The best gochujang basque cheesecake I’ve ever made and it’s gluten-free

I also made a vegan version for you

Dear friends,

Growing up, my mother and I never baked cookies together. Our oven was the de facto house for all our pots and pans, and I kid you not, we did not own any baking sheets. While baking was a rare activity in my childhood home back in Coney Island, my mother did bake two western desserts. One was cheesecake and the other an airy chiffon cake (it was my grandmother, Ah Ma’s recipe, may she rest in peace).

While Mom’s cheesecake never won her any awards, everyone who ate it loved it. It was smooth and creamy. And her secret? Well, she just used the recipe published in the back of a Philadelphia original cream cheese box—you know, that silver box with blue letters. But she added one extra thing, which was lots of lemon juice.

As an avid baker these days, I channel my mother’s energy in the kitchen and often add more flavor to standard recipes. Take a basque cheesecake, for example. A vanilla-flavored one is stellar, as is, with the caramelized burnt top and the creamy center. But what if you add a little gochujang to the mix? Thanks to fermentation, this spicy condiment from Korea is so flavorful and nuanced, adding depth and complexity to cheesecake. Plus, it adds this vibrant orange, making one think they’re about to slice into a whole baked wheel of cheddar cheese.

You can blend cocoa powder to elevate this cheesecake further, but I recommend trying it as is first. And if you don’t have a blender, be sure to soften both the cream cheese and butter first, and you can do so in a microwave. You want to cream the butter and cream cheese together until super fluffly and creamy before mixing in the other ingredients. A blender, like my refurbished Vitamix, makes everything easier.

For those of you who can’t do dairy or need a vegan cheesecake recipe, I’ve got you. Check out my vegan gochujang basque cheesecake recipe.

Happy baking, dear friends!

xoxoxo,

Kat

PS: My mom made this cheesecake, by the way! <3

And below is the reel for the vegan version:

katlieu

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The Best Gochujang Basque Cheesecake Recipe by Kat Lieu

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 2 bars cream cheese (standard Philadelphia cream cheese bars), softened

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 3 large eggs

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 tablespoon gochujang, to taste (check labels because not all gochujang is gluten-free), plus more for swirling into the top of the cake

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the center. Crumple and uncrumple a large sheet of parchment paper. Line an 8-inch baking pan with the parchment paper. An overhang is fine. You can also use a springform pan if that's what you have.

2. Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. You want to add the wetter ingredients first and chop up the cream cheese and butter to make blending easier. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the blender bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. The next step of optional. For more spice and heat, drop small dollops of gochujang onto the top and swirl with a butter knife or offset spatula.

4. Bake for 20 minutes before raising the temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (raise to 475 F if your oven tends to run cooler) and bake for an additional 10 minutes. You want a nicely burnt but not blackened top while the center remains wobbly.

5. Remove from the oven and set on the counter to cool for a few minutes before covering to refrigerate, or since it's so cold in Seattle these days, I cover the cake and leave it outdoors to chill overnight.

6. Before serving, dust the top with confectioners' sugar or paprika, or a mix of both, or add a bit of bougie with edible gold foil. Enjoy!

For my premium subscribers, here are the full instructions on properly mixing cheesecake batter without a blender…