Sliced Cheese Cheesecake

I'm so happy I found this recipe in Zu's blog as I don't usually have cream cheese in my fridge but sliced cheese, yes, always!

It was an impromptu decision to bake this. I started measuring the ingredients at 11am and by 11.15am, I was already washing up the utensils ;-)

The cheese batter was very watery and it was difficult to fold into the whisked egg whites.  After a few strokes with the spatula, I gave up and switched to mix with a hand whisk and it worked.  Such a breeze!

I baked them in 2 pans, hoping to shorten the baking time, so I could be on time to fetch DS2 from school. However, the baking time was still very much the same. It was my mistake because I used a 7" and a loaf pan, should have used a 8" pan plus a loaf pan. Also, instead of using baine marie/water bath method, I placed a bowl of hot water into the oven with the cake pans for the steam effect.
 

I thought my interval from my last cheesecake baking was good, at least 3 weeks, but I was wrong.  The kids didn't even want to eat this!  They gave me that "Huh?  Not cheesecake again!" look.  No prize for guessing who ultimately finished it up :-|

The texture of this cake is very much like the Japanese Cottony Cheesecakes I have made earlier. It yields a soft and moist cake but I thought it was abit too moist and had this mushy feeling when you bite into it. May need to reduce liquid or increase flour the next time I make this.

Sliced Cheese Cheesecake

Ingredients
(A)
5 sliced cheese (I used low fat)
200ml fresh milk (I used low fat UHT milk)
70g butter (I just cut out 3cm thick from the block)

(B)
4 egg yolks
70g cake flour (I used 1/2 cup plain flour)
1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

(C)
65g sugar (I used 1/4 cup sugar)
4 egg whites

Method

1. Combine sliced cheese and milk in a double boiler. Cook till cheese melts, stir mixture with a hand whisk to prevent lumps.  Add butter, let it melt and stir till well blended.
2. In another clean bowl, beat the yolks till creamy and add it to the milk mixture.
3. Slowly stir in lemon juice and fold in flour, mix well.
4. Whisk egg white till foamy. Add in the sugar gradually and whisk until stiff peaks form.
5. Fold in 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture using hand whisk till incorporated.
6. Pour the mixture to the remaining egg whites and mix till incorporated.
7. Pour 2/3 portion into a 7” round cake pan (line the bottom of the pan with greaseproof paper) and  the balance 1/3 to 9" X 5" baking pan.
8. Fill a bowl with hot water and put in into the oven with the prepared cake pan, bake in preheated oven @ 170C for 20 mins.  Lower the temperature to 140C and bake it for further 40mins or until skewer inserted to centre of cake comes out clean.
9. Leave to cool in oven wih door slightly ajar.
10. Unmould and chill in fridge before slicing.

Baileys Japanese Cotton Cheesecake (Alex Goh)

This is yet another overdue post.

As I wasn't satisfied with my Japanese Cheesecake texture, I made it again since I've got the balance 1/2 block of cheese sitting in my fridge from my previous attempt. 

I'm pretty sure I've got more accurate measurements this time round as the texture was moist and soft.  Yes, I did it! :-)  But instead of making just a regular cheesecake, I added some Baileys Irish Cream into it for extra flavour.  Taste good but kids got sick of eating so much cheesecakes and decided they've had enough.  I end up eating the whole cake.  Sinful...  Lesson learnt, do not attempt the same recipe within a short period of time.

Baileys Japanese Cotton Cheesecake
(adapted from Alex Goh's Fantastic Cheesecake, from here)

Ingredients
(A)
1/2 block (125g) cream cheese
90ml milk
1 cm thick (15g) butter

(B) * sifted
1/4 cup (30g) plain flour
3 tbsp (24g) cornstarch

(C)
3 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1 tbsp baileys irish cream

(D)
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup (60g) sugar

Method

1. In a heavy saucepan, cook cream cheese, milk and butter until thick and smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Fold in (B) and mix well with a whisk.
3. Put egg yolks into the cheese mixture and stir until well combined. Add Baileys Irish Cream and mix well.
4. In another clean bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Put in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks, add in sugar gradually and beat until stiff (soft droopy peak that will hold its form).
5. Fold in 1/3 of egg whites into cheese mixture with a spatula till incorporated.
6. Pour the cheese mixture into the remaining egg whites and fold in gently till incorporated.
7. Pour batter into a lined 8" pan (I was lazy so I just greased and flour the base on the pan only).
8. Oil a piece of aluminium foil and cover the pan loosely.
9. Fill a bowl with hot water and put in into the oven with the prepared cake pan, bake in preheated oven @ 160C for 20 mins.
10. Turn down the temperature to 150C and bake for 20mins.
11. Remove the foil and reduce the temperature to 140C and bake for another 20 mins and until skewer inserted to centre of cake comes out clean.
12. Leave to cool in oven wih door slightly ajar.
13. Unmould and chill in fridge before slicing.

