Can I Use Frozen Blackberries For The Basque Cheesecake?

Asked by jalebailey. Answered on 25th January 2023

Full question

I really like the recipe of the Basque Burnt Cheesecake. We have a blackberry bush in our garden and every year we get loads of delicious blackberries and freeze most of them. Can I use frozen blackberries for the recipe? Thank you

Image of Nigella's Basque Burnt Cheesecake — Photo by Jonathan Lovekin

Basque Burnt Cheesecake With Liquorice Sauce

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Basque Burnt Cheesecake (from COOK, EAT, REPEAT) bakes the cheesecake in a very hot oven for a short time, a departure from Nigella's normal gentle water bath method of cheesecake cooking. Nigella serves the cheesecake with fresh blackberries and a liquorice sauce.

Frozen berries are good for using in sauces but tend to be slightly diasppopinting when thawed, as they tend to turn a little mushy and let out water. You may be able to cook them very gently from frozen with a little sugar to make a compote. They will still be soft but wild berries should make a perfumed syrup that should go well with the cheesecake. However, you can serve the cheesecake with any fresh berries that happen to be available in your supermarket, garden or greengrocer, and fresh raspberries or blueberries (which many supermarkets have in stock all year round) would probably be better options than frozen berries. For the frozen blackberries we would instead suggest trying Nigella's Blackberry Crisp or Blackberry Galette, where you can cook the berries direct from frozen.