Japanese Cheese Cake , Finally!!

One of the most well liked cheese cake among many of us. Japanese cheese cake, also called cheese souffle in Japan. There so many different recipes out there, and I have been try out to see which gives the best result. When I first learnt to make this cake, I was still using my microwave cum convection oven then, and the final product was almost perfect without the wrinkly top, apart from the perfect soft and fluffy crumb. 

I lost the touch after I didn't bake it for about two years, after my son was born. The first one after two years was the great disaster! The whole cake shrunk, compact crumb that could hardly see any pores, whatever failure you could think of, for the first timer baking this cake. Wonder how munch cream cheese wasted as well as other ingredients. So, I gave it a break, I told myself, if I ever go to Hong Kong again, I will go back to Mrs. Lee to learn how to make this delicate cheese cake that melts in your mouth!

So, I did, I managed to do it right after the second lesson. With my current built in oven, though I perfect the crumb, the cake top still gets pretty wrinkly. I thought, I'll just live with it, as I am really happy to see the cake stays tall without any shrinkage! 

Prior to that, Alex Goh's Japanese cheese cake recipe was one of the most raved recipe I could find. But, still not exactly what I was looking for. Or may be I am just not good at it! you could see ( the oval shape) the crumb is more compact and heavier. Now, I will only go for the one I learnt from Mrs. Lee, and shall not waste any more cream cheese!!

Ingredients:

Cream cheese  80g

Sugar  40g

Milk  60ml

Yolk  2

Corn starch  1 tsp

Plain flour  1 tbp

Egg white  2

cream of tartar  1/4 tsp

Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Cut cream cheese into cubes, place in a metal bowl, together with sugar and milk, over a pot of hot water.  With a hand mixer, beat the ingredients in low speed till sugar dissolved.

2. Remove the bowl from heat, and continue to beat till the mixture pale. Add in yolks, and beat again. Sift in flour and corn starch and switch to low speed, mix them well, and set aside.

4. In another clean bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with hand mixer in high speed till it turns soft peak. Add in the egg white to cream mixture in 2-3 additions, and fold in carefully. 

5 Pour batter in a 6 inch round loose base tin that is lined and wrapped with foil outside the tin.  Steam bake the cake for 30 minutes at 150'c. Once the cake is baked, remove it from the tin and cool on the wire rack.