Pete Fred

@Jim D. I just ignored it (and the lemon). I'd be interested to try it with the inclusions; I'm always up for a challenging dessert!

@liuzhou In the Ivy version the berries are plated for five minutes to "lose their chill" then the sauce added. When I had it the berries ranged from warmed to still frozen. That's all I can tell you.

@liuzhou Not all the berries defrost. There is a range.

Back in the 90s when The (original) Ivy restaurant in London relaunched, a dessert that had its moment was "Scandinavian Iced Berries with Hot White Chocolate Sauce", created on the recommendation of a customer who had something similar in Sweden, apparently. Recipe via Ina Garten here (although The Ivy always stuck to small berries).

@Katie Meadow Specifically, it was a 1.5x version of this one (partly using crème fraîche, and minus the oil and lemon), which itself is not dissimilar to this one. But when I looked around most recipes seemed to broadly follow these ratios. Yup, it was good. I'm not sure the subtle 'burnt' flavour is a game changer, but it certainly looks nice. The outside also baked up a little firmer, so the transition from smooth and creamy to rich and dense was most appealing.

Basque cheesecake 2.0... This time I cooked it in a regular oven. The last one was only a two-thirds mix and somewhat protected from the heat. This time I filled to the brim so the surface was more exposed... I wasn't quite sure when to pull it, but stuck with 57C/135F figuring the greater depth might give me a few more degrees of carryover, and it seemed to work fine.

Sticking with the fruity theme... Honey and Grand Marnier roasted figs, with crème fraîche. One of the fig trees bears fruit around now, and again in early September. The ones at this time of year are always disappointing, so this was an attempt to zhuzh them up a bit. Unsuccessfully, as it turned out.

Peaches poached in white wine and vanilla... Served with a little Madagascan vanilla fromage frais and a drizzle of the poaching liquor... Can't imagine I'll eat anything better this summer.

Here's an example with the OG chocolate fondant.

@Susanwusan I often make individual cakes in small mousse/entremet rings (10cm/4-inch). I just scale the recipes down and it seems to work fine. I usually seal the bottoms with tin foil, but if your tray isn't warped or the batter too runny, any leaks soon seal themselves in the oven. I've seen plenty of videos of bakeries do this.

Well, unleashing the flamethrower did not salvage matters... It just smelled, and to a lesser extent tasted, burnt. Still, I could get used to cheesecake - burnt or not - for breakfast.

I'm not confident my puny toaster oven will get that deeply caramelised/burnt look. I might just see what happens if I stick it under the grill or flamethrower it! While I'd like to achieve that signature look, La Viña seem to have a variety of colours and textures, so I'll attempt to peddle that as my excuse. 🤨

@Smithy I'm quite partial to that burnt dairy flavour so will have to figure out a way to get more colour without impacting the texture too negatively.

Basque cheesecake is not something I've made or even had, so time to dip my toe in... I resisted the temptation to chase a bronzed top and pulled it at 57C/135F. It carried over to 63C/145F... After taking the chill off to serve... While the ooze has a certain visual appeal, I'll probably pull it at 60C/140F next time for a slightly firmer set - the creamier part didn't taste as cheesecake-y as the rest. I know Basque cheesecake is having its moment these last few years but I didn't find it anything remarkable, just a nice cheesecake. I liked its simple, rustic charm. Next time I'll do a deeper one.

What the French/Germans think the "American Way" of eating is still tickles me. I think they're just trolling now. Next week in Lidl...