Tuesday 1 March 2016

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake 日式棉花奶酪蛋糕



I love cheesecake that has been well-baked with a brown top. To me a no-crack cheesecake with a pale top taste raw. In order to prevent to cake from cracking, I've tried numerous methods and temperature with unsatisfactory results, not knowing an old Japanese recipe I've kept gave me all the essential clues in baking a good Japanese cotton cheesecake.
I have missed the intricate clues like grease the pan well with butter; wrap the cake pan, soft peak meringue, which hid between words in the recipe. Today, I finally open my eyes and see these golden clues which help me to bake a tall cheesecake with golden brown top and cotton texture. 
Perhaps now I'm more mature, in terms of baking experience, to see the recipe more in depth (^_^)Y

Ingredients
All ingredients in room temperature 
Using 55g omega eggs

3 egg whites 蛋白
75g fine sugar 细砂糖
Pinch of salt 盐

21g corn flour 玉米粉
30g top/cake flour 低筋面粉

120g cream cheese 奶酪
90g fresh milk 鲜奶
20g butter 奶油
3 egg yolks 蛋黄


Directions 
1. Grease an 6" or 7" round cake pan with a good amount of butter. This helps the raising cake to rise smoothly.
Line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
Wrap the cake pan with a sheet of aluminum foil. This is to prevent the side from getting too hot  mwhich affect the rise of the cake during baking.
Set aside.


2. Mix corn flour and top/cake flour in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Melt cream cheese and unsalted butter in fresh milk over a water bath. Stir till the batter becomes smooth without lumps.



4. Transfers the cream cheese batter out of the water bath, and sieve in the flour mixture from (2). 


Mix to a smooth batter.

5. Stir in the egg yolks, one at a time.

Cover and set aside.

6. Beat egg whites in a clean and grease-free mixing bowl till frothy.  Gradually add in the fine sugar and pinch of salt. Beat at medium speed till you start to see a trail starts to follow the moving whisks. Reduce the mixer speed to low, stop regularly to check whether the meringue has reached its soft peak stage.


The meringue has reached the soft peak stage.
By using the soft meringue, the cake is less likely to crack during baking.

7. Take about 1/3 of the meringue to mix with the cream cheese batter from (5), using a spatula.

8. Return the cream cheese batter to mix with the remaining meringue into a smooth batter.



9. Pour the final cake batter into the  prepared cake pan. Bang lightly against the kitchen top to get rid of trapped air bubbles.

10. Place the cake pan into another slightly bigger cake pan filled with about 2cm of hot water.


11. Bake in a preheated oven set at 160 degree Celsius for about 40 to 45 minutes, at the lower rack of the oven. 

The baking is complete when the cake becomes firm and the top is brown.

12. Remove the cake from the cake pan immediately after leaving the oven. This is to prevent the cake from getting too wet due to condensation.


After the cake has cool down, cover with a tall container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

13. Cut the cake by pressing the knife down the cake without the sawing movement. The cake is best enjoyed cold :)







38 comments:

  1. May I know what does water bath in step 3 means? Over hot water or low heat? Thank you.

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  2. Hi, just heat up the water in low temperature will do :)

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  3. Hi, may I know how do you remove the cake from the tin?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Shirley, sorry I didn't show you the process as it needed both hands to operate in a fast mode, so no opportunity to take the step by step process.
      First, you need to find a shallow plate or bowl with comparable size to the cake. Then, you place a sheet of paper kitchen towel between the cake and the plate. This is to prevent the cake from sticking to the plate. Grip the edge of the plate and the rim of the cake pan firmly with your fingers , invert the cake over. Remove the cake pan, then place a wire rack over the base of the cake which is facing up. With the cake in the middle, hold the wire rack and the plate firmly with both hands, invert the cake over. Remove the plate, and the cake will be on the wire rack. Done :)
      Hopefully, you can figure out what I described ;)

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  4. I follow the recipe but the cheesecake turn out not brown in colour on the surface. I bake at 160degree for 45min.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Peggy, sorry I'm not sure what's the cause of your pale cake. Different ovens may have a slightly different operation condition, so you'll have to make some slight adjustment like increase the temperature slightly, or extend the baking time. Hope you have preheat your oven for 10 minutes before baking the cake :)

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  5. Hi, Notice you only lined the bottom of the pan. Will the cake stick to the sides without lining, when turning out the cake?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Elaine, you need to coat the wall of the cake pan with thick butter in order for the cake to glide up the pan during baking :)

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    2. HiNgai Leng, Thank you for your advice.

