Japanese Velvety Cheesecake 日式轻乳酪蛋糕

This is a recipe modified from my previous Japanese cotton cheesecake recipe posted more than a year ago. I added lemon juice, and used cream of tartar in place of salt for the modified version. The main difference was the heating method. I needed to find one method that suit my oven. I had used many different baking methods that didn't give a satisfying result. So far, this is the safest baking method that would give my cake a smooth face, and minimal shrinkage. The only drawback was the lack of colour on the crust, but it can be compensated with a brief heating after the bake for a nice tanned face 😀

Ingredients

Using 55g omega eggs in room temperature

120g cream cheese 奶酪

90g fresh milk 鲜奶

20g salted butter 奶油
9g golden syrup 黄金糖浆

21g corn flour 玉米粉

30g top/cake flour 低筋面粉

3 egg yolks 蛋黄

1 tsp lemon juice 柠檬汁

3 egg whites 蛋白

75g fine sugar 细砂糖

Pinch of cream of tartar 挞挞粉

Directions 

1. Grease a 6x3" round cake pan with a good amount of butter. This helps the raising cake to rise smoothly. Line the bottom 0f the cake pan with a piece of parchment paper.

Place a gridiron in a 20cm square pan.

Set aside.

2. Mix corn flour and top/cake flour in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Melt cream cheese and unsalted butter in fresh milk and golden syrup over a water bath. Stir till the batter becomes smooth without lumps.

4. Transfers the cream cheese batter out of the water bath, and sieve in the flour mixture from (2). 

Mix into a smooth batter.

5. Stir in the egg yolks, one at a time.

Followed by the lemon juice.

Cover and set aside.

6. Beat egg whites in a clean and grease-free mixing bowl till frothy. Add a pinch of cream of tartar.

Gradually add in the fine sugar. Beat at medium speed till you start to see a trail starts to follow the moving whisks. Reduce the mixer speed to low, stop regularly to check whether the meringue has reached its soft peak stage.

The meringue has reached the soft peak stage.

By using the soft meringue, the cake is less likely to crack during baking.

7. Take about 1/3 of the meringue to mix with the cream cheese batter from (5), using a spatula.

8. Return the cream cheese batter to mix with the remaining meringue into a smooth batter.

9. Pour the final cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Bang lightly against the kitchen top to get rid of trapped air bubbles.

10. Place the cake pan into another slightly bigger cake pan filled with about 2cm deep of hot water.

11. Bake in a preheated oven set at 180°C turning on only the upper heating element for 30 minutes, at the lower rack of the oven. 

After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to 140°C and turning on both the upper and lower heating elements, for 25 minutes.

End of baking

12. Remove the water bath, shift up the rack to middle, and return the cake to the warm oven to cool down gradually for about 45 minutes.

Insert a folded kitchen towel to create a small ventilation gap for the oven.

12. Remove the cake from the cake pan, and allow it to cool down to room temperature.
If your cake has a nice golden crust, then you can skip the re-heating step. Wait for it to cool to room temperature before refrigerate it for about 3 hours.

If your cake crust appear pale,

and you prefer a darker crust, you can tan the top by heating in the preheated oven at 150°C for about 8 to 10 minutes, at the 2nd highest rack. Be careful not to over-tanned it!

After the cake has cool down, cover with a tall container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

13. Cut the cake by pressing the knife down the cake without the sawing movement. The cake is best enjoyed cold :)

Post dated 12 June 2018

I added 1/4 tsp of matcha powder to about 1/2 small bowl of batter, and drizzle over the top of the batter before baking 😄