pretty japanese cheesecake — Our first dips in baking that picture-perfect fluffy Japanese cheesecake we saw on Tasty! Read on to find out what went wrong with THIS!

Greeting the year with one of our baking attempts from late last year! Hope 2018 has started on a deliciously good note for everyone :) Else, some light and fluffy Japanese cheesecake would surely put some smiles and sugar on your lips :D

First up, sharing this easy cheesecake recipe we tried at home after salivating over those Tasty and BuzzFeed food videos. I’d say, the cakes turned out to be a cross between chiffon cake and souffle. It uses loads of eggs, but if you’re looking for a healthier cake recipe, check out this Matcha Adzuki Yogurt Butter Cake!

To be honest, our first attempt didn’t yield a cottony soft and fluffy Japanese Cheesecake, so K decided to try again when we had guinea pigs friends come over. So glad they loved it (or maybe they were being polite. HA! But the 4 kids asked for seconds *ahem* kids don’t lie, right? :p )

Okay, without further ado, here’s sharing the simple cheesecake recipe, led by Head Baker K:

Fluffy Japanese Cheesecake Recipe

Adapted from Tasty

Ingredients:

⅔ cup milk

4 oz cream cheese

7 tablespoons butter

8 eggs, yolk

¼ cup flour

¼ cup cornstarch

13 large egg whites

½ cup granulated sugar (adjusted amount of sugar)

Parchment paper

Strawberries, blueberries or any other fruit as desired (for decor)

Icing sugar (for decor)

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C.
In a small pot over medium heat, whisk the milk, cream cheese, and butter until smooth. Remove from heat and cool.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth, then slowly drizzle in the cream mixture, stirring until evenly combined.
Sift in the flour and the cornstarch, whisking to make sure there are no lumps.
Compare this photo with the first one: did you notice that agar-agar lookalike base and the previous cake didn’t rise as much? So this was our second attempt to perfect the soft Japanese cheesecake! Ain’t the prettiest photo of it, but the texture was SPOT ON!
In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until you see soft peaks when lifting the mixer up from the egg whites. Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat until you see hard peaks when lifting the mixer up.
Take about ¼ of the egg whites and fold them into the egg yolk mixture, then repeat with the remaining egg whites until the batter is evenly combined.
Place a 4-inch parchment paper strip around the edge of a 9×3-inch (23 cm) cake pan that is already lined with parchment at the bottom. If you are using a springform pan, make sure to wrap the bottom and sides completely in foil, twice, to prevent any leakage. Pour the batter into the parchment-lined pan and shake to release any large air bubbles.
Place the filled pan into a larger baking pan or dish lined with 2 paper towels at the bottom. The paper towels ensure that the heat is distributed evenly along the bottom of the pan. Fill the larger pan about 1-inch with hot water.
Yup, you’ll need 2 baking tins for this recipe. And it does look like we’re steaming that cheesecake, right? :P
Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 280°F (135°C), and bake for another 55 minutes, until the cake has risen to almost double its height.
Remove from oven, and carefully, invert the cake onto your dominant hand and peel off the paper. Be extremely careful, the cake will be hot. You can also invert the cake onto a plate, but this will cause the cake to deflate more.

Baked Japanese cheesecake with blueberries — Simple and delicate cheesecake – just like how the Japanese love the simplicity of things. The prepration wasn’t that simple though, I must say!

To decorate

Sprinkle the top of the cake with icing sugar, slice, and serve with fruit and tea/coffee!

Decorate cheesecake with icing sugar — Fruits and decoration would easily cover up those toothpick traces :P Still, great teamwork with you my dear hubby! Shall we bake more often? :P

Tips:

Clearly, you will need loads of eggs. Just be sure to use the right ones – as bold for easy reference in the above steps.
For Step 2, I’ve highlighted the use of heat because we missed that during our first attempt of the Japanese cheesecake. So do make sure you follow the recipe to a T! :P
During baking, the cheesecake will rise to double its height so do not be alarmed!
To decorate with icing sugar, allow cake to cool before doing so. Feel free to add other fruits or enjoy the cheesecake as it is :)

Are you a fan of cheesecakes too? Give this Japanese cheesecake recipe a shot, and share with us your experience!

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