Elaine Bakes: Japanese Baked Cheesecake

As usual, I have lots of things that I want to bake as you would have noticed from my previous posts, and Japanese Baked Cheesecake is no exceptional. I saw this cake in one of the supermarket leaflets while in Ginza, Japan many years ago. I always thought it looked different from the cheesecake that I normally have. So the other day I stumbled upon a baked cheesecake recipe looking like the one I have in mind. Without hesitation I decided to bake this cake.

Tastewise the cake tasted like the Japanese cotton soft cheesecake except that it's more dense, whereas the former is more airy. I think this cheesecake is less fattening too simply because it didn't involve any butter (except in the biscuit base) and less eggs involved. Also there is less stress baking this cheesecake as you don't really need to make sure every utensil is dry so that the egg whites would set.

Here's the recipe:

Japanese Baked Cheesecake
(recipe for 7 inch round cake pan)

Filling:

250g   Cream cheese, softened at room temp.
200ml Whipping cream
2         Eggs
80g     Caster sugar
2 tbsp Cake flour, sifted
2 tbsp Lemon juice

Base:

80g     Digestive biscuits
40g     Butter


Part 1: Biscuit Base

1. Line the bottom of a 7-inch loose bottom cake tin with greaseproof paper. Set aside
2. Melt butter in a microwave (or waterbath). Set aside.
3. Put digestive biscuits in a ziplock bag and crush the biscuits with a rolling pin as shown in the photo below.

4. Pour the melted butter into Step 3 and mix well.

5. Spread the biscuit mixture evenly in the cake pan from Step 1. Then use a flat bottom glass to press the crushed biscuit to give the biscuit base a uniformed thickeness. 

6. Once done, set aside.

Part 2: Filling

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese lightly, then add in sugar and whisk till fluffy.

2. Add in cake flour followed by eggs, one at a time. Keep whisking at medium speed.

3. Next, mix in whipping cream bit by bit. Lastly incorporate lemon juice into the mixture.

Tip: Make sure you don't overwhisk the cake mixture or air might be introduced into the cake which might cause cracks to happen when the cake is in the oven.

4. Pour cake mixture into the cake tin from Part 1.  

5. Bake in pre-heated oven at 160C for 1 hour or when the cake is browned.

Tip: To keep the oven moist, you might want to fill a tray with water and place at the lower rack of the oven. Apparently this helps to prevent cracks on the surface of the cheesecake.

6. Leave the cake to cool. You will find the the top will sink a little once the cake has cooled down, which is normal for this cheesecake.

7. Run a small palette knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the cheesecake then push the base up through the cake tin.

8. To serve, use a clean sharp knife dipped in hot water and cut the cake into individual slices. Enjoy!

Fresh from the oven

You can dust the cake with some icing sugar or decorate it with some fresh berries to enhance its appearence.