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  6. Hi ngai leng, do we need to glide round the cake pan with a spatula b4 removing the cake from the pan? Or as described above, the cake will be able to de mould is sufficient butter is smeared round the pan b4 baking?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Nancy, I didn't need to run a spatula round the cake before de-moulding as the cake didn't stick to the wall of the mould :)

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    2. Noted ngai leng, thank you

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  7. Hi,can i use a nonstick cake pan instead of the aluminium one?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Christine, I think using a nonstick pan shouldn't be a problem. But it's better to coat the pan with butter too :)

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  8. Hi NgaiLeng,
    Do u leave the JCC in oven for a while with door ajar after the baking is completed?
    I read the immediately remove from oven may cause the cake to collapse.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Gillian, most JCC recipes recommended to "cool down" the hot cake in the oven. However, this Japanese recipe which I followed instructed to unmould the cake immediately after leaving the oven. The cake did shrink a little after cooling, but still kept its shape.

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  9. Hi, I'd like to try this recipe on 8"round pan.. should I double the recipe? Or is there any certain amount to fit the pan? Thanks in advance

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    Replies
    1. Hi, I think you can multiply the quantities by 4/3 to get a 4-egg recipe to fit an 8" round pan ;)

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    2. Thank you for your reply. Will let you know how it turns out :)

      Olivia Tan

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  10. Hi NgaiLeng,

    Your cake looks so yummy. I follow your the cheesecake recipe and made a cheesecake, but not sure why my cake didn't raise like yours. can you please share your tips?

    Thank you for sharing!

    Jo

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jo, thank you for liking my cake 💕 Under normal circumstances, the cooled cheesecake would shrink around 20% as compared when it is just out of the oven.
      The leavening power of the cheesecake depends greatly on how well the meringue has been whipped. The best is to usie the soft peak meringue which would not cause the cake to over-raised and crack :)

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  11. Hi NgaiLeng,

    Your cake looks so yummy. I followed your cheesecake recipe and made one. I am not sure why my cake didn't raise tall like yours. Any tips you would share is much appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Jo

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  12. Can this be steamed? I've noticed that this is the only question I ask in baking sites,heheheeee... ;-;

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kristina, yes, I'm sure this cake can be steamed at low heat instead of "steam-baking" in an oven. However, to me, the steamed cake may not taste as nice as the "baked" one since it lacks the golden crust. But this is subjective 😊

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  13. Thank you so much for sharing your experience on the journey to making the perfect Japanese cheesecake. I shall give your recipe a go some time in the near future and hopefully, the cake will turn out to be as beautiful as yours :) Cheers from Melbourne, Australia

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Ann-Gee for leaving me a nice message. Hopefully, you'll get a pretty and yummy cake to enjoy 😊

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  14. hi...
    i tried this recipe & it was a great hit with the family.
    would like to bake a bigger 8" one... u suggested increasing to 4/3 for 4-egg recipe... what abt the temp & baking time?
    thanx in advance!

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  15. once i removed it from the oven, i can't unmould because it was too soft and looked densed at the bottom. Any idea why was it so? I did try and my cake was all over. Appreciate your reply.

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    Replies
    1. Very sorry for my over-delayed reply. I think your cake was not fully baked through.

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  16. Japanese Cheesecake has been the most sought after dessert all these years. Papa Fluffy’s products are made with fresh ingredients from France, Switzerland, Paris without the use of any artificial preservatives.

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  17. Followed recipe to the letter. Before baking was 2 inches high, after baking not quite a half inch high. Waste of ingredients and time. Not recommended.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, so sorry that my recipe didn't work for you. I've tried numerous times to get the meringue right, and a baking temperature setting suitable for my oven. Hope you'll succeed one day :)

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    2. Hi, perhaps you would like to try my later similar recipe
      http://mymindpatch.blogspot.com/2018/06/japanese-velvety-cheesecake.html

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  18. Hi may I ask if this recipe can be made using steaming instead? With a steamer. If yes, how long should I steam and using what fire strength? BTW, I love your steam cakes recipes!! Made them tons of times 😍

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    Replies
    1. Hi, so sorry I'm not very sure of the temperature and duration to bake this cake by steaming. From my other steamed cake experience, you need to steam the cake at medium heat till cake raise to a flat top. Then lower the temperature to low, and steam till the cake cooked through.

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