Where it comes from
San Sebastián (La Viña bar, 1988)
Fifteen years ago it was on no counter in the province; today it is missing from almost none. The oven-baked cheesecake — browned almost to burnt outside, creamy and nearly liquid in the middle — has become the default cake of Spanish pastry shops.
The version that won out is the one known as the “tarta de queso de La Viña”, after the San Sebastián pintxo bar where Santiago Rivera created it in 1988. Its popularity online through the 2010s did the rest.
People now order it by the slice in the province’s obradores, alongside the sweets of always, and it is the cake most often ordered whole for a birthday.
What it is made with
- Cream cheese
- Cream
- Egg
- Sugar
- Flour
- Pastry shops and obradores across the province