Pitch-black cheesecake with coffee pears

As the days get shorter and cooler, and the evenings longer, our craving for sweetness increases. Our heritage box of baked brown puddings will indeed provide during the winter months, but for an autumn feast, it’s the fruit orchard and the dairy where I indulge. This burnt, ugly-beautiful cake is so much more than just its Instagram status. In recent years, it has become part of the Du Toit family’s autumn rituals – sometimes accompanied by stewed quinces or coffee pears, as shown here.

This dramatic cheesecake originated in San Sebastián, a Spanish city that is a holy destination for many food pilgrims. Tarta de queso, as it is known in the Basque region, breaks all the rules of the fussy New Yorkstyle cheesecake. The top must be darkly burnt, the dome must sink dramatically, and it may even crack. There’s also no fiddling around with baking it in a water bath. You simply bring it straight to the table still wrapped in its collar of crumpled, discoloured baking paper.

Note Do not overbake this cheesecake – the centre should still wobble. Chill it, still in the tin, in the fridge for at least 5 hours. Make it the previous day and serve at room temperature.

Makes 1 medium cheesecake with 8 slices

Preparation time 10 minutes

Heating time for oven 30 minutes

Baking time 40 minutes

Cooling time At least 5 hours

YOU NEED

• 3 tubs (200 g each) medium or full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

• 240 g sugar

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

• ½ teaspoon (2,5 ml) salt

• 100 ml whipping cream

• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract (or use the grated zest of 1 lemon)

THIS IS HOW

Preheat the oven for 30 minutes to 240 ºC with the oven rack in the middle. Grease a springform cake tin (19 cm in diameter, 8 cm deep) and line it with two layers of baking paper – the paper must protrude well above the rim of the tin.

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until very smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and knock the tin on the work surface several times to remove any bubbles. Quickly place the tin in the oven to prevent losing too much heat. First bake it for 18-20 minutes at 240 ºC, then reduce the temperature to 230 ºC for the following 20 minutes. The top must be a dramatic dark brown and it should still wobble in the centre. Refrigerate the cake for at least 5 hours before cutting it. TIP

Slice the cheesecake with a long sharp knife – not a bread knife! – that you dip into hot water for 40 seconds between slices. The texture should be spongy on the outside and the middle should be slightly runny.