Mahón Cheescake with Honey and Fig Spread

Burnt Basque cheesecake with Mahón, finished with orange-blossom honey and fig spread

Most burnt Basque cheesecakes use cream cheese. This one uses semi-cured Mahón — the Balearic cow's cheese with a salty edge and a milk-fat body. The result is a dessert that drifts savory before it turns sweet. Orange-blossom honey and black fig spread pull it back into pudding territory. A plate that works at the end of a long dinner when no one wants another glass of red, but everyone wants one more spoon.

Ingredients

Award-winning Mahon Spanish Cow Cheese “Semi-Cured” 8 oz
Orange Blossom Honey from Spain. 12.3 oz.
All natural Black Fig fruit spread. 11.6 oz.

Preparation

Grate 8 oz Mahón cheese on the small holes of a box grater.
In a stand mixer, beat 16 oz cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Add the Mahón and beat 1 minute more.
Add 4 large eggs one at a time, scraping down between each. Add 1 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tsp vanilla, pinch of salt. Mix on low until homogenous — do not overbeat.
Line an 8-inch springform pan with two sheets of parchment, crumpled and pressed in so the edges rise above the rim. Pour in the batter.
Bake at 425°F / 220°C for 45–50 minutes. The top should be deeply mahogany, almost black in spots; the center should wobble when you shake the pan.
Cool at room temperature 2 hours. Do not refrigerate — the texture should stay loose.
Warm 3 tbsp orange blossom honey with 2 tbsp black fig spread and 1 tsp lemon juice. Loosen with a spoon of warm water.
Slice a wedge, pool the warm honey-fig syrup at the base, arrange two halved fresh black figs (if in season) or a quenelle of fig spread, and scatter chopped pistachios.