How to fill a burnt basque cheesecake

Question

I would like to bake a burnt basque cheesecake with a raspberry sauce filling.

My searching, guessing and ChatGPT query suggests:

1. Making the sauce first, as thick as possible, the mixture thick, too
2. Then carefully pouring a layer of sauce when half the mixture is poured into the pan
3. Finally carefully (slowly) pour the rest of the mixture on top
4. Bake at 200c fan for 60-70 minutes

This differs from my usual method of baking at 220c fan for 30 minutes.

Would this work? Is there a typical method for making filled baked cakes?

My immediate thought was just to make a chilled cheesecake, but Burnt Basque really deserves a great sauce.

The recipe I use is from the BBC:

Ingredients

• Butter for the tin
• 800g soft cheese
• 225g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 200g soured cream
• 4 medium eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 240C/220C fan
2. Press two large sheets of baking parchment, one on top of the other, one sheet turned 45 degrees into the tin
3. Mix the soft cheese and sugar until the grains of sugar have dissolved
4. Mix in the flour, soured cream, eggs, vanilla and ¼ tsp salt to the bowl and mix again until you have a smooth consistency
5. Pour into tin
6. bang on the worktop to remove any air bubbles
7. bake for 30 mins
8. Leave it to cool completely in the tin – it will sink as it cools

Answer 1

ChatGPT is a computer program, that not only doesn't know how to cook, it also doesn't even know that cooking is. Why would you even ask?

The solution to this is to make the sauce on the stovetop, and add it after the cheesecake is out of the oven. There are three reasons for this:

1. Basque cheesecakes are cooked at very high heat, which would cause any high-sugar sauce to burn;

2. That depression in the middle of a basque cheesecake happens after it cools to room temperature. While it's cooking, it's domed in the center which would cause all your sauce to slide off the sides, except:

3. Depending on what your recipe for sauce is, it might be denser than the cheesecake batter, which would result in it sinking through the cake to the bottom of the pan. Possibly an interesting dessert, but not what I think you're going for.

So, bake the cheesecake, let it cool to room temp, and pour the sauce into that convenient depression in the top.