Japanese cotton cheesecake was my dream cake ,that's the way to say, yeah...this was the cake I was keeping an eye on over a long long time.Whenever i plan to try a different cake my mind reminds me of that and i just googled the images of that cake and stare on the pictures."Wow what a lovely cake".More than to try i wanted to just have a bite of it.Really,but where could i find these cakes?,no where around my place.Even getting the ingredients for this cake was not an easier task to me.Cream cheese which is available in Britannia brand was an alternate option instead of Philadelphia cream cheese.While doing a research on making of this cake i found someone said Britannia brand was bit salty compared to Philadelphia one's.So why to be in the risky part while trying for the first time,so i waited and got the Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese and cream of tartar.My purchase for making this cake was over.The only thing i needed to do is a startup. But due to some other reasons it was getting postponed.Finally i got the special day,and made this cake yesterday.
Am so happy to share this exclusive,yummy , super soft cake ever i have tasted in my life.No words to say on each bite..its heaven...Absolutely...Main part of this cake is cream cheese,even we add the flour in less quantity compared to cream cheese.So it's definitely a cream cheese cake...After keeping ready of all the ingredients my anxiety dominated my excitement over the outcome of the cake.It was funny that i couldn't keep my eyes off during the cake mixing i had a feel of happiness and nervousness...And when i looked at the oven after an hour i jumped in happiness ..yaayyyy my cake didn't get cracked...Ultimate happiness to look at the outcome of the cake...
You can find the super sponge texture...
During my research about this cake i came across Priya's Japanese cotton cheesecake,and got some of my doubts clarified through her.Thank you Priya sis...Over to the method.....
Ingredients
I have halved the Original recipe
Egg Yolks- 3 No
Egg Whites - 3 No
Cake/Plain Flour - 30 g (I used plain flour(All purpose flour))
Corn Flour - 10 g
Cream Cheese - 125 g (I used Kraft Philadelphia)
Butter - 25 g
Milk (boiled) - 50 ml
Cream of Tartar - 1/8 tsp (or half of 1/4 tsp)
Lemon Juice - 1/2 Tbsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp (I didn't add salt)
Other Essentials
- A double boiler arrangement
All you need a two vessels.The vessel(bottom vessel) which is to placed on stove top should be filled with half the volume of water and the neck of the vessel should be small enough to place the other vessel on its top.Allow water in the bottom vessel to boil and when you find steam piping out ,place the top vessel above the bottom one.The stuff in the top vessel get's cooked/liquefied by the steam.This is double boiler method.Ensure that the top vessel does not touch the water in the bottom part.
- 4 bowls (inclusive of the top vessel mentioned in double boiler method)
one pan goes for the actual baking and the other pan should be wider than the actual baking pan,where we are going to place the actual baking pan inside it.
- Covering the baking pan with parchment paper.
Completely cover the bottom of the baking pan with parchment paper.Coming to the sides,cut the parchment paper such that they are little bit higher than the actual side measurement,such as 1.5 inch above the height.
Method
- Preheat to 160C. Cover the baking pan with parchment paper and grease them.Ensure the butter,egg,cream cheese and milk are at room temperature. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites.
- Make sure your double boiler method is setup.Add the cream cheese,butter and oil to the vessel which goes to the top portion of the double boiler. Once steam starts piping out place the top vessel above the bottom one(As said above).Gently give a stir and mix all ingredients altogether.Stir until cream cheese and butter has melt down.You may find some visible lumps after this stage.Try to incorporate all the 3 ingredients as much as you can.Even if you find some minute lump like texture ,leave it it will be ruled out before the final step.Allow the cheese mixture to cool.
- You can find my baking pan covered with parchment paper,a small portion was left uncovered while taking this pic,please excuse me.In a bowl add the egg yolks and lemon juice and beat them until frothy,atleast 3 minutes.Add the cake/plain flour and corn flour and egg yolk to the cheese mixture and fold them with the help of a spatula.
- Note :After adding the flours i found the batter looked like a dough and my flour and egg yolk mixture didn't get incorporated well.So i used the hand mixer to clear off the small lumps.It worked well.
- This was the batter that looked after i used the hand mixer(in column 1).Using a handmixer whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy and then slowly add sugar and beat until you find soft peaks.You can see the soft peaks in the (column 3).
- Note If you have used the hand mixer for mixing the egg yolks and cream cheese mixture ,as i did ,kindly wash the the beater with water thoroughly and completly wipe the water with the help of a tissue paper,ensure no water drops are left behind before procedure to beat the egg whites.This is important because ,even a small drop of water in the beater would make difficulty in getting the peaks.It took 5 minutes to get the peaks.I took high speed for 4minutes then the last 1 minute i lowered the speed of the hand mixer.
- To the cheese batter mixture add the egg whites in 3 portions.Do not add all the egg yolks at once.To get even mixture add the whites in batches.Once all the whites have been added pass the batter through a wire metal sieve and with the help of a spatula mildly scrap the batter,it would help the batter to pass through easily.The lumps would get collected at the top of the sieve.At the end of this you will a silky smooth batter which is absolutely lump free.
- Note Passing the batter through sieve method is optional.But if you except a perfect outcome ,then definelty i will advice you to complete this method.
- Next pour the batter to the baking pan.Mildly tap the batter pan to allow the air buubles come out.In the oven place the wider pan and keep the batter filled actual baking pan above it.Add some boiling/hot water(I used the water which was used to steam in double boiler).The water should not be more than half of the batter quantity.Bake for 1hr 20 minutes.
- Note The cake was completely baked after 1 hour in my oven.Since i wanted the browning top i baked for 20 minutes.Once the baking is over ,slightly keep the door of the oven open for 10 -15 minutes.Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan.Allow the pan to cool and enjoy the real Japanese cotton cheesecake.
One more view of my cotton cheesecake