Japanese Cheesecake

For a 9″ pan – which the original recipe calls for:

• 2/3 cup milk
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 7 T butter
• 8 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 12 egg whites
• 3/4 c sugar
• parchment paper
• strawberries, to serve (optional)
• powdered sugar, to serve (optional)

For an 8″ pan (if you happen to have a 4″ deep pan, great.  Just grease it very well with butter, sides and bottom; no need for the parchment.  If using a 2-3″ deep pan, be sure your parchment paper lining comes up 4″ so the cake can rise as it should.

• 1/2 c milk
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 6 T butter
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 T flour
• 3 T cornstarch
• 9 egg whites
• 2/3 c sugar

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Place a 4-inch high parchment paper strip around the edge of an 8″x3″ or 9″x3-inch cake pan that is already lined with parchment at the bottom. If you are using a springform pan, make sure to wrap the bottom and sides completely in foil to prevent any leakage.

In a small pan over medium heat, whisk the milk, cream cheese, and butter until smooth. Remove from heat and cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the vanilla until smooth, then slowly drizzle in the cream mixture, stirring until evenly combined.

Sift the flour and the cornstarch mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking just enough to make sure there are no lumps.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until you see soft peaks when lifting the mixer up from the egg whites. Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat until you see stiff peaks when lifting the mixer up.

Take about ¼ of the egg whites and fold them into the egg yolk mixture, then repeat with the remaining egg whites until the batter is evenly combined.

Pour the batter into the parchment-lined pan and tap gently on the counter to release any large air bubbles.

Place the batter-filled pan into a larger baking pan and then add about 1-inch hot water to the larger pan (creating a water bath for the cake).

Bake for 30 minutes at 325°F, then reduce the heat to 275°F, and bake for another 50 minutes.  To maintain as much height as possible and avoid cracking, after the 50 minutes, turn off the oven and open the door a bit.  Let the cake stay there till it’s cool enough to handle comfortably – up to an hour.  If it’s the middle of summer and there’s no way you’re opening an oven door for an hour, carefully remove the cheesecake from the oven at the end of the 50 minutes and let cool in the water for 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.

Now carefully invert the cake onto a wire rack (place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on the rack, if you want to avoid getting wire marks on the cake); peel off the paper that the cake baked in, if you’ve used parchment.  Then gently invert the cake onto a cake plate, so that the top side is now up.

If you’re serving immediately, sprinkle the top of the cake with powdered sugar, slice, and serve with strawberries while the cake is still warm.  Or refrigerate for a day or two and serve chilled.  And the cake – surprisingly – freezes quite well!

It’s unique and so delicious!  Enjoy.