San Sebastian Cheesecake (Burnt Basque Cheesecake)

Name: San Sebastian Cheesecake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 535 min
Ingredients: 24 oz (3 bricks) cream cheese (room temperature); 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar; 2 Tbsp (20g) cornstarch (heaping Tbsp); 1/2 tsp fine sea salt; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 4 large eggs (room temperature); 1 1/2 cups (12oz) heavy whipping cream (room temperature)

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San Sebastian Cheesecake is a super easy and no fuss cheesecake recipe known for its unorthodox charred top, no crust and dreamy custard-like center.

san sebastian cheesecake cut into with a couple of forks

Why you’ll love this San Sebastian cheesecake

The Ingredients and the process are simple and it does NOT require a water bath!
It’s sooo smooth and creamy and has the texture of custard.
The cheesecake is made in a regular pan and doesn’t require a springform pan.
Embraces the cracks and the sinking in the middle that generally isn’t preferred for traditional cheesecakes.
Definitely a statement dessert.

If you’re a cheesecake lover, I think you’ll love my very basic vanilla cheesecake that can be made in so many flavors and sizes! I used it to make a biscoff cheesecake and a pistachio cheesecake.

san sebastian cheesecake slice on a plate with a bite taken out

Ingredients & substitutions

Cream Cheese: make sure to use the full-fat brick cream cheese. I prefer the Philadelphia brand.
Sugar: I used granulated sugar and I haven’t tested the recipe with other sugars. I don’t recommend reducing the sugar either as it’s not overly sweet and it may affect the texture.
Cornstarch: this will help the cheesecake set nice and custardy.
Vanilla: I recommend vanilla bean paste or actual vanilla beans. If you’re in a pinch, pure vanilla extract works well too.
Eggs: Use large, room temperature eggs (55-60 grams without the shell).
- If you’re in a pinch, place them in hot water for 5-10 minutes.
Heavy Whipping Cream: Make sure to bring the heavy whipping cream to room temperature before using it.
- I tried substituting this for milk/sour cream/butter mixtures but it didn’t work well so I recommend sticking to the cream.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Prepare your pan by lining it with two large sheets of parchment paper, leaving an overhang off the edge. I like to secure it with four metal binder clips.

Step 2: Combine the cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed for 2-4 minutes, just until it’s smooth and there are no more chunks of cream cheese.

cream cheese mixed with sugar and cornstarch

Step 3: Add in the eggs, one at a time, with the mixer running on low speed, allowing each one to incorporate before adding the next.

cheesecake batter after eggs are mixed in

Step 4: Stream in the heavy whipping cream while the mixer is still running at low speed. Mix just until it’s all combined.

Step 5: Pour the batter through a sieve and into the prepared pan. Bake at 400F (204C) for 45 minutes (if you want the top even darker, feel free to broil it the last 1-2 minutes). Then remove it from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Step 6: Cheesecake should be light-medium brown on top if not broiled (dark if broiled) and still have good jiggle in the center. Let it cool on the counter for a few hours before transferring to the fridge for at least 4-6 hours or overnight.

Expert tips to get the perfect bake

This cheesecake is baked at a higher temperature than normal. I did 400F/204C in a convection oven because I figured the rotating heat from the fan would nicely brown the top of the cheesecake.
- Although convection ovens normally adjust to 25F less than what you set it to, my oven still read 400F/204C so I left it that – make sure to have an oven thermometer.
- If you don’t have a convection oven, still bake it at 400F/204C in a conventional oven and give it an extra 2-3 minutes – the top might brown a little less.
- If the top hasn’t browned sufficiently by 42-44 minutes, feel free to put the oven on broil for the last 1-2 minutes.
Allow it to cool at room temperature for a couple of hours and then refrigerate it until it’s completely cooled and feels set.
Again, I HIGHLY recommend an oven thermometer because if your oven runs hot, it can curdle the batter and you’ll end up with a grainy/curdled seeping cheesecake.

slice of cheesecake on its side, showing the texture of the filling

How to know when the cheesecake is done baking?

This is the most crucial part of the recipe. You can do everything perfectly and if you over-bake it, it’ll be eggy and can curdle. If you underbake it, it won’t set properly and will be a loose, runny custard.

In my opinion, under-baked is better than over-baked cheesecake and that’s especially true for this San Sebastian cheesecake.

When the cheesecake is ‘done’, the edges will be puffed, the top will have browned at least a little (a little more with convection oven) and the center will still be jiggly. Not like a traditional cheesecake, where the center has a slightly wobble, this will be jiggly.

At this point, if you want the top darker just broil it for 1-2 minutes, it will darken VERY quickly and the center will puff as well. When you remove it from the oven, it will shrivel back up and sink in the center.

At room temperature, the cheesecake will probably still not be set enough to slice so I recommend refrigerating for at least 4-6 hours or overnight. It’s a perfect custard when you serve it cold from the fridge.

creamy custard inside of san sebastian cheesecake

How to flavor a burnt basque cheesecake

The star of the San Sebastian cheesecake is the burnt top which provides a rich caramelized flavor. If you do want to flavor it differently, you can top it when any sort of topping like:

You could also use lemon, lime or orange juice and include the zest (skip the sieve but make sure not to have any chunks of cream cheese in the batter and don’t over-beat to include air.

I have NOT tested this but I’m sure you could remove ½ cup of heavy whipping cream and mix in a cup of cookie butter, peanut butter, Nutella, caramel, etc. If you try it let me know!

I kind of want to swap out the cornstarch for ¼ cup of cocoa powder and see how that turns out!

overhead of san sebastian/burnt basque cheesecake

How to bake this cheesecake in different size pans

I used an 8×3 inch cake pan to make this cheesecake and it turned out fairly tall, like I intended so I don’t think you could use an 8 inch pan that’s only 2 inches tall.

You could bake it in a 9×2 inch pan though and it would just be a little shorter. That would also probably require 5-10 minutes less of bake time.

My guidelines for traditional cheesecake is to double the recipe if I want to use a 10 inch pan, half the recipe if I want to use a 6 inch pan and 1.5x the recipe for a 9inch pan (to keep the same height).

I haven’t tested all those guidelines for this specific cheesecake but that guideline works well for my vanilla cheesecake recipe which produces a similar amount so I predict that it would work well. Timing of baking might be up in the air but look for the cues. You want it puffed and set around the edge, browned on top at least a little and jiggly in the center.

slice of cheesecake on a plate with a fork

Troubleshooting cheesecake

If your cheesecake is liquid-y/runny custard in the center, after it’s been chilled then it needed a few more minutes in the oven.

If it is grainy/curdled and releases a lot of liquid after it’s been chilled, then the oven was either too hot, the cheesecake was over-baked or both.

If it’s perfectly set and custardy after being chilled but it’s seeping liquid – this is normal but it shouldn’t be a lot. It definitely sweats more on the parchment paper so I just moved it to a paper towel to soak off the liquid and then serve.

How to store cheesecake

To refrigerate, cover the cheesecake with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to a week. Serve cold or slightly chilled.

To freeze the whole cheesecake, wrap it in plastic wrap and then wrap it again in aluminum foil (or place it in an airtight container big enough).

To freeze slices, place them tightly in an airtight container and then place the container in a freezer bag, squeezing out all the excess air. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or bring to room temperature for a few hours before serving.

slice of cheesecake showing the custard filling

Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.

If you make my San Sebastian cheesecake recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating for me. If it’s less than five stars, please leave a comment with the rating so I know why! 🙂

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B