I wanted to make a cheesecake for this Thanksgiving, but I did not want to be the traditional sweet American cheesecake. So, for weeks, I searched and read all sorts of styles of cheesecakes when I landed on a Basque Cheesecake. When I got it down to five different recipes, I was having difficulty deciding, so I adapted the five into one.
The recipe I made for Thanksgiving was small 6-ounce Ramekins, and in one of the recipes I adapted mine from, they did not line the baking vessel with parchment, as shown in the picture, which is the traditional way. They turned out perfectly, as Souffle meets Cheesecake, without using the parchment paper.
In one of the recipes, they had made a tomato coulis to drizzle on top of the cakes with a spoon of goat cheese whipped cream, so I made several fruit coulis and my version of the whipped cream.
Ingredients
24 ounces of cream cheese
12 ounces of plain goat cheese
1 3/4 cups of raw sugar
6 large eggs
2 cups of heavy cream
1/4 cup of unbleached flour
pinch of salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Grease with unsalted butter 12 ramekins or grease a 10-inch spring form pan. Line the pan with parchment, one big sheet, pleating the bottom so it fits on the bottom of the pan. You will need to leave plenty of parchment hanging over the top of the pan,
In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream the two cheeses and the sugar together until smooth. Add the salt.
Add one egg at a time. Do not add the next until the one before has been incorporated. Add the cream, and once it has been integrated, sift in the flour at a low speed.
Pour batter into either the ramekins of the spring form pan.
Baking time is different based on the baking vessel:
Ramekins for 35 to 40 minutes or until a rich golden brown has been achieved and random char marks are on top.
Springform pan for 50 to 60 minutes or until a rich golden brown has been achieved and random char marks are on top.
Ramekins, let it cool for several hours. The center will sink, but that's okay. It gives a place for the Couils and the cream.
Spring form pan - Let cool, and just before severing,
I served the mini cheesecakes with a creme and four different fruit Coulis (recipes listed in another post). The Creme is listed below;
Ingredients
1 cup of creme fraiche
1/4 cup of buttermilk
1/4 cup of goat cheese
3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
Directions
Place all in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip until stiff, and serve.