Burnt Cheesecakes

If it isn’t evident by now, my love for these oozy, creamy, molten burnt cheesecakes ain’t dying any time soon. So when Burnt Bakes asked if I would wanna try their newly launched Vanilla & Thyme burnt cheesecake, I replied with a resounding “Hell yeah!!” Obviously I was totes excited slicing into this, and would you look. At. That. Creamy. Center. Let me tell y’all, I took this shot with the cheesecake right outta the fridge. No resting, no letting it come to room temp; it was this crazily silky smooth and luscious. In fact I dare say that, texture-wise, this was the best burnt cheesecake I’ve had. Period. As for the flavour: simply put, the thyme was strong with this one. Now imma big fan of thyme myself so I enjoyed the flavours immensely. If you aren’t the thyme may come across too aggressive, but fret not they’ve got other flavours coming up!! And if you love burnt cheesecakes as much as I do, I’d say check em out. Pronto. Before you have to get yourselves on waiting lists and all 🙃 They’re currently only on e-commerce so just check out @burntbakessg on IG if you’re looking for em 😉

What I can tell you though, is that this one by Bakery Brera is superb and definitely worth trying. Idk if it’s cause I lugged it all the way home and refrigerated it before eating (I did let it rest out for about 30min), but my slice wasn’t molten and oozy like the others I see online. STILL, the mousse-like texture mine had instead was still amazing. It was soft, light, airy, and literally melts in your mouth. What’s interesting here is the top’s definitely burnt in the bitter carbon, not the nice Maillard reaction, sorta way, but they’ve drizzled a little bit of (what I assume is) syrup over it, and that definitely helps balance it out. It wasn’t too sweet either, and I ate the whole thing in one sitting so...that says a lot 🤤 They’re also doing self-arranged deliveries atm so you can satisfy your cravings right from home 😉

I popped by last weekend hoping to get one of their burnt cheesecakes, but my favourite Two Face was out so what the heck I decided to give the Pandan one a go. SO GOOD. Discernible pandan flavour + not overly sweet + a subtle hint of fragrant coconut + perfect custardy centre = happy happy me.

You can clearly see from the picture how dense and stiff the centre is, which sure may not suggest a good basque burnt cheesecake with a molten centre but could still turn out to be a really good creamy cheesecake; but no, it really was extremely tough and dense. It was definitely over-baked and had an exceedingly odd gummy texture — not pleasant at all, to say the least. The creamy salted caramel was a saving grace here (I loved it), but that was pretty much it. I left half the cake unfinished 🙃

It’s clear from the photo how Gallery & Co.’s take (priced at $8.50) doesn’t have the creamy, melty, oozy centres we associate with these burnt cheesecakes. Don’t get me wrong, as far as cheesecakes go this is an amazingly delicious one. It’s got just enough tang, ain’t overly sweet, and definitely boasts that creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture that will one-up regular NY cheesecakes. The accompanying chantilly cream is worthy of praise as well with its cloud-like ethereal texture 👌🏻 One thing though: the top is definitely burnt. I’m sure when they say “burnt” cheesecake they’re referring to that Maillard reaction and that beautiful resulting caramelisation, but over here it’s 100% burnt for sure — in the traditional, turned to carbon, bitter af sense. Not the most pleasant.

A little embarrassed to say this is the first burnt cheesecake I’ve tried (bite me), but I’m glad I started with this. Just look at that lovely, molten centre. Just stare at it. So so creamy, so utterly decadent. This is the first of their burnt cheesecakes I’ve tried (they do an original and pandan flavoured one as well), and I have to say I loved how absolutely well the original and matcha layers balance out. The original on its own it’s like the most luscious, decadent cheesecake which, though exceedingly delicious don’t get me wrong, can get a little too sweet and heavy after awhile. That’s where the beautifully earthy and slightly bitter matcha cheesecake steps in to reign things in. The ratio’s perfect 👌🏻