17 August 2011

Japanese (Osaka) Cotton Cheesecake

This is how it works, you yearn for some cheese, you yearn for a guiltless afternoon, and that's how you   have to have a slice of this. Its like the combination of Angel food cake and New York Cheesecake. Sit in a laid back summer chair, enjoy the breeze and watch the white curtain floating. Then, you'd know, that minute, that moment, you didn't miss anything better.

From the way i described this, you should know by now, how little amount of butter this cake contains. Imagine the woman in the painting, wearing her retro yellow lemon dress, curly red hair and a basket of white daisies. We all wish we were her.

As a matter of fact, this is my third Japanese cheesecake. Third time is a charm, as they always pronounced. However, i will always fight for an even better cheesecake, until i get that texture i've long remembered. The first time i had this cake and I could never forget that feeling. 

The secret to all these fluffy, heavenly cakes, is stiffen egg whites (and lots of research). Do not ever be discouraged by them, i remember my first time with these egg whites. I cried. I perspired. I worried. The only thing to look after is dry dry utensils, room temperature eggs and a pinch of salt. Voila. 

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake
adapted from Diana's Desserts

Ingredients:

140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar 
6 egg whites 
6 egg yolks 
50g/2 oz. butter 
250g/9 oz. cream cheese 
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk 
1 tbsp. lemon juice 
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour 
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch) 
1/4 tsp. salt or cream of tartar

Instructions:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well. 

2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar (or salt) until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. 

3. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper). 

4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F). 

Makes 1 (8-inch) cheesecake, 12 servings.

One tip before pushing the tray into the oven is to tap it onto the table a few times. This is so that you wouldn't end up with bubbles as you can see in my cakes. (Honest, these pictures do not give enough credit to the actual texture of the cake.)
Enjoy, 
Jes

12 comments:

  1. Looks (and sounds) delicious! And I think I have all of the ingredients!

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  2. I've made many different types of cheesecake but have yet to try Japanese cheesecake! Sounds delicious!

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  3. My friedn made me once a Japanese cheesecake. It was a little different but very tasteful. This seems very easy to make. And I will not wait for summer and the summer breeze to try it out. :-)

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    1. @ eowyn: Please tell me about it when you do! This cake is not difficult, but difficult to get that soft wobbly texture from the original cheesecake in Osaka, Japan. (btw, summer breeze is hot) ;p

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  4. Hi Jes!
    I just saw your cheesecake. It looks so fluffy and soft.
    I have to try that one:-)
    Love it...

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  5. Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me more about the bath method you used. What sort of pan did you use for the bath, and how far did your water reach the top of the cake pan?
    I've read that other people prefer to use a sauna effect, instead of immersing the cake pan in the water. They say the immersion method caused the bottom of the cake to be an undesirable texture. Did you have any problems with this?

    Thanks, and sorry for all the questions! :)

    -Candice

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    1. Hi Candice, really sorry for this long overdue reply. The bath method has always been useful for any kind of cakes with low flour content. It goes half way up the cake pan.

      So you sit your cake pan in a bigger tray that goes at least half way up, then pour hot water into the bigger tray. Make sure your cake pan does not allow water to seep in (this may be why it was undesirable for some of the bakers). Another thing that i have observed would be helpful was to have the cake pan sit on a cloth then on the larger pan.

      This bath method helps to keep the cake soft but also mould them together and cook them with water. The Steaming method will do the same trick, however, you may have to tweak the baking time a little. Like how bread bakers use the steaming effect, it coats the cake with a layer of water particles to keep the moist in. However, without the direct metal pan to water heat, it may take longer to cook the bottom parts of the cake. Now, as you may have realised the most important part of this japanese cheesecake is at the bottom. Whether it is a success is determined by that one turnover of the cake pan :) so make sure to always test it out.

      I am yet to master this cake myself. And have failed so many times, trying other recipes. This, by far is still my best :) Please do forgive me for my late reply. I hope this helps!!

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  6. Hi, was wondering if you could give me the conversion (cups, tablespoons, etc) ingredient. This sounds delicious and can't wait to try it.

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    1. Hi there, sorry for the late reply.. I always suggest using grams for cakes, especially cakes like these. Precision helps :) Otherwise, i always convert them through a handy table that you can easily find online. One of them: http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/

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  7. I did this and it turned out amazing in color and texture but unfortunately it tasted like scrambled eggs! What am I doing wrong? Please help

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    1. oh my... this cake is indeed hard to master. even to this day, i can bet with you, i won't get them right 100%. All i can recommend is: 1. Do everything to precision. 2. Use the waterbath method inside the oven. (Put a tray of water on the oven base) 3. Do not substitute any ingredients. Hope it all goes well. I will do this cake again, and hope to list down all the little tips i've gotten from other bloggers.

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  8. this cake is amazing. and quite easy to make! was demolished in half hour at my house.

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