and one to talk about traditional recipes. I was very disappointed in that Chef for calling the class a Basque Cheesecake class. The technique of baking the cheesecake and the burnt crust is what gives the cheesecake the name. I would completely understand and encourage the class to be called something like ‘Chef Tony’s take on Basque Cheesecake’ or ‘Cheesecake inspired by Spain’. You just can’t say a recipe is from a specific place when you have completely changed its core elements. I was a bit embarrassed by making it. And it didn’t taste that good. The flambe burn is very distinguished and it just didn’t fit. It wasn’t the burnt top I had hoped for. I lost respect for that Chef. It’s important to keep traditions in place as you innovate. It’s respectful to give a nod to tradition as food is such a big part of people's culture.
The trick to perfect Cheesecake
On a more positive note, in the class, I did learn a technique that helped me tackle my cheesecake fears and cut the cooking time by half. After you blend all the ingredients together, bring them to low heat until you can see they start to curdle and steam. Pour the liquid into your baking dish and bring it to the oven to finish cooking. The cheesecake will be ready when it doesn’t giggle in the middle. I did put some water in the oven to make a water bath but I don’t think it did much. For a 9-inch pan, it was in the oven for around 30min. I found this cheesecake recipe and it was DELICIOUS!
My first cheesecake didn’t get the full photoshoot it deserved (It was a busy weekend). We got to celebrate a very special birthday surrounded by some of my favourite people. The cheesecake was very much enjoyed.
After this cheesecake adventure, I have realized that oven-baked cheesecake takes the spot for the most delicious (until I fully know how to make a Basque cheesecake). I also learned that keeping food traditions is very important to me especially when taken from another culture. This doesn’t mean I or anybody can’t change the recipe, I just need to make sure we honour it as we innovate.
Next on my list is to make a flavoured cheesecake. Raspberry, oreo or even passion fruit! What is your favourite type of recipe?
You should be very proud of your cheesecake, it was delicious 😋
Yessssssss