I was born in Manila, and as a chef, I wish I could say that I cook amazing Filipino food, but I’ve mostly cooked Western food my entire life. One thing I could say is, I have tried to incorporate Filipino flavours especially in baking. Although sometimes, that feels a little bit like taking the easy way out. I am proud of my heritage, and maybe someday I would go back and learn more about native ingredients and incorporate them in my cooking as well.

Here, I’m sharing with you my ube cheesecake recipe La Viña style. What is it? You know how a crustless, burnt cheesecake have been trending for a few years? One that is more commonly know as Basque Cheesecake? Well, this is the ube version, with homemade ube jam as well. I call it La Viña cheesecake because that’s the name of the restaurant in San Sebastian where people flock to have a taste of the original version. It is a crustless cheesecake that is caramelised outside and soft in the middle.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Joanne | Mrs.FancyPants (@mrs.fancypants.recipes)

If you want the original recipe as per the video above, I published my easy to follow recipe here. Just remember whichever version you are making, start with room temperature ingredients so the batter incorporates quickly and you will not get a lumps. The idea is to get a caramelised outside that serves as your crust, so this entails baking at a very high temperature. I preheat my oven to 220C and line a 23cm or 9in springform with baking paper and ensure there is an overhang. The overhang protects the cheesecake from getting too burnt too fast, and it also supports the cheesecake when it puffs up, which prevents overflowing.

Now with the ube version, it is also straightforward to make with the addition of making your own ube jam. Why would you want to make an ube version? Because my recipe of this is absolutely delicious and the natural purple colour of ube gives this (and basically most ube desserts) a really pretty purple hue. Ube jam is basically cooked ube, pureed and mixed with milk and sugar and cooked until its thick like peanut butter or Nutella. Let your ube jam cool to room temperature before using it for the cheesecake. I use all the ube jam yield in this recipe, but feel free to double the batch because it is really nice on warm bread rolls with a touch of butter.

To make the cheesecake, combine the ube jam, cream cheese, eggs, cream and sugar in a large bowl. Mix until smooth then sift over flour and fold in until incorporated. Pour the batter in your lined springform and bake for 1 hour. The cheesecake will still be jiggly in the centre. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for at least 2 hours. Serve at room temperature to retain that soft, custardy texture. If you have leftovers, you can eat it as is or reheat in the microwave for 10sec per slice to get that softness back.

The detailed recipe is below for you to try. I would love to see your finished products, so tag me on your social media posts @mrs.fancypants.recipes or use #mrsfancypantsrecipes. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below. ???? Happy baking!

 
Difficulty: Easy

Ube Cheesecake à la La Viña

Makes 1 x 23cm springform

My ube variation of the famed Basque burnt cheesecake!

Ingredients

    For the ube jam (halaya)
  • For the cheesecake

Instructions

0/7 Instructions
    First make the ube jam:
  • Place ube and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, lower heat to a simmer, and cover. Simmer until ube most of the water has evaporated.
  • Remove from the pan and transfer to a large bowl. Use a masher to finely mash the ube, or if using grated ube, this step shouldn't be necessary. Push through a fine sieve for a really smooth texture, optional.
  • Mix together mashed ube, milk, and sugar then transfer to a frying pan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning for 30 minutes uncovered. Add butter cubes and continue cooking until the ube has a deep purple colour and very thick consistency similar to peanut butter spread. Cool down to room temperature.
  • Make the cheesecake
  • Start with room temperature ingredients. Preheat oven to 220C. Line a 9” springform with baking paper, make sure you have an overhang of at least 5cm.
  • Mix cream cheese, ube, sugar and cream. Add eggs one by one, fully incorporating after each addition. Sift flour into the batter and mix just until the flour is incorporated. Do not over mix.
  • Pour into the pan and bake for 60 minutes. The top should be caramelised but cheesecake should be jiggly.
  • Take out of the oven and rest for at least 2 hours at room temperature. Serve warm, consume immediately. (see notes if making ahead)

Notes

  1. Note on UBE: This can be purchased from Asian/Filipino stores. If fresh ube is unavailable, you can use grated ube.
  2. Note on milk: I use jersey cow milk because there's no carabao milk available in Australia. But you can use normal full cream milk from the supermarket. Light or skim milk doesn't give the same richness to the ube jam.
  3. For leftovers: If you have leftovers, you can eat it as is or reheat in the microwave for 10sec per slice to get that softness back.
  4. Update on sweetness: To make the cheesecake less sweet, you can reduce the sugar in the ube jam by 50g.

