Tuesday 1 May 2012

Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake : Demystified and Modified



This cake is the bane of my existence.  Imagine nine attempts and I couldn't get it right.  On my first try, the cake looked OK in the oven, rising beautifully.  After I took it out of the oven to cool, Oh My God!  It shrank, all wrinkled up and wet.  I was horrified.  I baked the ugliest cake in the world.  I should have photographed it so that you can see what a failed Japanese Cheesecake should look like.  On my next two or three attempts, slight improvement but still the cake shrank.  So I did my thing on the internet, searching  for a solution to get this right and I stumbled across The Little Teochew.  God bless you my dear Ju.  The tips & tricks were very useful but still, I couldn't get that picture perfect cake.  And the texture was still dense and a bit too moist for my liking.

Well, I tell you, something had to be done. I was obsessed.  I was a woman possessed by this need to bake that perfect cake.  Innovation, woman, innovation!  And that's when I decided to try baking this cake in a chiffon pan.  I know, I know, its not the same, but I tell you my friends, it worked.  No water bath, no lining of the pan.  I baked me a beautiful cake, light and fluffy with minimal shrinkage and with none of the over moist and dense texture.  So here it is, the recipe (from Diana's Desserts) and my take on it :

50g butter
250g cream cheese
100ml milk

140g fine granulated sugar
60g superfine flour (or ordinary cake flour)
20g cornflour
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt (I did not use this)
1 tbsp lemon juice (I did not use this)

6 egg whites
6 egg yolks

1. Put cream cheese, butter and milk into a stainless steel container and stir over a double boiler.  The idea is to melt the cream cheese and butter.  I use a fork to stir and mash the mixture.  Once melted (there will be some lumps but we'll deal with it later) take it off the heat and cool.
2. Once the above mixture is cooled, add the egg yolks and mix well with a whisk.  I added one teaspoon of vanilla essence (not in the original recipe) because frankly, I can't stand the smell of pure butter and cream cheese (sorry folks!).
3. Sift the flour and cornflour into the mixture and mix till combined.  At this point I strain the mixture using a sieve and set it aside.
4. Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and whisk until foamy.  Gradually add sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form (I repeat, stiff peaks).
5. Add the strained egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture and mix well.  My tip for you is to use your hand (yes, your bare hand, and please wash it first) to mix.  It may sound weird but it works really well.
6. Pour the mixture into a chiffon pan and bake for 45 minutes at 160C.
7. When the cake is done, remove from the oven and invert the pan.
8. When completely cooled, remove from pan.

This is the cake after it was completely cooled in the pan.  Looks ugly but that will be the bottom of the cake.


A slice of the cake.  My photography skills need major improvement,




8 comments:

  1. Slurp, slurp......

    The last piece really look very tempting.....

    I like your Blog eventhough I am not much of a cook due to my busy schedules. "Sightseeing" is just another escapism I suppose.... ha ha ha....

    Stan

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    Replies
    1. Hi Stan, well, its time to start cooking!

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  2. Actually I enjoyed cooking and occasional baking.... when the mood is there..... but the clean up afterward is quite a chore.... ha ha ha..... "feasting" using the eyes on computer screen is so much cleaner..... ha ha ha...... Cheers Phong Hong.....

    Stan

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    Replies
    1. Yah, I know. There will be a whole pile of basins and pots to be washed, mostly oily and messy. But that comes with the territory....

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  3. May I know what is the size of your Chiffon Pan?

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  4. Yea i know this one will be tasty Soft Cheesecake. Thank you for presentation about Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake. Loved your this soft cake recipe.

    ReplyDelete