Zero waste banana basque cheesecake

Burnt edges, custardy fruity centre, and salted banana-skin caramel

Happy Thursday - today’s recipe is not only delicious, but free! Banana Basque cheesecake with banana-skin salted caramel. A zero-waste recipe that nods to comforting American banana pudding and the San Sebastián basque country-classic. The result is a cheesecake that slumps and sighs, burnt at the edges and custardy at the core. The flavor is unmistakably banana pudding, deepened and matured into something far more complex.

Basque cheesecake is a glorious contradiction. Burnt on top, pale beneath. Baked brutally hot, yet barely set at the centre. It arrives bronzed and blistered, slumps when sliced, oozes rather than cuts. Crustless, fast-baked, and proudly unruly, the pleasure is in the wobble.

In the name of research (grueling work, I assure you), I’ve been ordering Basque cheesecake wherever I can find it. Some restaurants stick to the script: no vanilla, just soft cheese, sugar, eggs, flour, and cream. Others can’t resist taking liberties.

In San Diego last November, I ordered a goat’s cheese version with berry jam at a local restaurant: sweet, salty, faintly funky. More recently, at Oma in Borough Market, I tried a Greek-style sheep’s milk Basque with cherry compote: rich, sharp, moreish.

After much research and recipe testing, I think I’ve struck the balance: classic foundation, with a creative twist. Read on.

The hero ingredient

Here in England, there’s that awkward stretch between seasons when the markets offer little beyond forced rhubarb and the last of winter’s citrus. This is when I look elsewhere: towards the tropical aisle. Bananas, in particular.

To introduce banana without creating a cheesecake that is cloying, I blend two very ripe bananas to a smooth pulp, strain them, and fold the liquid into the batter. In the oven, the sugars deepen and caramelize, whilst the fruit retreats into something rounder, warmer. Left overnight in the fridge, the flavor settles properly, braided with vanilla, recalling custard or banana pudding rather than the fruit itself.

The banana skin syrup

Being greedy and thrifty in equal measure, I don’t waste the skins. Simmered gently with sugar and butter, they become a simple caramelized syrup - excellent over the cheesecake and unexpectedly good stirred into coffee the next morning, where it adds a soft, toffee-like murmur.

The technique

When a recipe is built on very few ingredients, technique carries the weight. Blending the batter with an immersion blender and straining through a sieve is one of the simplest ways to guarantee smoothness and proper emulsification — it transforms mixtures from merely combined to truly cohesive.

If you don’t yet own an immersion blender, it is one of the most useful tools in a cook’s kitchen.

1. A restaurant-inspired hot honey yogurt dip with crispy chickpeas and chorizo, served with two-ingredient, no-yeast quick bagels, brushed with butter and crowned with flaky salt. If perfect food exists, this might just be it.

2. Pistachio chocolate torte, let me tempt you: a crunchy pistachio biscuit base supports a flourless dark chocolate cake that barely holds itself together. The cake is so indecently gooey it is almost indistinguishable from the salted mocha ganache pooled on top, each layer surrendering to the next in a synthesis of chocolatey deliciousness.

3. Brussels sprouts with horseradish cream, crispy shallots & chili-date oil - my current dinner party favorite.

Banana Basque Cheesecake

370KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Banana Basque Cheesecake

Ingredients

• Butter, for the tin

• 820g full-fat soft cream cheese (room temperature)

• 230g caster sugar

• 25g all-purpose/ plain flour

• 2 ripe bananas

• 280g double (heavy) cream

• 4 large eggs

• 1-2 tsp vanilla paste (optional)

• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

Method

1. Heat the oven to 250°C (230°C fan) / 450°F.

2. Butter a deep 9-inch (23cm) loose-bottom or springform tin.

3. Crumple two generous sheets of baking parchment in your hands, then layer them into the tin, turning one slightly so the corners don’t quite meet. Press them into the base and up the sides.

4. Peel the bananas and blend until they collapse into a smooth-ish purée. Keep the skins — we’ll use them later.

5. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs.

6. In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), beat the soft cream cheese and sugar together for a minute or two, until satin-smooth and free of graininess. Pour in the cream and mix until just combined.

7. Add the beaten eggs, vanilla, salt and the banana purée, then mix briefly until combined.

8. Now, give the batter a quick blitz with an immersion blender until it is entirely smooth. This is the small, technical flourish that’s easy to overlook, but it guarantees silkiness.

9. Sift in the flour and fold in gently. Then give the batter one final, brief whizz with the immersion blender. Work swiftly here — you’re simply incorporating the flour, not encouraging the gluten to develop.

10. Pour batter through a sieve into the prepared tin to remove any lumps. Tap the tin firmly on the worktop to release air bubbles.

11. Bake for 22–28 minutes, turning halfway for an even bronzing. The timing really does depend on your oven. If you underbake it, the centre will slump and ooze when sliced; over bake it and you’ll lose that tender, custard-soft heart in favor of something a touch firmer. What you’re after is a top that’s gloriously dark and a centre that quivers with promise. It’s one of those recipes that rewards a little practice. TIP: If the cake hasn’t bronzed quite to your liking and you have one to hand, you can briefly pass a blowtorch over the surface to deepen the color.

Serve

You may cut into the cheesecake while it is still faintly warm, when the centre is soft and custard-like and barely holding itself together. Yet — and this is important — the basque cheesecake comes fully into its own after a night in the fridge. Let it reach room temperature before chilling overnight, then take it out about 45 minutes before serving so the cold can soften its grip. The centre turns supple and silky, and the flavor settles into something deeper, richer, and more composed. Cut the slices with a hot clean knife and serve with my banana skin caramel (below).

Easy Banana Skin Caramel Sauce

Great for cheesecake, and a syrup for coffee!

Makes approx. 250ml

Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days. Can be reheated in the microwave or on the stove.

Ingredients

• Skins from 2 ripe bananas, well-washed

• 150ml water

• 100g light brown sugar

• 50g butter

• 100ml double (heavy) cream

• Pinch of flaky sea salt

• ½ tsp vanilla (optional)

Method

1. Wash and scrub the banana skins thoroughly, then cut them into strips. Place the skins and water in a small saucepan and let them simmer for 5–8 minutes, until the liquid is fragrant.

2. Strain the banana-infused liquid through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing gently on the skins to coax out every last drop. You should have about 100ml. Discard the skins.

3. Add the brown sugar and warm gently until dissolved, then increase the heat and let it bubble for 3–4 minutes, until lightly syrupy. Lower the heat and stir in the butter.

4. Slowly pour in the cream — it will bubble slightly— stirring steadily. Allow to simmer for another 3–4 minutes, until smooth.

5. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and vanilla, if using.

6. Leave to cool slightly before serving; it will continue to thicken into a spoon-coating sauce as it rests.

If you’re not already a paid subscriber, consider joining, especially now!

This Sunday, I’m introducing something new - a weekly three-day menu designed to answer that ever-present question: What’s for dinner? This week’s theme is 30-minute meals — food that feels restaurant-worthy, yet entirely manageable at home. Expect thoughtful, seasonal dishes with clear grocery lists and practical prep guidance — just enough structure to steady the beginning of the week.

Paid subscribers are also invited to the subscriber chat, a space to share what you’re cooking, exchange stories and photos, or simply ask for advice when you need it.

And wherever you’re reading from, I’d love to know — where are you, and what are you cooking this week? Leave a note in the comments. It’s always a pleasure to see this table stretch across cities and time zones.