So I was scouring the internet, and found this gorgeous rectangular cheesecake with a bruleed top, that was sold by the popular Japanese brand, Mr. Cheesecake. That store features these rectangular slabs of cheesecake with a caramelized top and a custard-like center – think like a more aesthetically pleasing basque cheesecake. What was cool was that their site actually shared a recipe on how to make Mr. Cheesecake as home, which intrigued me even further when it came to potentially making this myself. However, I did not want to just straight up body the recipe they used. So I made some changes. Firstly, with the same, I went with a black and white sesame cheesecake, just because I loved the idea of marbling the two batters. Compared to the provided Mr. Cheesecake recipe, I did sub out the listed yogurt and sour cream with a cultured heavy cream, made by adding vinegar or lemon juice to heavy cream, in a similar fashion to making buttermilk. I felt like it would just be easier to use heavy cream instead of buying both sour cream and yogurt. I also used a bit more cream cheese compared to their recipe, as well as tahini paste, both of which provide more body and structure for the cheesecake, while in the case of the tahini, adding in a background of sesame flavor. All in all, it was a fun baseline inspiration and I loved the end result – the cheesecake was creamy, smooth, and had all of the best parts of both a basque cheesecake and a creme brulee in one! And the funniest part of all of this is that the recipe itself is 100% gluten-free!

For this recipe, it actually is not too difficult to make. A lot of the recipe would be done quickly if you own an immersion blender – you just want the cheesecake filling to be smooth, creamy, and homogenous. White chocolate is used as a setting agent for the cheesecake itself, so that does need to be melted down before being mixed in with the other ingredients. The cheesecakes(yes plural because this recipe makes 2 small ones) should be baked in a water bath to ensure a smooth texture and an even bake. The bruleed top is easier to achieve with a blowtorch, though if you freeze the cheesecakes solid, you may be able to get away with using your broiler as well. I will say that freezing the cheesecakes solid is a better play overall, since it guarantees that the cheesecakes won’t look manhandled when you attempt to unmold them. I personally froze my cheesecakes solid to guarantee an easier time removing them, since I found that the cheesecake even after it is chilled has a very soft, custard-like texture(think just slightly softer and less jiggly than flan but still delicate). Overall, I fell in love with making cheesecakes this way, and I definitely will be using this recipe, or variations of it, in the near future! It was a relatively simple recipe once you get the white chocolate melted down, the end product was delicious, and outside of having to freeze the cheesecakes solid first, it really is not too difficult to make, just mildly time-consuming!

Makes two 6-inch by 3-inch cheesecakes:
8oz heavy cream, in two parts
1.5oz vinegar or lemon juice
3.5oz granulated sugar
50g tahini paste
2oz white chocolate
8oz cream cheese
3.5oz granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
.5oz vanilla bean paste
a pinch of salt
1oz corn starch
1.5oz black sesame powder

In a bowl, mix vinegar with one part of the heavy cream. In another bowl, heat up the heavy cream with tahini paste and white chocolate, and allow everything to dissolve together. In another bowl, cream together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, egg yolks, vanilla bean paste, and cornstarch. Pour the tahini-white chocolate cream into the cream cheese and mix those two together. Then whisk the vinegar’d/lemon juice’d heavy cream through the cream cheese mixture to form your batter. Split the batter in half, and mix into half of it the black sesame powder. Line two mini loaf pans with cooking spray. Then swirl the two batters between the two loaf pans. Place the pans into a warm water bath. Bake the loaves for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F then 300 degrees F for another 20 minutes. Freeze the cakes until completely solid before gently attempting to unmold the cakes – I used an offset spatula to gently loosen the cheesecakes from the pans.

For garnish:
Granulated sugar
Sesame seeds, toasted

Sprinkle sugar on top of each cheesecake and using a blowtorch, brulee the sugar until it caramelizes into a thin layer on top. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top to finish.