Japanese Rich Cheese cake

Lined  two baking pans with baking/oil paper (11.5cmx22cmx6cm)





Ingredients:

250ml milk
250 gm cream cheese, cubed and softened at room temperature
60 gm butter, softened at room temperature
6 egg yolks
55 gm cake flour
20 gm corn flour
1 lemon zest
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
130 gm caster sugar
 

Baking Tray floats on baking pan filled with water

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 150C (302F).

2. Use a large bowl, pour in milk. Place the bowl float over simmering water. Add cream cheese, stir occasionally, until completely dissolved and the mixture become smooth. Stir in butter, till dissolved. Remove from heat. Let cool down a bit, then add the egg yolks and combine well.  Make sure the mixture is not too hot, as  to cook the egg yolks at this stage.

3. Combine cake flour and corn flour. Sift in the flours into the cream cheese mixture, a small amount at a time. Mix well between every addition, without any flour lumps. Stir in freshly grated lemon zest. Set aside.

4. Place egg whites in a large clean bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites for 3 minutes, then add cream of tartar and blend again. Pour sugar in the egg whites and blend until very stiff peaks form.

5. Fold-in the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture gently with a rubber spatula.  Do not stir or beat. For a better result, fold in egg whites a little a time, about 3 times or more.

6. Pour the mixture into the two baking pans. Place the pans into another larger baking tray. Add hot water in the tray up to half way. Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes. Test with a  skewer that comes out clean.

7. Turn off the oven. Leave the oven door ajar for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove from the pans. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Chill in a fridge for about 3 hours.

Notes:

• The delicate, velvety smooth texture of this cheesecake is produced by two low-protein flours, cake flour  and corn flour.
• To prevent the surface of the cheesecake from cracking: use low temperature and water-bath method during baking. The surface of the cake has a tendency to rise high to a point that breaks the structure. So, the basic principle is to keep the oven as low as the recipe suggests as 150C (302F). When the cake surface rises too high, that means the temperature of your oven is too high. Reduce the temperature accordingly
• To prevent the cheesecake from shrinking: open the oven door ajar for 10 minutes or so, and let the cheesecakes cool down gradually but too long as moist would develop at the bottom of the baking pans.

Back to Recipes Index