I have been obsessing about Japanese cheesecake for the past year. I saw it on one of the many food shows I watched and was intrigued by this delicate, fluffy and jiggly dessert. So, I did my research, looked at tonnes of recipes and watched videos. One of the reasons I put so much 'research' hours into this is because I'm not a great baker, I manage lol therefore I really wanted this to come out perfect .
I'll be honest, baking this cheesecake is a labor of love and you have to be patient. You can't rush it. But the end result is totes worth the effort. My son and mum were my guinea pigs and both are my biggest critics (a 6 year old and a 60 something year old) so if it passed with them, then its a win for me.
Believe it or not, it was a win!!! Now, this cheesecake is EVERYTHING. Light and fluffy from the meringue, slightly dense because of the little flour used and tangy because we use little sugar and plain cream cheese.
The best way to serve this, I think, is warm with a handful of fresh berries or make a little betty coulis for the plate.
Serves 8
105 grams unsalted butter
100 grams cream cheese
130ml whole milk
6 egg yolks
60 grams all purpose flour
60 grams corn flour
8 large egg whites
130 grams castor sugar
50 grams Icing sugar
1 punnet berries
Special Equipment
9 inch round spring-foam tin
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
In a small bowl a pot of boiling water (bain-marie) , whisk together the butter, cream cheese, and milk until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
In a separate large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth, then slowly drizzle in the cream cheese mixture, whisking it until evenly combined. Sift in the flour and the cornstarch, and keep whisking so there are no lumps.
In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
You can dare to test if the meringue is set by slowly tipping your bowl upside down. If the meringue hold, you're good to go
Fold about ¼ of the egg whites into the yolk mixture using a spatula. Once done, keep adding the meringue bit by bit and repeat until the meringue is fully integrated with no lumps.
Grease the bottom of a 9inch round spring-foam cake pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. (For the side, I didn't line it. Instead I greased it with butter and dusted it with plenty of flour.)
Wrap the bottom and sides of the cake pan completely in a sheet of foil twice to prevent any leakage. Pour the batter into the pan and shake to release any large air bubbles.
Place the pan into a larger baking dish lined with 2 paper towels at the bottom. The paper towels ensure that the heat is distributed evenly along the bottom of the pan.
Fill the larger pan with about an inch of hot water. Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 140°C and bake for another 55 minutes, until the cake has risen to almost double its original height and the top of it is a golden brown.
Please do not be tempted to open the oven once the batter is in. The cold air will for sure sink the middle of this delicate cake.
Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Open your spring-foam tin. If theres any resistance, use a butter knife to pry the cake off the sides. Next, invert the cake onto your dominant hand and peel off the paper at the bottom of the cake and place the cake on to your choice of serving plate. Be quick because the cake deflates pretty quickly.
Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar and garnish with berries. Slice and serve warm!