As promised in my Basque Burnt Cheesecake recipe, I’m here to share a Japanese-style Basque cheesecake with matcha flavor! This Matcha Basque Burnt Cheesecake (抹茶バスクチーズケーキ) is actually our family’s favorite, and for good reason. Read on to find out why, but I can assure you that both of these cheesecakes are equally outstanding and heavenly. I hope you try both versions!
What is Basque Cheesecake?
For those who are not familiar, Basque cheesecake has an iconic “burnt” caramelized top and it is very creamy on the inside. It tastes like a caramelized cheesecake in one bite. Some liken it to creme brûlée cheesecake! Basque cheesecake is relatively new. It was created in 1990 by a chef named Santiago Rivera of a restaurant called La Viña in San Sebastian, Spain. If you’re interested, read this article or this article that explains how this cake was invented and became popular. If you like to make my classic Basque burnt cheesecake, click here.
Japanese-Style Basque Cheesecake: Less Cream Cheese
So, what makes this Matcha Basque Cheesecake recipe uniquely Japanese? Besides the matcha flavor, it contains less cream cheese per cake compared to typical Basque cheesecake—half the amount, to be precise. The matcha Basque cheesecake I made today is based on a recipe posted on a Japanese home cook and baker’s Instagram account. She mentioned in her post that her recipe was adapted from Rumi Kojima’s Basque cheesecake recipe (she’s a very renowned patissier in Tokyo). After researching Basque cheesecake recipes a bit more online, I can conclude that the majority of Japanese-written recipes have half the amount of cream cheese. As a result, “Japanese-style” Basque cheesecake has a lighter, fluffier texture. With the higher egg ratio, the inside is even more custardy and creamy. You can say it’s similar to flan, and the matcha imparts a hint of sweet earthy vanilla note to it without adding vanilla extract.
The Easiest Cheesecake I’ve Ever Made
If you want to make classic Japanese-style Basque cheesecake without green tea flavor, you can simply replace matcha with lemon juice in this recipe. Just like regular burnt Basque cheesecake, this is absolutely the easiest cheesecake I’ve ever made. All you need to do is to mix ingredients, bake for 30 minutes, and chill. Let me show you how!
How to Make Matcha Basque Cheesecake
Ingredients You’ll Need
cream cheese – Philadelphia, NOT whipped or reduced-fat cream cheese sugar – standard granulated sugar; I used organic cane sugar eggs – large eggs, 50 g each without shell heavy (whipping) cream – 36–38% fat flour – I used cake flour + cornstarch matcha – use high-quality, vivid green matcha powder salt – just a pinch of salt helps intensify the flavor
Overview: Cooking Steps
This is an excellent recipe for any beginner to try! See the recipe card below for the full printable instructions with step-by-step photos.
Recommended Tool: 6-Inch (15-cm) Round Cake Pan
As most Japanese-style Basque cheesecake recipes require a 6-inch (15-cm) pan, I happened to have a 3-inch deep, 6-inch round cake pan with a removable bottom to use for this recipe. It’s a perfect cake size for 6 people (or 4 if you want to eat a bigger portion). You can definitely go with a 2-inch, maybe 2.5-inch deep, 6-inch cake tin (by folding the parchment paper up to sustain the rising batter), but if you plan to use a larger round pan, this recipe will create a short and shallow cheesecake. It will not produce the same rich and luscious texture. You can multiply the recipe by 2 to accommodate for a 3-inch deep, 7-inch round pan. Or, you can multiply the recipe by 2.5 to accommodate for a 3-inch, deep 8-inch round pan.
10 Important Tips and Techniques
Tip #1: Preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes.
To achieve a nice brown top in a short time, the oven has to be very HOT. Here’s something you can do besides preheating for 30 minutes:
Use the convection bake (oven with fan). This worked like a miracle. I had tested using a regular conventional oven (no fan), but I couldn’t achieve the ‘burnished’ top. Once I switched over to the oven with fan, bam, the perfect burnt top right away! Circulating air with a fan definitely helps to distribute hot air evenly inside the oven. Preheat the conventional oven at a higher temperature. I preheated the oven to 550ºF (290ºC) for 30-45 minutes! If you don’t have a fan to circulate the air, you can position the rack at a higher location as the heat rises and the top of the oven will be hotter. Be careful the parchment paper is not touching your heating element.
Tip #2: Use parchment paper.
Don’t skip or substitute it. And double line it to ensure there aren’t any unlined parts. If your cake pan is not 3 inches deep, you may need to fold the parchment paper up to support the rising cake batter (but make sure the paper is not touching the heating element in the oven)
Tip #3: Bring the cream cheese, eggs, and heavy cream to room temperature.
Room temperature ingredients blend together very easily, creating a smooth batter. A smooth batter will yield a uniform textured baked good. Cold ingredients do not incorporate together as easily. You can microwave the cream cheese to warm up, and I share the instructions in the recipe.
Tip #4: Avoid lumps!
Lumps are so hard to get rid of. It’s easier to prevent creating lumps than get rid of them. There are two ways to avoid them:
Mix the batter completely and thoroughly before adding the next ingredient. Frequently scrape off the chunks and clumps of cream cheese mixture from the spatula and mixing bowl. As you go further along each step, the batter gets more liquid, which means it’s harder to get rid of lumps. So if you see any lumps, get rid of them as soon as possible.
You can press the spatula down in a rubbing motion to remove the cream cheese lumps. You may still end up with clumping. Don’t worry too much as it will dissolve while baking. But in general, you don’t want to create lumps.
