Tarta de Queso Vasca

Basque cheesecake that is to die for.

By. Liliana Kotval

From my balcony in Madrid. I made this cake to share with my friends to say goodbye before moving to Prague.

I have always loved cheesecake. I was used to the New York style cheesecake with a crispy bottom crust, however, once I went Basque, I never went back. Last year I took a trip to the Basque Country (el País Vasco) in Northern Spain. I had to go to the best place- La Viña in San Sebastián- to try out the top Basque cheesecake. Their cheesecake uses sheep's cheese, however, this recipe is still delicious with normal cream cheese. Here is the recipe taken from La Viña:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg. cream cheese

• 400 g sugar

• 1/2 liter cream

• 7 eggs

• 1 tbsp. flour

• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Mix the cream cheese, sugar, cream, eggs, vanilla, and the flour and whisk together.

2. Put a large piece of parchment paper in a cake pan. Make sure all the sides are covered. I like to crinkle the parchment paper before inserting it so that it gives more texture to the cake. 

3. Pour the batter into the cake pan. Make sure it is evenly spread. Cut away any extra parchment paper.

4. Bake for about 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius until a toothpick put in the center comes out clean. Allow the top to brown.

5. Allow the cake to cool. I think it always tastes better the day after, once it has spent some time in the refrigerator.