Peach and Orange Cheesecake with Sponge Cake Base

This is a cake you want to bake on a day when you have a lot of free time. I never do as I say and I baked this cake on a Saturday when there were heaps of things to do. I had two combs of browning (on the verge of blackening) bananas waiting to be baked and then there's the laundry and the usual housekeeping.

I planned on baking 3 cakes and spent the whole week fantasizing about it while I was at work. Yes, my fantasies are made up of baking exploits - what I was going to bake and how to decorate the cakes. This is how exciting my life is. Really.

Sponge cake base. No so brown but I took it out because it was already set.

My first cake was a disaster. It was a banana cake baked in a bundt pan and I realized too late that the cake was underbaked. What a disappointment. That shall be re-attempted another time. With a heavy heart, I started my next project. This recipe again comes from Allan Bakes Really Good Cheesecakes. My previous bake from this book used a brownie base and this time it is a sponge cake case. That sounded exciting and the best part is, even if I messed up it would be OK because the cheesecake filling will cover it up. Hah...hah....

Not too happy with the messy cut.

Like the previous Coffee Cheesecake, this recipe is meant for two cakes. They must be very flat cakes because I went ahead and baked in one pan and I got myself a cake with regular height. This cheesecake takes up quite a bit of time due  to preparation of the spongecake base. Another thing is that the filling also requires egg separation. All in all you need to beat your egg whites twice, once for the base and once for the filling. Like I mentioned before, don't bake this cake when you are in a hurry. 

Baked filling. So far so good.

My spongecake base turned out alright I guess. While it was cooling, I prepared the filling. The recipe calls for a mix of regular cream cheese and mascarpone cheese. Mascarpone cheese is very expensive here and don't expect this very kiamsiap prudent accountant to fork out extra money for it. Cream cheese is cream cheese is cream cheese. So there.

The mandarin orange slice on the left is hanging on for dear life. Hep! hep! dun let me fall!

I used a little bit extra ingredients for the filling (see, I am not that stingy after all) three instead of two eggs and zest from one whole orange instead of only 1 teaspoon. Oh, and three peach halves instead of two. After baking, I found that my filing was a bit on the soft side and I could not get clean cuts. Perhaps, I should have also increased the cream cheese and cornflour. I consider this a learning experience and will make improvements in my future bake.

So how did it taste? Very good, I must say except that I was a bit overzealous in cutting down on sugar (sometimes I do get complaints that my cakes are too sweet). I figured that the pureed peaches and the topping of peach slices and mandarin oranges are already quite sweet, therefore I should reduce the sweetness of the base and filling so that everything comes together nicely. A point to be noted in future.

Here's the recipe below, and like before, this is my adaptation with notes on the original recipe in blue.

Peach and Orange Cheesecake with Sponge Cake Base
Recipe source : Adapted from Allan Bakes Really Good Cheesecakes (page 40)
Notes :
1. The sponge cake base recipe is meant for two 20.5cm (8") square pans. Batter to be divided equally between both pans. I have used the recipe for only one 8" square pan.
2. Notes in blue are for amounts used in the original recipe.

Sponge Cake Base :
- 80g self raising flour
- 3 medium eggs yolks
- 60ml grapeseed oil (or any neutral vegetable oil)
- 3 tbsp milk
- 25g + 25g castor sugar (original recipe 50g + 50g, please follow. Mine was not sweet enough)
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 3 medium egg whites at room temperature
Note : original recipe included 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar.

Method :
1. Sift flour (and salt if using) three times. Set aside.
2. Using a hand whisk, beat egg yolks, oil, milk, sugar, vanilla and flour until well incorporated.
3. In another mixing bowl, whisk egg whites. Add cream of tartar (if using) and remaining 50g sugar until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold half of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture until well mixed.
5. Then fold in the rest of the egg white mixture.
6. Pour batter into a lined pan and bake at 160C for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. (Mine was done at 20 minutes)(original recipe bake at 170C)
7. Leave to cool of a wire rack.

Cheesecake Filing :
- 500g cream cheese at room temperature (original recipe calls for 400g cream cheese + 120g mascarpone cheese)
- 140ml plain yogurt (original 100g)
- 120g (suggest 130g castor sugar) (original 200g)
- 1 tbp orange juice (original 1 tsp)
- zest from 1 whole orange (original 1 tsp)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 3 large egg yolks (original 2)
- 3 canned peach halves (pureed)(original 2)
- 3 large egg whites (original 2)

Method :
1. Beat cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, orange juice, zest, vanilla extract and cornflour until well mixed.
2. Add egg yolks, one at a time.
3. Add pureed peaches and mix well.
4. In another bowl, whisk egg white until soft peaks form.
5. Fold egg white into cream cheese mixture.
6. Pour filling over the cooled sponge cake base and place cake pan into a deep roasting pan.
7. Fill the roasting pan with hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
8. Bake at 140C for 1hour 30 minutes. (original bake at 160C)
9. Turn off oven and leave cake to cool in oven for 30 minutes (original 1 hour) with oven door ajar.
10. Remove cake pan from water bath and allow to cool completely.
11. Refrigerate overnight.
12 Unmould and garnish as desired. Serve chilled.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Ann of Anncoo Journal.

This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #11 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.