Trending now: Basque burnt cheesecake

Photo: Zeeba's Deli & Cafe'

We think Basque burnt cheesecake is the cake of the hour. Its signature burnt caramel top and cracked edge gives it a rustic charm while inside, the cake is so creamy and light.

As the name suggests, the crustless cheesecake comes from Spain’s mountainous Basque Country and it was created around three decades ago by Santiago Rivera, current owner of the La Viña café in San Sebastian.

La Viña was opened in 1959 by Rivera’s parents, uncle and aunt, and being exposed to the workings of food during childhood, Rivera learnt about the Basque cuisine at an early age. The Basque burnt cheesecake that’s now popular all over the world, even in the smallest of corners such as here in Male’, was the result of Rivera’s many experiments with Basque cheesecake techniques.

Soon after the cheesecake was introduced at La Viña, the cake garnered a local following. San Sebastian is a touristic area and it started becoming popular with tourists too, with the cake ending up on the bucket lists of many visiting San Sebastian.

Then social media happened and sometime last year, it started popping everywhere.

We first tasted the Basque burnt cheesecake from Zeeba’s Deli & Café. It was right before the whole lockdown thing began and it was also love at first bite. Lucky for you, you can still get some from there. Apart from that, Ginger Bakes has recently introduced it to their menu, and The Lounge by Echbees makes a Basque burnt cheesecake as well.

Basque burnt cheesecake really is a beautiful, delicious, creamy, cheesy cake and that burnt caramel outside is so addictive. So we do hope you give it a go one of these days if you haven’t already.