Yum! Baked Soft Japanese Cheesecake.

I have always wanted to make the cheesecakes that a Japanese chain, called Fiesta, in Singapore sells. I've always had it since I was young but it was considered a luxury when I was younger. Even armed with the recipe which a friend, Janice, passed to me, I still find that it's a luxury. It can be a lot of work, and the cream cheese isn't all that cheap. But, I am very proud and happy to say that I MADE A SOFT JAPANESE CHEESECAKE. I took a look at it and found it familiar but thought that it was only because I have searched so many recipes and they all start to look the same to me.

So I started on the process with the following recipe and instructions.

Recipe

• 140g fine granulated sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 50g butter
• 250g cream cheese
• 00ml fresh milk
• 60g cake flour (can also use plain flour)
• 20g corn flour
• 1/4 tsp salt 

1. Preheat the oven at 160°C. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, salt, egg yolks and mix well. 
2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. 
3. Add the egg whites to the cheese mixture to and fold well. Pour into a 8-inch round springform cake pan or removable-bottom cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper). Wrap the base of your cake tin with aluminium foil, to prevent seepage ... although I never do, and it has never seeped! ;) 
4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hour 10 mins or until set and golden brown at 160°C. 
5. Leave to cool in oven with door ajar, about 30 mins to 1 hour. Sudden changes in temperature may cause the cake to cool too quickly and collapse.

And here are the pictures...

Milk and butter first	Then the chunks of cream cheese
After sifting	After baking!

On a side note, I cut my cream cheese into smaller blocks and chunks because I thought that will yield a smoother mixture. But as I was doing my method of "double broiling" the cheese, butter and milk, I realized that the mixture was still very lumpy. So I whipped out my sieve and put the mixture through it. Let you in on a secret. I hate to waste stuff, so when there were lumps in the sieve I push them through the sieve. Heh. So it's no waste and still no lumps. Am I the only who does that?

I finally put it into the oven to bake and I couldn't stop peeking in the oven to have a look at it. It smelt delicious and looked heavenly. By the way, the water bath is VERY IMPORTANT. It helps to keep the cake moist and not dried out, and prevents cracks across the top of the cake.

Unfortunately, when I finally pulled it out of the oven, the soft and light and airy texture was only achieved on the top and the bottom was too dense. Most probably because of the way I tried to fold in the egg whites. I didn't have a big enough bowl and by the time i tried to fold in all the egg whites, the mixture was overflowing. LOL. Oh well, no matter, the taste was still heavenly. 

After the whole fiasco, I went to search through my list of bookmarks whilst I was researching on soft japanese cheesecake. And, bingo! I realized it was the same recipe as the one on The Little Teochew. And one of her tips about the lumps was the sieve although she didn't press the lumps through. Hahah.

So I'll say this Japanese Cheesecake is not quite a total success but well on the way there! I found another variation on a blog called Cuisine Paradise, that uses less eggs and maybe I'll try that next time. Here is the recipe, and let me know how yours go when you try either of the recipes!

Till then, cheers and adios!

Chel-Min