Cooking

Japanese baking

Okay, extending this post.

The fluffy cheesecake has been making (jiggly) waves across social media thanks to BuzzFeed Tasty. 

For my first iteration, I took justonecookbook’s recipe and halved it for a 6″ pan. It came out less fluffy and more tart than I expected. My friend then offered me a tried and true recipe to use for next time. Will be updated after next trial.

Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

  • Prepare 6-in cake pan, lined with parchment paper on bottom and at least 4” on sides.
  • Over double boiler, melt 150g (5.3 oz) cream cheese, 2 tbsp butter, 100 ml (.42 cups) heavy cream
  • Whisk in 3 egg yolks slowly.
  • Sift in 4.5 tbsp cake flour (approx. 4 tbsp all-purpose flour, .5 tbsp cornstarch)
  • Zest in half lemon, add 2 tbsp lemon juice.
  • Refrigerate.
  • Whip 3 egg whites, cold, until opaque and bubbly (2 minutes). Slowly add 100g (~1/2 cup) sugar, then beat at high speed until soft peaks form.
  • Fold meringue into batter gently in thirds.
  • In water bath, bake at 320 F for 70-75 minutes, then 300 F for 10 minutes, until top is golden brown.
  • Dust with confectioner’s sugar, serve with strawberries.

 

With the leftover cream and borrowed cake pan and mixer, I couldn’t help whipping up (literally) another Japanese style pastry. They love their fluffy things. Recipe from washoku.guide.

Except it didn’t turn out that fluffy. Boo.

Matcha Sponge Cake

  • Line 6” springform pan with parchment paper.
  • In clean bowl, whip 2 egg whites while gradually adding 80g (~3/8 cup) sugar. Whip meringue to stiff peaks.
  • Mix in 2 egg yolks.
  • Sift in 66g cake flour (~1/2 cup AP flour, 1 tbsp cornstarch) plus 6g (~1 tbsp) matcha. Then fold in.
  • Melt 20g (1.5 tbsp) butter into 33ml (2tbsp + 1 tsp) milk. Slowly stir into batter.
  • Pour batter into mold. Eliminate bubbles, smooth surface.
  • Bake 30-35 minutes at 170 C (340 F)
  • Cool on rack, then refrigerate for a day.
  • Slice horizontally and fill with (matcha) whipped cream. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Matcha Whipped Cream

  • Freeze metal bowl and metal whisk for 10-15 minutes.
  • Add 1/2 cup heavy cream over 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp matcha. Whip to stiff peaks.

 

Castella (Japanese honey cake)

I may import the recipe here to better categorize it.