Piglet's Workshop: 8/1/09

I never liked cheesecake much because I didn't feel that the combination of cheese in a dessert went very well. Plus, it is so rich and high in calories that I feel terribly unhealthy after eating just one slice. For example, a typical slice from the Cheesecake Factory averages around 1000 calories (found here). Then one day, my aunt told me that she had bought some Japanese cheesecake from a local bakery and that I had to try some. I was weary and really didn't want to since I had this aversion to anything cheesecake related. Out of politeness and curiosity, I did end up trying it, and wow - I could barely even tell there was cheese in it! It was so light and fluffy, and reminded me of angel food cake.
I rarely find bakeries that sell this type of light cheesecake, so always saw it as a type of delicacy. A few days ago, I decided that I really wanted to make one of these Japanese cheesecakes for a birthday gift. I searched up a few recipes, made some adjustments, and succeeded on my second try! It is actually a lot easier than I thought, and does not require any hard-to-find ingredients.

I began with melting a block of light cream cheese, half a bar of light butter, and about 1/4 cup of milk in a pan. Once the mixture is homogeneous, remove it from the heat and let it cool down completely. (If you don't wait for it to cool, it won't turn out right, and the egg yolks can get cooked!)

Next, using half a dozen eggs, separate the yolks from the egg whites.

Add the egg yolks to the cream cheese mixture, in addition to an ounce of cornstarch and two ounces of cake flour. Add a pinch of salt and lemon juice (I used vanilla extract).

This next part is the most crucial, and the most difficult only for me since I don't have an electric egg beater. Whisk together the egg whites with 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar. Add 5 ounces of granulated sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Make sure to beat long enough, ensuring that oxygen enters the mixture, allowing the cake to be airy and fluffy.

Add the cream cheese mixture to the egg white mixture. Mix well, and pour into a pan of your choice. Add the pan to a water bath and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes at 325 degrees F.