Basque Cheesecake: Pumpkin + Salted Egg Yolk | 南瓜鹹蛋巴斯克芝士蛋糕

January 17, 2021

This is my second time baking a Basque cheesecake. Last time I over-baked my taro Basque cake and did not share the recipe. This time I tried a recipe used by a few homebakers who sell their pastries — Basque Cheesecake with Pumpkin and Salted Egg Yolk! The sweetness of pumpkin and the saltiness kick from salted egg yolk might be a good combination!

QUICK TAKEAWAYS

preheat oven to 550F for at least 30mins might help give basque cheesecake enough heat to start, especially when losing some hot air when oven door opens
convention oven can bake at a higher temperature, 470F; I first baked at 450F for 20mins, then at 480F for 15mins trying to achieve the golden color
if cake did not brown after 35mins baking, still TAKE IT OUT! Over baked cake with pretty color << perfectly-baked cake with not ideal color.
leave cake in fridge UNCOVERED overnight. Putting a plastic wrap might accumulate moist and ruin the cake texture, top layer
sieve through salted egg yolk might lead to salted egg yolk loss; I would mix salted egg yolk shreds after sieving cake mix next time! Or add directly to the cake mold.
maybe use more salted egg yolk and wait for pumpkin season next time. In January, the pumpkin was not as sweet and fragrant as I thought it would be.
amount of solid (pumpkin) and liquid (heavy whipping cream), and the baking temp/time might still need to improve for an even softer, more liquid center.

RECIPE

200g cream cheese
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
120g heavy whipping cream
90g mashed pumpkin + more (I had 260g) for the base
50g sugar
9g cake flour
1-2 salted egg yolk (depends on preference, maybe more next time?)

Step 0: bring out eggs, cream cheese to room temperature; line cake mold with 2 layers of parchment paper

at room temperature, soft cream cheese is easier to mix with sugar

Step 1: steam pumpkin slices till soft, mash till soft; transfer some mashed pumpkin to cake mold as base store in fridge

Step 2: mix the following ingredients in order with stand/hand mixer in LOW speed, or you can manual mix with spatula, use food processor/blender, but do not bring in too much bubble otherwise the cake will by light and airy:

200g cream cheese
50g sugar
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
- add egg ONE BY ONE
whipping cream + dry ingredients mixture:
- 120g whipping cream
- 90g mashed pumpkin
- 9g cake flour
- 2 shredded/mashed salted egg yolk (if you decided to add in cake mix)
check if drawn pattern stays for 2-3 secs; if stays longer, cake mix too much solid because of pumpkin, add more whipping cream; if stays shorter, can add some mash pumpkin

Step 3: sieve through the cake mix

Step 4: (SKIP if you added in cake mix) grind/cut 1-2 salted egg yolk into small pieces. I used cheese grinder to grind up cooked, store-bought salted egg yolk.

Step 5: transfer 1/2 cake mix into cake mold which already has pumpkin base, then spray salted egg yolk, and add the final 1/2 cake mix.

you can also blend/mix salted egg yolk in the cake mix. Separating them in layers might help distinguish their taste

Step 6: Bake at 230C/446F for 25-35mins. Surface should be golden, center should be jiggly. Cool down then refrigerate for 4 hour OR overnight.

at 20mins, my cake was not browned yet. So I turned up the heat till 480F, and also move the cake to top rack without parchment paper touching heating wire.
Tips found here:
- preheat oven for at least 30mins, at 550F
- bake at 475F/240C for conventional oven (without a fan), 450F/230C for convection oven (with a fan)
- if after 35mins, cake still not brown, need to take out to prevent over bake! Sacrifice the color for better taste!