Zebra Cotton Cheesecake

Please excuse me for repeating this Zebra Cake for the third time. If you remember, my first cake didn't quite turn out while my second cake had a very wet bottom. I am so fed up with removable bottom or springform pans. I mean, they are fine if you don't need to bake your cake in a water bath. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Drum rolls please as I unveil my cake-hoisting device. Please don't laugh, ah....

Removing the cake is now a breeze. I just need to grab hold of the two criss-crossed aluminium strips with both hands and lift the cake out of the pan. Now I don't have to deal with this business of wrapping of the pan with aluminium foil or flipping the cake twice to get it onto the cooling rack.

I think I may have improved on my technique because this time, my batter did not deflate very much during mixing. That resulted in my batter maintaining its big volume and the cake rose much too high (this is my own theory). Due to that, my cake cracked. Since I used large eggs, I decided that I should use 5 instead of 6 eggs. Perhaps I should use a 9" pan in future and I'll have to find a bigger pan for the waterbath.

Disaster. An earlier bake that rose very high and cracked big time.

My top tips for this cake (this is more of a reminder to myself as some of you already experts with this cake) :

1. Egg whites must be beaten to stiff peaks. I am not very clever in telling when it is stiff, so I just tilt the mixing bowl. If the egg whites don't move, they are stiff. But being kiasu I tip the mixing bowl upside down for further confirmation. The egg whites are properly stiff if the meringue doesn't fall out. hah..hah...

Twin peaks.

2. Mix the cocoa powder and hot water in the mixing bowl that you intend to use for the chocolate batter. When your batter is ready, add a small amount first and mix it evenly with the cocoa paste before adding in the rest of the batter. This makes blending the cocoa paste together with the batter much, much easier.

3. When spooning the batter into the pan, use something that has a pointed tip. Maybe it is just me but I find that this helps in ensuring that your batter falls in a concentric circle which makes for a neater layering. 

And don't attempt to make too many layers because the stripes will converge and you will not get distinct stripes.

Plain batter.

Put the cocoa batter on top of plain batter.

The plain batter on top of cocoa batter.

Repeat till batter used up. My layering sucks. The bull's eye has gone off center.

Still cracks. Sigh....

4. You must bake this cake in a water bath or else no go. An ordinary cheesecake can survive without a waterbath but not this one. I know because I have stubbornly baked a cotton cheesecake without a water bath before and ended up with a very ugly cake.

No water bath, you get the Hunchback of Notre Dame Cake. Wrinkly and out of shape.

5. After the cake is baked, leave it in the oven with the door ajar for about 20-25 minutes. It is worth the wait because this will prevent the cake from deflating and shrinking. After that, you can remove the cake, unmould and peel off the baking paper.

6. Chill the cake overnight before slicing it or else you will not get neat cuts. This is a very soft and fragile cake. Slicing it prior to chilling will result in a very messy looking cake. Not nice for presentation. 

As you can see, I still have some room for improvement. I still can't get clean cuts. This latest bake is the best so far. I love this cake a lot. The texture is melt-in-your-mouth, just like eating ice-cream. A worthwhile bake my friends!

Zebra Cotton Cheesecake
Recipe source : Adapted from Cook With No Books

Notes : 
i. I baked the cake in an 8"pan which I think is too small. A 9" pan would be more appropriate.
ii. For layering the batter I used two Chinese soup spoons. Three soup spoons per layer of batter.

Ingredients : 
- 50g butter

- 250g cream cheese

- 120ml milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 140g fine granulated sugar

- 30g superfine flour (or ordinary cake flour)+ 20g cornflour, mix both and sift

- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder mixed with 2 tablespoons hot water to form a runny paste

- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

- 5 egg whites (I used large eggs. If using smaller ones, you need 6)

- 5 egg yolks

Method :
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler.

2. Cool the mixture and fold in egg yolks and vanila extract.
3. Then sift in the flour and cornflour mixture bit by bit and fold to combine.

3. Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and whisk until foamy.  Gradually add sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks.

4. Take 1/3 of the egg white mixture and fold into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it.

5. Then add the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture and mix well. 
6. Divide batter into 2 equal portions.
7. Into one portion, add the cocoa paste and fold to mix evenly.
8. Using two ladles, ladle the batter into the pan, alternating between the two batters until all the batter is used up.

6. Bake the cake in a water bath for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 140C.

7. When the cake is done, leave it in the oven for 20 minutes with the door ajar.

8. Remove the cake from the oven, unmould and peel off the baking paper.