Passport to Basque Country

Have you ever heard of Basque country? This region in Europe spans over the northern part of Spain and the southern part of France. This area of the world is known for numerous culinary delights including one of my favorite desserts, the Basque cheesecake. We are really excited to offer a new hands-on cooking class at The Chopping Block called Passport to Basque Country.

Whenever we create a new class, we want to ensure the recipes come out perfect every single time so students can trust that when they go home and recreate these recipes in their own kitchen, they will be consistently delicious. Recipe testing is one of the best perks of my job! Just last month, I was recipe testing Matcha cheesecake brownies. I guess I just really love cream cheese!

One of our chefs, Quincy Bissic, has developed a Basque cheesecake recipe that is very tasty. Traditionally, a Basque cheesecake is baked in a large 9-to-10-inch springform pan and can take up to an hour to bake. If you are not familiar with this particular style of cheesecake, it is basically the exact opposite of our New York-style cheesecake or other American variations.

In order for this wonderful dessert to work within our time constraints of the class, I needed to make sure we could execute individual servings of these cheesecakes baked in disposable pie tins. So, I got to work experimenting with Quincy’s recipe to see if four individual cheesecakes would come out as lovely as the original.

I love making individual desserts because I think it's such a cute presentation and nobody is fighting over the last piece. I hope that you have as much fun making these individual cheesecakes as much as I did making (and eating) them!

Individual Basque Cheesecakes

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: Four 5-inch cheesecakes

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour

Pan spray or 2 Tablespoons melted butter

1 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 cup heavy cream

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.

2. Spray or brush 4 individual 5-inch-deep pie pans, and line with parchment paper so the paper comes about 2 inches over the edge of the pans. Pro tip: Cut the parchment paper in half or in quarters, depending on the original size. To help ensure the parchment is lining the pans, crumple up and pleat the parchment a bit as this will help it sit in the prepared pie tins, keeping in mind it doesn’t have to be perfect! Place the prepared pans on a sheet tray.

3. In a large mixing bowl, measure together the cream cheese and sugar. Using a handheld mixer, beat until smooth.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each one is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. Pour in the heavy cream, salt and vanilla bean paste and beat until combined.

6. Add the cornstarch, and beat until the mixture is silky and smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

7. Pour or ladle the batter into the prepared pans and bake until the top is very brown (teetering on the edge of burnt) and slightly jiggly in the center, about 30 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and allow the cheesecakes to cool. Note that they will collapse a bit as they cool, and that’s normal.

9. Once the cheesecakes are cool, gently pull up on the excess parchment paper around the edges to remove the cakes from the tins.

10. Transfer to plates and serve at room temperature with a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired.

If you are interested in learning more about this famous corner of the world and want to experience it firsthand, get your passport ready because you are in luck! In addition to our Basque country cooking class, we also have partnered with Onward Travel, a boutique travel company that provides amazing small group destination vacations. We are pleased to have one of our very own TCB chefs Guillermo Delavault, leading a culinary vacation to Basque country where travelers will get to enjoy the rich history, beautiful scenery, Michelin-starred restaurants, and even a local cooking class.

The Chopping Block and Onward Travel have another cooking adventure that takes place in Italy called Cook like a Tuscan. Our Marketing Manager Andrea Miller was fortunate enough to go on this trip last year and can’t stop raving about it. There are only five seats left in the next one this October, so you better act now!

If you're interested in learning how to Cook Like a Tuscan or eat all around Basque Country, then then you should check out these tours. But if you are like me and you can't make it out of the country anytime soon, we really look forward to having you in any of our international cooking classes.