Japanese Cheesecake

this cake has to have its own fans club. every time i make this cotton soft japanese cheesecake, i've never met anyone who complained about anything in it. i bet you all have eaten japanese cheesecake and probably have already noticed the difference between it and the typical western cheesecake which is so dense, so creamy and so rich in taste. this one gives you some lightness but didn't miss any single cream cheese flavor in it, it also has the slight tangy flavor that comes from just a little lemon juice.

the best part of this cake is definitely the texture and the cheesy flavor that comes in sort of creamy-but-not-heavy taste. without feeling bias about my relationship with lemon flavor, i do feel that we ultimately need to add the lemon juice even when the recipe calls for just 1 teaspoon of it. the lemon juice brings out the balance of this cake and enhance the flavor depth of the cream cheese. truth be told, this is not an easy cake to make for me because i always failed on making this before. the key is to make sure you whip the egg whites firmly enough (soft peaks) as the recipe asks, then fold the peaked egg whites into the egg yolk-cheese mixture carefully so that the egg white doesn't lose its volume.

Japanese Cheesecake

originated from YasaBoga 35 variasi resep cheesecake, modified by me

for 1x20cm round cakes or 12 cupcakes

50 gr all purpose flour, sifted together with

50 gr cornflour

75 gr butter, softened

250 gr cream cheese, softened

125 ml whipping cream

3 egg yolks

1 egg

5 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

100 gr caster sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

directions:

1. preheat the oven to 160*C, prepare 20cm cake tin, line with baking paper.(or 12 cupcakes liners)
2. combine butter, cream cheese, and whip cream in medium bowl. heat until all the cream cheese melted, stir until evenly incorporated and smooth. add in flour and cornflour, mix evenly. add in yolks and egg, mix evenly, set aside.
3. beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. gradually add in sugar and lemon juice, continue beating until forms soft peaks.
4. fold in 1/3 of egg whites mixture into the cheese mixture, fold evenly to loosen up the batter together. fold the rest of the egg whites into the loosen batter carefully just until evenly incorporated.
5. pour the batter into the cake tin (in my experience so far, the cake doesn't rise much during baking, so it's okay to pour it to almost tin-full).
6. bake it in au bain marie method or you can make it like sauna effect (bigger pan in the bottom with boiling water, cover the pan with wire rack, put your cheesecake tin over the wire rack so the bottom of the cheesecake tin doesn't touch the water). bake for 75 minutes.
7. let cool in the oven for 15-20 minutes to prevent it from cracking. when it's completely cooled, remove from tin serve with berry coulis or eat as it is with cup of coffee or tea.