japanese lite cheesecake

few years back i tried to make a no-bake cheesecake following the instruction on the back of the philadelphia cream cheese package. well, i had to run out to tesco to get a new blender as my mom's old molinexx broke down halfway when i was creaming the cheese. not sure whether it was that or because i was using agar2 powder... the cake didnt set even though it was chilled in the fridge overnite.... this bad experience had "frightened" me off from attempting another cheesecake... until one fine day i made another no-bake cheesecake - latte cheesecake. it was a hit among my friends at work and sonia (although she did remark it was a little lite compared to the ny cheesecake ... of course lo... that's not fresh cheesecake mar...).
however, i felt a little was-was with the gelatin.... my family dont take beef.... so i asked the shop "bake with yen" what was the source of the gelatin... but the lady was a little offensive... answered me curtly "it's halal! it's halal!" ... well i'm not particular on halal as i'm not muslim mar, rite? so i asked again.... "gelatin derived from what? or what type of gelatin?" ... she raised her voice "halal la!"... so i gave up. no point asking again (i plan to ask again the next time i go when there's less customer....). so i packed the left over gelatin powder and kept it in a corner....until i really find out what's made of or other alternative.
with the chilled cheesecake out for the moment, my urge to bake another cheesecake has not subsided. so a searching i went and found many many cheesecake recipes. some so intimidating that i dont even dare to think of baking, some so easy i felt it's too good to be true. then i saw one - japanese lite cheesecake (aka cotton cheesecake) and it has a lot of feedbacks - happy and successful ones. hmm... so i braved myself ... saved the recipe and made a preparation in my little brain to try in for cny.
it actually has 2 parts... it sounds complicated but it's actually quite fun and easy... and the best is it is a foolproof. why i'm so sure? cos if i can baked it successfully... anyone also can!
i was halfway thru the baking process when my cousins arrived to pai nian. fortunately, i havent started the beating of the egg white ... so i left it for a while (quite a while....) and i had to continue before they left as i'm afraid the melted cheese would curdle (it didnt...). a-girl, my cousin laughed at me remarking that we can buy the same which doesnt cost much. well.. she is not really into baking and i guess she doesnt really understand the joy of baking and exhilarating feeling when someone compliment the cake.. :) ..
due to laziness, i decided not to use the mixer ... u know la... have to take out from box, clean ... use then clean n dry again... so marfun.... so i beat the egg white manually to soft-peak. thank god, man!! it's soft-peak only and not stiff... my hand nearly tercabut lo. but i really do enjoy the process especially seeing it turning from frothy to soft-peak... maklum la... first time making mar... ehehheh.
then came to the baking.... tension lo.. cos the oven in mcca ar... is the gas oven. some more the marks/temperature button terpadam. so dunno what temperature... just light it up and wait till very hot and put it in. luckily, there's a lite bulb that is bright and clear so i can monitor the progress. the baking takes only around 30 mins compared to 1.5 hrs as recommended. and YEEHA! it turned out great! this recipe is a keeper....

i'm now planning to make some other flavors based on this recipe e.g. matcha, cappuccino, etc...

140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar or white vinegar
50g/2 oz. butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt
Instructions:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
3. Add the egg white mixture to the cream mixture and mix well.
4.Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).
5. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).