Poppy Seed Basque Cheesecake

Ingredients

Base

• 70g Fava Bean Flour
• 150g Pecan Nuts
• Large Pinch of Sea Salt
• 60g Butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 15g Muscovado Sugar
• ¼ tsp Nutmeg

Prune Filling

• 300g Soft Prunes (the softest you can find)
• Zest from 1 Medium Lemon
• 60ml Lemon Juice (roughly 2 lemons)
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 3 tsp Maple Syrup
• ¼ tsp Cardamom
• ¼ tsp Allspice
• ¼ tsp Ground Ginger
• ¼ tsp Ground Fennel Seed
• ¼ tsp Ground Coriander Seed
• ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
• 1 tsp Cinnamon

Basque Filling

• 900g Cream Cheese
• 200g Double Cream
• 200g Sour Cream
• 6 Eggs
• 8g Salt
• 160g Caster Sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 30g Ground Poppy Seeds
• 10g Quinoa Four

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a smaller baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Blend all the dry ingredients for the base in a blender. It doesn't have to be completely smooth, it's best if there are some bits of nuts left for the crunch.
3. Add the cold butter cut into small cubes and blend briefly, so it has a crumbly texture. Now tip it onto your prepared tray, spread evenly, and and bake for about 13 minutes, stirring it mid way. It will be lightly golden and will smell beautifully. When it's ready, put it into the fridge for a bit and line a cake tin with baking parchment.
4. When the mix is cold, take it out of the fridge and using your fingers, press it evenly in the bottom of the tin. Now put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes, so it firms up.
5. Now it's time for the prune filling. Put all the ingredients in a smaller pan, bring to a boil and let it simmer lightly for about 3 minutes. When it's ready, take it off the heat and blitz into a paste using a stick blender. It should be fairly easy, but if you feel it's too tough, you can add a little bit more hot water and lemon juice until it reaches a spreadable consistency. Now set aside and let it cool down
6. Take out the cake tin from the freezer and spread the cooled down spiced prune filling evenly over the base. Set the oven to 200°C.
7. Prepare two bowls and have all your ingredients for the main filling ready at hand, so you can add them as you go. Tip the sour cream and double cream into a bowl, gently combine using a spatula and sift in the flour and gently fold it in.
8. Put cream cheese in the other bowl and whisk on low speed to loosen it, so it's smooth. Add the sugar and salt and keep whisking, so the sugar and dissolve. If you're using a hand mixer, it's best not to mix it too vigorously, so air bubbles don't form.
9. Keep mixing and start adding the eggs, one by one, always waiting for the egg to incorporate into the mix. Check if the mix keeps building up on the sides of the bowl, and if so, pause for a bit and scrape it into the middle using a spatula. Add the vanilla extract and mix briefly. The mix should be light and smooth.
10. Add the cream, flour and poppy seed mix from the other bowl and mix it in briefly at low speed, so everything is well incorporated. Now pour it into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 minutes.
11. When the cake is out of the oven, leave it to cool down to room temperature and then let it sit in the fridge ideally over night or for at least 4-5 hours, so it's easy to slice and the flavours have time to evolve.