Basque-style pumpkin cheesecake is the easiest dessert you’ll make this fall | Canada Voices

One of the most exciting things about cooking is that there is no right or wrong way of doing anything. Rules exist, of course, but more in terms of cause and effect; there are scientific reasons for certain processes, but the consequence of changing your method – or your ratio or your oven temperature – is merely a different finished product.

It’s a common belief that rule-following is essential when baking and diverting from a recipe will result in disaster. This is not necessarily true. Tweaking the quantities in a chocolate chip cookie might bring them from soft and cakey to thin and chewy, or a chocolate cake from springy to deliciously sunken. New York-style cheesecake is traditionally baked at lower temperatures, often in a water bath to provide a buffer against the heat of the oven, which allows it to bake gently and evenly, maintaining a creamy white surface. Basque-style cheesecake, which is said to have originated in the eighties by chef Santiago Rivera in San Sebastian, Spain, is baked at a radically higher temperature, causing the cake to sink slightly in the middle and caramelize on top.

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Baking your cheesecake this way can be less intimidating than the more coddled kind. If you want to break with tradition even further, using a loaf pan is a good idea for a few reasons: Your cheesecake will cook more quickly and is a better size for smaller groups – not everyone needs enough cheesecake to feed a dozen people. It will transport well and slice easily.

A smaller cheesecake is more affordable, but the below recipe is easily doubled and if you do make two, which requires the same amount of time and effort, one can go into the freezer to pull out for a future special occasion.

Basque-style cheesecakes don’t have a crust, but this one does – to make it a little bit extra, use maple sandwich cookies, including the icing, which means you won’t need quite as much butter for the crumbs to hold together.

Basque-style Pumpkin Cheesecake

Basque-style cheesecakes typically don’t have a crust, so omit it if you like. To dress it up, serve with buttered maple or honey plums: Sauté a few sliced plums in butter until they start to slump in the pan; drizzle them with a generous amount of maple syrup or honey, and spoon them over or alongside the cheesecake.

Crust:

• 1 cup crushed Biscoff, gingersnaps, digestive or other crisp cookies (or maple sandwiches)
• 3 tbsp melted butter

Filling

• 2 8 oz/250 g packages cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup pumpkin purée
• 1/2 cup whipping cream (33 per cent to 36 per cent)
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment.

Combine the crumbs and melted butter and press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and turn it up to 400 F.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar for a few minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl, until smooth and free of lumps. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, whipping cream, flour and salt. Add it to the cream cheese mixture on low speed just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is deep golden and the cake is jiggly – it should be uniformly jiggly, rather than appear more liquidy in the centre. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan, then refrigerate for at least a few hours, and up to a few days.

Remove from the fridge for at least an hour before serving for best flavour and texture.

Serves about eight.