I wanted to make a corn dessert of some kind, just to embrace the seasonality of corn. Corn is just naturally so much sweeter and juicier during the summer, and it makes for some really great desserts because of that. I wanted to make a basque cheesecake, pureeing sweet corn into it, and just to add a contrast, I made a lemon-blueberry compote, for the acidity and to counteract the richness of the cheesecake itself! One of my favorite desserts I had when I lived in Boston was this blueberry-corn-lemon cheesecake at Waypoint restaurant. It helped me better wrap my own head around the concept of corn in desserts, and especially on the pairing of tart blueberry with sweet corn, and how that could be a very memorable flavor contrast. I wanted to do something in line with that, but instead of a plated cheesecake dessert, which is what I had, a basque cheesecake instead. Basque cheesecakes are fun to make, because they are meant to be ugly, with the burn-ish cratered top. I will admit I overcooked mine slightly, so I did adjust the baking temp and time, just to ensure that yours won’t overcook(I did 425 F at 35 minutes, but that caused my mixture to curdle). This recipe is fairly simple to make, so long as you don’t overcook the cheesecake, since you make essentially a blueberry jam, and then make the cheesecake batter in the blender, which ensures you won’t have a lumpy cheesecake going into the oven. The best part is that you get enough batter for 2 cheesecakes, one to eat for now, and one to eat for later when fall/seasonal depression kicks in and you want to reminisce about warmer times.

Makes 2 6-inch cheesecakes:
For the blueberry compote:
Juice and zest from 1 lemon
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
2 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup water

In a pot, bring everything to a simmer on low heat until the blueberries completely soften and the liquid is cooked down by half. Allow the compote to fully cool before attempting to add to the cheesecake batter.

For the sweet corn basque cheesecake:
2 ears corn
4oz heavy cream
4oz whole milk
16oz cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
a pinch of salt
2 tsp lemon zest

Simmer the corn in cream and milk for 15 minutes. Shuck the corn, scraping the bits out of the cobs, and add that into a blender(kernels and scraped contents of the corn cobs), along with the heated cream, milk, and heavy cream. Puree until smooth, then egg to that the egg, vanilla bean paste, salt, and lemon zest, blending that all into the mixture as well. Divide the batter between two lined 6-inch ring molds with parchment, making sure to use enough for it to go up the sides. Swirl into each the blueberry compote. Bake the cheesecakes at 450 degrees F for 25 minutes. Allow the cheesecakes to fully cool before unmolding.