Brûlée Basque Cheesecake

This week I want to take you through my favourite bites and give you a recipe for what I think is the ultimate valentines day dessert. It’s simple, fun and indulgent all whilst seeming pretty impressive too.

The best things I ate this week:

1. Bacon sarnie from La Patisserie

This bacon sarnie caught me off guard. We spent a few days down in Shoreham with Basil and after a pretty cold and miserable dog walk were looking to seek refuge in a warm cafe, preferably one that served bacon inside bread. To my delight, there was a big sign, clearly crafted by someone who had just discovered Microsoft Word, that not only confirmed the presence of bacon between pieces of bread but also kindly advertised the bargain price of £3.40. On top of that, it seemed to be the only thing on the menu that didn’t have an ‘eating in’ surcharge which was music to my cheap little ears. By this point I was already pretty happy: in the warmth, bacon enroute and all at half the price I expected in such an establishment. Little did I know, things were about to get a whole lot better. The bacon sarnie arrived on a plateful of surprises. Firstly, it was in a baguette, which these days feels slightly left field. I was not expecting that but it was a pleasant first surprise. Secondly and most importantly, was the bread in which the bacon was housed.

This baguette was the most divine baguette I’d e’er laid my eyes, fingers or lips on. I didn’t realise how thin and crispy you could get the outer crust of a baguette until I tasted this. Nor did I realise how, in contrast, soft, pillowy and springy you could make the bready innards. I could’ve sat on that baguette and it would sprung back to life, slowly and smoothly. The bread was airy and so lightly, I could’ve put four of them away and still felt pretty happy but that would’ve been a little bit glutenous (it’s a clever joke). I know you want to know about the bacon - it was good bacon, good streaky bacon but in all honestly it was not the star of the show. You could’ve shoved a shoe in that baguette and I’d be writing about a shoe sarnie in the same vein as I’m writing about this bacon sarnie. The cafe is called La Patisserie in Shoreham, alongside their rushed Microsoft Word bacon sarnie sign they have a delightful range of sweet and savoury pastries and of course a back wall full of their delicious breads. What a place.

2. Pork belly bagel

There’s an unintentional theme to the best things I’ve eaten this week – the beauty of the pig. This pork belly bagel was constructed as follows:

• Toasted everything bagel

• Coleman’s mustard

• Spinach leaves

• Hot slices of pork belly with crispy crackling attached

• Apple sauce

• Toasted everything bagel

I have a tendency to make or opt for food that is a bit extravagant – sandwiches that don’t easily fit into my mouth or dishes with bold, in-your-face flavours – but this, in my eyes, was fairly understated and, unlike the bacon sarnie, allowed the pork to be the star of the show without overpowering it.

It’s probably important at this stage in my gushing review, to confess that this bagel was in fact made by myself. I made a pork belly roast the night before which was everything you’d want from a pork belly roast but the byproduct of it, the bagel, was really the true star. I cut the pork belly into thin strips and then air fried it to give the crackling a final blast to revive its crispiness. It worked a treat. Then I sandwiched it between the two condiments, leaves and the bagel halves to create a beautifully balanced bagel with texture and flavour. The pork was moist but crackling crunchy, the bagel soft but spinach leaves had a little bite. The Coleman’s added a tingle of spice that was immediately mellowed out by sweet apple sauce. It was, without blowing my own trumpet, a masterclass in balanced bagel making. Note to self: just because you said ‘without blowing my own trumpet’ it doesn’t stop you sounding like a self indulgent twat.

Brûlée Basque Cheesecake - Valentines Day Dessert

I think this dessert is ideal for valentines day. Blow torching is the perfect couple’s activity if not slightly dangerous but don’t they say that danger is sexy? It’s a pretty straight forward dessert but quite impressive nonetheless. Make it the day before to take away any stress on the night.

Ingredients:

• Cream cheese - 165g

• Caster sugar - 60g

• Double cream - 90g

• Eggs - 1 large

• Vanilla bean paste - ¼ tsp

• Salt - pinch

• Pain flour - 10g

• Granulated sugar for brûlée top (caster sugar is also fine)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. Beat together the cream cheese and caster sugar before adding in the double cream and mixing again. Once fully combined, add in the egg and mix well then add the vanilla paste and salt. Sift in the flour and mix until it’s just about dissolved.

3. Decant into two ramekins.

4. Add the ramekins to an oven tray and fill with boiling water 2 cm high.

5. Place the tray in the oven for 20 minutes or until they have a slight wobble but a pretty set.

6. Remove the cheesecakes and cool, refrigerate overnight.

7. Sprinkle granulated sugar over the cheesecakes just before serving and blowtorch until crystallised and hard. You can place them under a very hot grill but it doesn’t work as well as a blow torch.