Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake
Incredibly light, soft, and spongy cheesecake that's mildly sweet and has a light lemony flavour. ♥
Adapted from here. American equivalents can be found here. The only change I made was to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Next time, I think I'll serve it with a bit of whipped cream. :)
Japanese Cheesecake
Based on recipe from Dianna's Desserts
Prep time: around 1 hour (faster if you're a seasoned baker)
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 mins
Equipment
Double boiler
8'' round baking-tin, with high sides (say 3'') and a sealed base - if the base is removable, use tinfoil to wrap the entire outside of the cake-tin to seal it
Bain-marie - I use a large pot (with the plastic handles removed) or a high-sided roasting tin
Electric whisk - or a normal whisk and arms of steel
Ingredients
250g cream cheese
50g butter, unsalted
100ml milk
6 eggs, large - separate into whites and yolks
60g plain cake flour
20g cornflour(cornstarch)
140g white granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
Melt the cream cheese, butter, and milk together in the double boiler, until there are no lumps. Cool this cream mixture, e.g. by put the bowl/pot into a larger bowl of cold water.
Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites, and whisk until foamy. Add the sugar, and whisk until you get "soft peaks".
Returning to the cooled cream mixture: mix in the egg yolks and salt, then the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Gently fold in the flour and cornflour, sieving the flour/cornflour as you add it.
Add the cream-flour mixture to the egg white mixture bit by bit. Mix together very gently, to not loose the "airiness".
Line the sides and base of baking tin with grease-proof/baking paper, and pour in the combined mixture. Put the baking tin into a bain-marie - fill the bain-marie with enough water that the tin starts to float and then add some more (as it will evaporate off).
Place bain-marie into preheated oven (160°C, on fan-assisted, adjust as necessary), and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. Don't open the oven before you think the cake is ready.
To cool, tip the cake out, upside-down, onto a plate (if you leave it to cool in tin, the top surface will crumple as the cake subsides). Leave to cool in fridge (e.g. overnight).
To serve, remove baking paper and tip cake back to brown-side-up. Serve cold.