La Viña cheese cake

How to make a La Viña cake

Attention lovers of cheesecakes because today’s dessert will delight you.

This is the La Viña cake, the most popular sweet in the “ La Viña ” bar-restaurant in the old part of San Sebastian and well-known among lovers of good food and gastronomy.

The creator of this cake is Santiago Rivera, owner of the restaurant and bar, who has never been shy about sharing it with the media.

Hence, we can replicate it and eat exactly the same in our homes. It is simple, quick to do and is slow to die. There is no excuse for not preparing it.

The original recipe is prepared with 1 kilo of cream cheese, 7 eggs, 400 grams of sugar, half a liter of cream and a tablespoon or tablespoon and a half of flour.

With these quantities a huge tart comes out that weighs around two kilos. It is baked in a 26 cm pan and in La Viña it is divided into 12 very generous portions.

We have used an 18 cm one so we have adapted it and, even with everything, we have left 8 portions that could well have been stretched to 10.

It is a recipe that gives a lot of play and that can be accompanied by fresh red fruits or jam to provide a point of acidity. The perfect culmination for a special meal.

Preparation of the base of the cake

1. We moisten a sheet of vegetable paper (to make it more malleable) and line the base and walls of an 18 cm high-walled mold with it.
2. This is an important point, since the cake grows slightly in the oven and prevents it from overflowing.
3. We preheat the oven. We turn on the oven, with heat above and below, at 220º C.
4. Mix the cream cheese, sugar and eggs in a bowl, stirring until smooth.
5. They should all be at room temperature, especially cheese, to make the task easier.
6. Then add the flour and stir again until integrated.
7. Finally we incorporate the cream, beat to obtain a fine and homogeneous mass and fill the mold. There should be no remains of cheese or lumps of flour.

You can see all the step-by-step photos of this Viña cake recipe  in this album.

Baking cheesecake

1. We place the oven tray on the bottom and on it the mold.
2. We cook for 40 minutes with temperature above and below.
3. We turn off the oven and let the cake cool and rest inside, with the door ajar, for 4 or 5 hours before removing.
4. We can consume after rest, accompanying the fruit tart, coulis or red fruit jam, although it is much richer if we let it rest in the fridge and eat it the next day.

If you want to make the La Viña cake in a larger version, with a 23 cm mold. Here you have the video that I recorded with friend Jota.

Do not miss it, it is flavored with a little vanilla, a variation on the traditional recipe.

Tips for a perfect La Viña cake

• Liquid whipping cream has a high fat content and, in theory, could be substituted for cooking cream. The result is not the same and the cake loses flavor and creaminess, however it can be done and thereby reduce the caloric content.
• The better the cream cheese, the tastier the result will be. If you are lucky enough to get an artisan, go ahead for him.
• The dough must be homogeneous, without lumps or gobs of cheese or flour. To make it easier it is important that the ingredients are at room temperature and that we start by whisking the cream cheese when mixing the ingredients.
• In case of making the original cake with the amounts mentioned in the introduction, you must increase the baking time so that the cake is not raw in the center. For a 23 cm mold the time is about 50 minutes.
• Although this cake can be easily made with a bowl and fork, the mixture is much finer if we use a mixer or robot.
• Hold the urge to devour it as it tempers. It is a cake that wins with the rest and the cool of the fridge. Much better from one day to the next.