fuwafuwa Japanese cheesecake... *sigh*

are you also one of those people who are just rendered speechless when you have something so good to eat, something that evokes so many emotions, like me?

remember the scene in 'Friends' where Chandler and Rachel cannot seem to say goodbye to the cheesecake? well, i m sure that cheesecake, probably the (in)famous New York style one, is totally amazing.

i ve made a few, not many, cheesecakes in my lifetime, always to an American recipe which called for a buttery biscuit crust, loads of extra cream, and often some kind of fruity coulis on top. (which reminds me, yesterday i was flicking thru the pages of my old cookery notebook from high school, and i actually found a cheesecake recipe that supposedly was one by L.B.J... uhm, Lyndon B. Johnson to the younger ones amongst you! well, more probably it was his wife s, but anyway...)

a few months ago, around Easter, on one of my favorite blogs, i found a recipe for Japanese cheesecake. ofcourse i was immediately intrigued. would anybody have found the perfect recipe for that light, yet creamy, fluffy yet dense enough, yummy scrumptious cheesecake that i remembered of my teenage years?

so i made it yesterday.

OH... MY... GOD...

forgive me for waxing lyrical, but this was just like heaven. seriously.

JAPANESE CHEESECAKE:
adapted and tweaked (just a little bit) from GREEN CILANTRO

INGREDIENTS:

300 gr cream cheese (i did use the Phildelphia brand)
45 gr unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
20 gr white caster sugar
11 gr cornstarch
150 gr milk (yes, weigh the milk)
3 egg whites
55 gr white caster sugar

METHOD:

1. pre-heat the oven to 180°C
2. instead of using a round 18cm cake tin, i opted for a loaf tin (26cm x 10cm x 7cm) and lined that with baking paper (making sure that the paper rose a good 2cm above the sides of the tin)
3. i softened (not heated) the cream cheese in the microwave (750w at 10 minute intervals)
4. melt the butter au-bain-marie and mix well with the softened cream cheese
5. mix the egg yolks with the sugar and the sifted cornstarch
6. heat the milk and, just before boiling, slowly add to the egg-yolk mixture and beat this mixture also au-bain-marie until thickened (i nearly botched it up here, left the bowl with egg-yolk mixture over the hot water while i went on to prepare something else, and it nearly became a steamed omelet!... so watch it and remove from heat as soon as thickened)
7. mix the egg-yolk mixture with the cream cheese mixture (i was able to save the whole thing by running it thru a fine-mesh sieve, yay)
8. beat the egg-whites (which i did not lightly freeze, but only chilled in the fridge while making the other preparations) with a small amount of the 55gr of sugar until frothy, then add more of the sugar and beat until it is a creamy meringue.
9. combine this with the egg-yolk cream cheese mixture.
10. pour into the prepared tin
11. place this tin in a roasting pan and add hot water until it comes up about 1-1.5cm of the sides of the cake tin
12. bake for 15 minutes
13. lower the temperature to 160°C and continue to bake for 25 minutes or until the top is slightly golden
14. TURN OFF THE OVEN and leave the tin inside for another 40 minutes to an hour
15. take the tin out of the oven and leave to cool completely before putting it in the fridge to settle completely, preferably overnight.

i couldn t wait that long, so had to try it after a good 8 hours of chilling.

again.

WOW.

the egg yolks with the cornflour

the cream cheese with the butter

egg-yolk mixture with the cream cheese mixture

adding the meringue

ready for the oven

just cracked a little (next time must adjust oven temp)

Viv, if you re reading this, THANK YOU!!!