My simplified Japanese Cheesecake Recipe is as soft as cotton and full of jiggle, reimagined without the complexity.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8oz/225g) cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons/60g/2ozs butter
- 7 tablespoons/105g/3.5ozs milk
- 6 large eggs , separated
- 1 ½ tablespoons/22ml lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons/10ml vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (6oz/170g) granulated sugar, divided
- ¾ cup (3 3/4oz/105g) cake flour
- 2 ½ tablespoons corn starch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
- Grease and line an 8-inch waterproof/leakproof springform tin. A 9-inch round cake pan will also work. To ensure it is water-proof you can wrap the outside of the pan closely with tinfoil. Line a deep baking tray with kitchen cloth. The baking tray has to be larger than the springform tin. You are creating a water bath to bake your cheesecake in. You want to have everything ready to go so you can bake off your cheesecake straight away.
- Melt together the cream cheese, butter and milk in the microwave for roughly 1 1/2 minutes. Whisk the mix until there are no more lumps.
- Next, whisk in the egg yolk, lemon juice, vanilla extract and half the sugar.
- Place a sieve over the bowl and add in the cake flour, corn starch and salt and sieve into the cream cheese mix. Whisk in the dry ingredients until there are no more lumps. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, whip the egg whites with the whisk attachment on medium speed. When the meringue starts to take shape, add the cream of tartar. Once thick and at soft peak stage, slowly add the remaining sugar. Whip until meringue turns glossy, has increased in volume and holds a stiff peak.
- Using a thin edged metal spoon, take 1/3 of meringue and fold it into the cream cheese batter to loosen the mixture. Cut and fold the meringue swiftly but gently to minimize deflation of the meringue. Fold in the remaining meringue until blended. The resulting batter be light and airy at this point should.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the cake pan in the larger dish then place both in the oven. Pour boiling hot water into the water bath until about halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Be careful not to splash water into the batter.
- Bake on the bottom rack in a preheated 400oF (200oC) oven for 18min, then lower to 320oF (160oC) for 12 mins only. Then turn off the oven and open the door of the oven slightly for 30 minutes only. Then remove from the oven completely to cool at room temp.
- Turn out the cheesecake from the pan onto a cake plate and serve. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
