I’ve made Basque cheesecakes before, but I wanted to try making another flavor, using leftover use paste that I had in my refrigerator. You know, a two in one. Practice a baked good, and also use up an ingredient/flavor that I have not necessarily touched in a while. Ube is a Filipino purple yam, and it is sweet, starchy, and works well with creamy textures, such as a cheesecake! The end result was actually pretty great. The Basque cheesecake had a fragrant nuttiness to it from using the ube, while the purple color was pleasant – I will admit I cheated and use açaí powder to lock in that purpleness, since ube on its own might not necessarily have as strong of a purple color after baking. In the interest of time(and me wanting to shove cheesecake into my mouth faster), I opted for mini Basque cheesecakes, since they will obviously bake faster, so I can get my cheesecake on with having to wait less. The beauty of this cheesecake, besides the flavor and the already cut into a quarter cooking time, is that it is MEANT to be imperfect. Basque cheesecake is the textbook ugly-delicious cheesecake that anyone who is afraid of baking would be looking for. The top is meant to be almost burnt, the sides can be lumpy and uneven, the cheesecake should be collapsed, and the middle can be raw as well! I love that it is perfectly imperfect.

Makes three individual cheesecakes:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup ube paste
1 tablespoon açaí powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
a pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In a bowl, whip together your cream cheese, sugar, ube, açaí, vanilla, butter, and salt until the mixture is a smooth, creamy texture. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in the heavy cream and flour to finish. Line three 4-inch springform cake tins with parchment. Fill the pans with the batter. Bake at 485 degrees F for 15 minutes. Trim any excess parchment that is hanging over the tin, and return the tins to the oven, on broil, for a minute, or until the tops are almost black. Allow the cakes to cool at room temperature for at least 5 minutes before transferring to the freezer for an hour. Allow the cakes to freeze for an hour before removing and serving.