Tip #5: Mix the matcha with a small amount of batter first.
No one wants spotty green cheesecake. Matcha tends to clump together when the dry fine powder hits the liquid. Whenever you want to add matcha to liquid or batter, remember to take out a portion and create a “matcha paste” first. It’s easier to blend the paste into the liquid/batter.
Tip #6: Release the air bubbles before baking.
After making these cakes with different tools for fun (stand mixer, electric hand mixer, blender, whisk, and spatula), I learned that mixing the cheesecake batter with a silicone spatula creates fewer air bubbles and makes pretty consistent cheesecake. If you use a mixer and your batter has a lot of air bubbles, make sure to tap the cake pan on the countertop to release the air pockets. You can also run a skewer through the batter and pop the air bubbles. This will help create a smooth, glistening surface on the cake so you don’t have a bubbly top or a major collapse because the cake rose too high.
Tip #7: Open/close the oven door fast and don’t lose the hot air!
I know this may sound like common sense, but I was once a beginner baker who took my time to put the cake pan in the preheated oven, leaving the oven door open for a long time. Since you worked extra hard to preheat the oven for 30–45 minutes, don’t lose the heat by leaving open the oven door!
Tip #8: Use my bake time as a guide only.
Every oven is different when it comes to size and how it works. My relatively new oven is not perfect. It has hot spots, and the internal temperature doesn’t seem to be the same as what the display says. It can be a headache, but you and your oven will get to know each other through baking. So you have to determine when to take the cheesecake out of the oven by looking at 2 things: 1) the color of the cheesecake surface and 2) the baking time. DO NOT keep baking just because you don’t get enough of a caramelized top. You do not want to eat overcooked cheesecake. The cake is done while it is still wobbly in the middle. So take it out even if the top doesn’t turn deep brown.
Tip #9: Control the doneness of the cheesecake to your liking.
You may not be able to achieve the perfect texture on your first try as you need to learn what you like (texture-wise) and how your oven works. However, as you figure out the details, it’s totally possible to customize the doneness of the cheesecake. For a creamy texture:
Bake the normal length of time in the oven. The cheesecake filling will firm up as it cools to create a creamy yet firm texture. You can serve once it’s at room temperature. If you chill it, take it out 30 minutes prior to serving.
For a firmer texture:
Bake a bit longer time in the oven. Chill in the fridge for a longer time. Take out 10 minutes before serving or serve it cold.
For an oozy texture in the middle:
Bake the cheesecake for a lesser amount of time. Chill overnight. To slice the cake nicely, refrigeration is necessary.
Tip #10: Be patient and let it cool completely.
Let the cheesecake rest and set as it sinks down. It will continue to slowly bake and solidify with the residual heat. Refrigerate only after the cake is at room temperature so that the hot/warm cake will not spoil other foods in the fridge. Serve it at room temperature for a softer, custardy filling, or take out the cheesecake from the fridge for 30 minutes before serving, or serve it cold for a firm filling. When you cut, warm your knife with hot water. I fill a tall mug cup with boiling water and dunk the knife in it before each slice. Bring a towel or paper towel to quickly wipe the knife. Cut in one slicing motion and pull out the knife so each slice of the cake has a clean cut. If your cake is chilled/cold, may I suggest warming it up a little in the microwave? We thought it brings out the flavor of the cream cheese and it’s actually very delicious! I can’t get the top to burn nicely. What can I do? I can relate, and I really struggled with my oven, too. Here’s what helped me:
Use the convection oven. Preheat at a higher temperature. I’ve tried preheating my oven to the hottest 550ºF (290ºC) for a long time, and it seemed to help. Bake at a higher temperature. Bake at a higher rack as heat rises so the upper oven is supposed to be hotter. However, if your oven is top heating, make sure the parchment paper is not touching the heating element/ceiling.
Can I use a bigger cake pan size? I mentioned earlier that you can multiply the recipe by 2 to accommodate a 3-inch deep, 7-inch round pan. Or, you can multiply the recipe by 2.5 to accommodate a 3-inch deep, 8-inch round pan. You will need to increase the baking time, but since I’ve never tried it, I am not sure how long it will take. As I mentioned in the post, I still recommend making two 6-inch cakes if you want to increase the serving size. It will take slightly longer to bake as you have multiple pans in the oven. My cake has cracks on top. What can I do? When I made my cake batter with a stand mixer or a handheld whisk, the cake batter rose higher and sometimes unevenly, but then collapsed and cracked. It seemed inevitable as more air bubbles were trapped inside. I’ve tried tapping the cake pan, popping the air bubbles, and resting the batter before baking, which helps a little. But don’t worry too much about the cracks from when the cheesecake settles, as cracks on the burnt top are not so visible like other cheesecakes. Since I switched to using only the spatula, I had no issue with cracking at all. When I am mixing/blending the ingredients, I don’t see many air bubbles either, so you may want to try using a spatula if these cracks bother you. How can I achieve a smooth, shiny surface? Mine looks bubbly. I baked a few cheesecakes with tiny bubbles on the surface before. I’m sure the batter in your cake pan had tiny bubbles before baking it too, or they rose while baking. Follow the same method I shared in the previous Q&A. Why does my cheesecake have a gooey, raw texture in the middle? I assume your cake has a gooey texture even after you chill the cake. If so, then you have to bake the cake a little longer next time. My oven doesn’t work the same way as yours, and I can only provide suggested baking time or baking temperature using my own oven. Oh, one last tip: have fun! This is important when comes to baking. My Matcha Basque Burnt Cheesecake recipe is going to win your heart on its way to your tummy. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