You might have heard and seen photos of a burnt cheesecake in your social media in the last couple years. This was made famous by a small bar in San Sebastian, Spain called La Viña. I mentioned before how my friends and I love cheesecakes. I remember going to New York and heading straight to Junior’s cheesecake in Manhattan, but this cheesecake is not like the NY Baked cheesecake. This one is crustless, light, soft in the centre and for me, tastes a bit like a Portuguese egg tart because it contains plenty of eggs. I refer to New York because I’ve never been to San Sebastian, but I know exactly what my first stop would be when I finally visit.

Since I’ve never been to the birthplace of the burnt cheesecake, I did plenty of research and found a video by Santiago Rivera who is the chef behind the La Viña Cheesecake. I kindly asked a friend to translate the video and from there the only thing that’s left was for me to trial which springform size to use because it wasn’t specified. The original recipe is as follows:

Original La Viña Cheesecake Recipe

  • 1 kilogram cream cheese (I used Philadelphia because that’s what was available, it’s rumoured that the original uses San Millan cream cheese)
  • 400 grams sugar
  • 7 eggs (I used large eggs because that’s the standard)
  • 1/2 liter cream (I used pure cream which has minimum 35% fat)
  • 1 1/2 spoon plain flour

In the video, Santiago Rivera used a spoon to mix the cream cheese and sugar, then added eggs one at a time. He then added the flour and finally the cream. He pours the mix into a springform pan and bakes at 210C for 40 minutes. You can watch the video I’m talking about below, I found it on a European online radio and TV channel EITB.eus.

I made the cheesecake as instructed above and settled on a 26cm springform. It’s creamy, and custard-like, and I find a lot of people find it too eggy for a cheesecake. I personally love it. It reminds me of a Portuguese egg tart and a Japanese cheese tart, but without the shell. If you haven’t tried the original, I suggest you make it at least once, because really, what’s the point of jumping on the burnt cheesecake bandwagon when you are clueless on what the original actually is like.

The goal is for the cheesecake to be dark brown outside while preserving the soft and creamy centre. To do this, you need to bake the cheesecake at a high temperature. This cheesecake is beautifully rustic, and very photogenic, as you can see from my photos above.

My version is a tad smaller than the original and baked in a 23cm springform instead of 26cm. Because of this, I adjusted the the temperature for the same baking time. I also added vanilla and lemon for flavour. You can find my recipe below. Try making both and let me know which one you prefer. Don’t forget to tag me on social media when you post your beautiful cheesecakes and use #mrsfancypantsrecipes. Happy baking!

 
Difficulty: Easy Prep Time: 15 Mins Cook Time: 50 Mins Total Time: 1 Hr 5 Mins

Burnt Cheesecake à la La Viña

Makes 1 x 23cm springform

Make the famed Basque burnt cheesecake at home!

Ingredients

Instructions

0/4 Instructions
  • Start with room temperature ingredients. Preheat oven to 220C. Line a 9” springform with baking paper, make sure you have an overhang of at least 5cm.
  • Mix cream cheese, sugar and cream. Add eggs one by one, fully incorporating after each addition. Sift flour into the batter and mix just until the flour is incorporated. Do not over mix.
  • Pour into the pan and bake for 50 minutes. The top should be caramelised but cheesecake should be jiggly.
  • Take out of the oven and rest for at least 2 hours at room temperature. Serve warm, consume immediately. (see notes if making ahead)

Notes

  1. If making ahead, take out of the oven and cool down at room temperature for 1 hour then place in the fridge to cool down completely. Take out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving and serve at room temperature.
  2. I recommend serving this cheesecake warm, if you made this ahead, you can slice into wedges and blast each slice for 15 seconds in the microwave. Serve and consume immediately after.
  3. You can make this gluten free by substituting the plain flour with 1 tsp corn flour/cornstarch. This prevents a lot of cracking, but I've tried making this with no flour and it still works, you just get a bit of cracking around the rim.