Matcha Japanese Cotton Cheesecake (Alex Goh)

Wendy saw my earlier posting and decided to make a Japanese Cheesecake for Mother's Day.  I saw her entry and decided to try her recipe (I made this one month ago but only had time to blog about it now).  Now, this is the beauty of the cyberworld!  So much interaction and so much to learn.

I have a satchet of matcha/green tea that is expiring soon so I just added 2 tsp of it into the batter as I didn't want to waste my precious matcha. 

I have to confess, I made this without any weighing scale and most measurements are in cups and teaspoon estimation.

• 24g corn flour - eh, how much is 24g in teaspoon??  I've got a little note pad which I scribbled out the recipes I wanted to try.  For this Japanese Cheesecake recipe, I have 3 versions scribbled on one page.  1 is original recipe, the 2nd is 1/2 recipe and the 3rd is Wendy's.  The page is too overloaded with words and I think I got confused.  Aunty A told me 20g corn flour = 8 tsp, so after calculation, 24g should be 9.6 tsp.  But I used only 6 tsp in this attempt.
• 15g butter - again, how much is 15g?  I just cut out 1cm thick and assume it should be around there :P
• 30g flour - I used 1/4 cup flour
• 75g sugar - I used 1/4 cup sugar
• 125g cream cheese - I just use my eye power and cut the block of cream cheese into 2, assuming they are the same size and weight.

I covered the cake with aluminium foil as I was worried the cake will crack too much.  There was no crack but the top didn't get brown enough.

The cake turned out pretty well, slightly more crumbly and I thought it's not as moist as the recipe I have. 

The holey cake when sliced, not as soft and moist as I suspect I didn't get the measurement correct in the first place.  I made another cake using this recipe and it turned out better than this attempt.  Will blog about it another day.

Matcha Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

(adapted from Alex Goh's Fantastic Cheesecake, from here)

Ingredients
(A)
125gm cream cheese
90ml milk
15gm butter

(B) * sifted
30gm flour
24gm cornstarch
2 tsp matcha/green tea powder

(C)
3 egg yolks
pinch of salt

(D)
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
75gm sugar

Method

1. In a heavy saucepan, cook cream cheese, milk and butter until thick and smooth. Set aside to cool. 
2. Fold in (B) and mix well with a whisk.
3. Put egg yolks into the cheese mixture and stir until well combined.
4. In another clean bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Put in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks, add in sugar gradually and beat until stiff (soft droopy peak that will hold its form).
5. Fold in 1/3 of egg whites into cheese mixture with a spatula till incorporated.
6. Pour the cheese mixture into the remaining egg whites and fold in gently till incorporated.
7. Pour batter into a lined 8" pan (I was lazy so I just greased and flour the base on the pan only).
8. Oil a piece of aluminium foil and cover the pan loosely.
9. Fill a bowl with hot water and put in into the oven with the prepared cake pan, bake in preheated oven @ 160C for 20 mins.
10. Turn down the temperature to 150C and bake for 20mins.
11. Remove the foil and reduce the temperature to 140C and bake for another 20 mins and until skewer inserted to centre of cake comes out clean.
12. Leave to cool in oven wih door slightly ajar.
13. Unmould and chill in fridge before slicing.

Peach Japanese Cheesecake

The last time I made this Japanese Cheesecake, the top cracked very badly and it looked like some railway tracks.  This time round, I paid more attention to the temperature and lowered the heat.  The cake had slight split at the surface and somehow disappeared while cooling in the oven (due to the shrinkage).  I will need to adjust the temperature further to achieve a no-crack cake.

I made this Japanese Cheesecake without my weighing scale and had to trouble Aunty A to weigh the flours for me.
 

Yields a very soft and light cheesecake.  Pardon the white line on the cake, it is the reflection from my camera's flashlight.

Peach Japanese Cheesecake

Ingredients

(A)
250g Philadephia cream cheese
50g butter
100ml fresh milk

(B)
60g cake flour
20g corn flour
*sifted together

(C)
5 egg yolks
¼ tsp salt

(D)
5 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
120g fine granulated sugar

Method

Melt (A) in a double boiler. Cool the mixture. (I melt it over direct fire on low heat, stirring constantly)

Fold in (B) & (C).

Mix well.

Whisk egg white with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar gradually and whisk until medium stiff peaks form.

Fold in 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture using a rubber spatula till incorporated.

Pour the mixture to the remaining egg whites and fold in gently.

Fold in till incorporated.

Pour into a 8” round cake pan (line the bottom with parchment paper).  I added some peaches from my leftover fruit pastry.

Bake cheese cake in a water bath at preheated oven of 160C for 15 mins, reduce temperature to 150C and bake for another 45 mins.

Turn down the temp to 140C and bake till the cake is golden brown and until skewer inserted to centre of cake comes out clean.  Leave to cool in oven wih door slightly ajar.

Unmould and chill in fridge before slicing.

Ribena Marble Cheesecake

It never occur to me that I could do something else with Ribena besides making it into a drink until I saw this recipe. How interesting! With all the ingredients on hand, I made this cake.

It should be relatively easy to make this as it's a no-bake recipe but I faced a problem with the crust. There were too much biscuit crumbs and not enough butter (I always have this problem when I make a no-baked cake). In the end, I had to scoop out some biscuit crumbs and add more butter. With that, the crust finally binded together.

Here's a pic showing how I alternate spooning the mixture in. One tbsp plain, one tbsp ribena mixture, and carry on till last spoonful of mixture.

I didn't meausre out the Ribena but simply poured into my 1 cup measuring cup and estimate. Obviously it's not enough as the contrast is not significant.

All packed up, ready to be given away :-)

If you want to make this, I'll suggest for Step 4, instead of dividing the mixture evenly, scoop out 3 tablespoon from the bowl intended to add Ribena cordial as after adding in the Ribena, the mixture is more than the plain mixture.

Ribena Marble Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
120g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
120g butter, melted

Filling
100ml water
20g (2 tablespoons) gelatin powder
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
65g caster sugar
250ml (1 cup) natural plain yogurt
75ml Ribena blackcurrant juice cordial

Method

1. Line the sides of a 18-20cm round pan (with a removable base) with parchment paper or clear plastic sheet (I just use a clingwrap to wrap the base), set aside. To make the crust, combine crushed digestive biscuits and melted butter together in a mixing bowl. With the back of a spoon, press the biscuit crumbs onto the base of the prepared pan. Chill in the freezer compartment for at least 1 hour. (To ensure the crust is even, I used the base of a flat-bottom glass to press down the crumbs.)
2. Filling: Measure water into a bowl and sprinkle in the gelatin (without stirring with a spoon). Set aside to allow the gelatin grains to swell (10 mins) before setting the bowl over a pot of simmering hot water. Stir with a spoon and once the gelatin melts, remove the bowl from the pot and set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add in the gelatin solution and yogurt, beat till the mixture turns smooth.
4. Divide mixture evenly into two bowls (about 1 cup each). Add 75ml of Ribena into one of the bowls and mix well with a spatula.
5. Spoon the two mixtures in alternate blobs into the chilled crust. Level top and swirl with a knife through the mixture to create a marble effect. Refrigerate until set.

Matcha Japanese Cheesecake

Are you craving for some Japanese cheesecake? I'm not a fan of cheesecakes especially American cheesecakes as I find them too rich and has a strong cheese fragrance. However, when I was a young girl, I was first introduced to this Japanese cheesecake and I fell in love with it instantly. It is one of my favourite cake as it is light and airy, almost like eating a chiffon cake. I've tried other brands of Japanese cheesecake but my personal favourite is still Miki Ojisan No Mise Cheesecake. Whenever I'm near Raffles City, I cannot resist buying a box that was priced at below S$7 then. Not many folks in my family like this cake but that's alright as I can easily finish 1/2 the cake all by myself ;-)

The first time I baked a Japanese cheesecake was in 2006 and it was well received by DH and DD1, until one day, no one in the family except me eats the cake. It was a sign for me to stop baking this cake :P

I've been looking for matcha (green tea powder) recipes to utilise my 2 cans of matcha in my fridge. When I saw this Green Tea Cheesecake by Precious Moments, I wanted to give it a try.

I've got a really bad crack on the cake, I suspect it's because my oven temperature is too high.

This cake will shrink after baking but I'm glad it didn't shrink too much and I still have a tall cake :-)

All packed up, ready to be given away. One for SL, one for my inlaws and the balance for my family.

Original recipe calls for 6 eggs but my cake pan can't take 6 egg whites so I used only 5 eggs. I've also reduced the sugar slightly as we don't have sweet tooth.

Matcha Japanese Cheesecake

Ingredients

(A)

250g Philadephia cream cheese

50g butter

100ml fresh milk

(B)

60g cake flour

20g corn flour

1 tsp matcha (green tea powder)

*sifted together

(C)

5 egg yolks

¼ tsp salt

(D)

5 egg whites

¼ tsp cream of tartar

120g fine granulated sugar

Method

1. Melt (A) in a double boiler. Cool the mixture.
2. Fold in (B) and (C), mix well.
3. Whisk egg white with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar gradually and whisk until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold in 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture using a rubber spatula till incorporated.
   Pour the mixture to the remaining egg whites and fold in gently till incorporated.
5. Pour into a 8” round cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof paper).
6. Bake cheese cake in a water bath at preheated oven of 160C for 40 mins, reduce temperature to 150C and bake for another 40 mins or till cake is golden brown and until skewer inserted to centre of cake comes out clean.