Hi everyone! This is my second cake that I made for my friend Lina´s Cake Challenge. The short name for this cake is Cotton Cake and I was very surprised to discover that it is of Japanese origin. Previously, when I thought of Japan, the first thing that came to mind was a cherry blossom. Japan is famous for them.
Honestly, one of the most beautiful sights I have seen is that of cherry blossoms slowly falling to the ground. I actually get a bit emotional seeing the ground scattered with pink flowers.
Then when I think of cherry blossoms, I remember the part in Snow White when the prince and Snow White meet. It was so beautiful.
Yes, I get a bit emotional when I see this too!
Ok, back to the cake!
Before researching this recipe, I certainly did not associate Japan with cheesecake. I was quite looking forward to trying the recipe and I marched out on a chilly Saturday morning to get the ingredients. On way back, I spotted some cherry blossoms and I just had to stop and pick a branch to decorate my cheesecake!
I found the recipe for this on a website called Rasamalaysia and it could not have been easier! Here it is! I put my observations in bold print.
Makes 8″ or 9″ round tin | Prep Time: 30 mins | Bake Time: 70 mins
Adapted from: Diana’s Desserts and Little Teochew
Ingredients:
140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
50g/2 oz. unsalted butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Method:
- Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, salt, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
- Make the meringue by whisking egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. You can beat with a stand mixer or handheld mixer. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. (Click on the link to see image of how the meringue should look.)
- Take 1/3 meringue and fold into the cheese mixture, then fold in another 1/3 of meringue. After incorporated, pour the batter back to the remaining 1/3 meringue and fold. FOLD GENTLY. Pour the mixture into a 8-inch round cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with grease-proof baking paper or parchment paper).
- Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).
Cook’s Notes:
- I baked the cake in 9″ round tin, did not line the sides.
- If you use a 8″ pan, it is very important to line the sides of the 8″ pan with parchment paper, make sure the parchment paper extends higher than the cake tin by about 1.5″. This is very important. I did not extend the parchment as high as I should have and in the end, could not remove the cake from the pan properly. I used a cake pan that has the removeable ring. So, I flipped the cake over and was able to remove the cake pan base and parchment paper that way.
- If springform pan or loose base cake tin is used, wrap the base of your cake tin with 2 layers aluminium foil, to prevent seepage. Important as well! I did this!
- I baked the cake on the lowest shelf in the oven (to prevent cracks on top and over browning). Still, keep an eye on the cheesecake because every oven is different and you do not want the tip to get too brown.
- The purpose of using double boiler is to melt the cheese, butter, and milk mixture. I heated and simmered the water in the double boiler ON the stove. For the water bath, I used hot water.
- I left the cake to cool down in the oven with the oven door open, about an hour. This is to prevent sudden change of temperature that may cause the cake to shrink drastically. It’s normal that the cake will shrink about ½ inch to 1 inch after cooling, it’s normal. If the cake shrinks a lot, the main reason is over mixing the egg white mixture with the cheese mixture. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, FOLD VERY GENTLY, do not stir or blend.
- Refrigerate the cake (with or without the cake tin) for at least 4 hours or overnight.
The results: A beautiful and very fluffy cheesecake! Definitely worth a go if you are keen on cheesecakes in general. My husband and I enjoyed it so much! It wasn´t too sweet and it was lovely with coffee or tea. It was easy to make and it was great to learn something new!
Xxxxx Natascha
Looks perfect
Thank you 😙😙😙
I can see why it’s called Cotton Soft! What a perfect cake to go with a cuppa’ Joe!
You got it!! Coffee, cheesecake and good company or a good book…Pure bliss! 😊😊😊😊😊😊
Lovely post ✨✨✨
Thank you! Maybe it is corny to add the Snow White bit but gosh the part in the movie is just so sweet! 😙😙😙
Love cheesecake!! Nothing better in the world of sweets 😀
Hi! I confess I am not wild about them but this changed my mind about them! Easy, beautiful and tastes great! (And later people rave about you haha)
I love this cake, l must make it myself!
Really! Thank you so much! It is so easy to make and tastes like you made a huge effort! Just lovely!
This looks flawless 🙂
Oh thank you so much!! 😍😍😍😍
that looks so soft and fluffy 🙂
Yes! And so easy too!! Love that!
Looks divine. Pinned 🙂
Thank you so much! This is such an easy thing to make! It tasteslike a lot of work but really isn´t! Love that!!!
🙂
I love cherry blossoms too! And this cake is fascinating! Food art.
You and I have so much in common! the cake was yummy! Thanks so much Sadie xxxxx
I’ve heard about this cake so many times, but still not able to make it myself. I think now it is going to change. The cake indeed looks very fluffy and so soft. I am saving the recipe and hoping that I get to try it soon.
Thank you for another wonderful share at Rare Recipe Challenge #2. Job well done, Natascha. 🙂
Thank YOU for taking the time to read our recipes and to make such kind and encouraging comments. Lina has such great ideas and it is so fun to learn something new. I had no idea about the Japanese and cheesecakes! I hope you try it too! xxxxx
this looks so good !
Thank you! It tasted so good and was easy to make! Love the easy part!
Looks perfect!
Thank you! I am normally not wild about cheesecake but this was really good!
Sounds excellent!
So pretty and simply elegant. Love your cook’s notes following the recipe… excellent tips! The cut slice looks so airy… is the cake not as dense as typical American cheesecakes?
Thank you!! Not so dense and not so rich! 😉😉😉
I looooovvvvveeeeee cheesecake. Not traditionally known here in Brazil so it’s a bit pricey to make. I did make one recently thought. Just had to have some. Hahaha. I had no idea that the Japanese had a cheesecake recipe. And even more interesting is that it has flour in it.
I also love cherry blossoms. The pink ones are so delicate and pretty. Thinking of painting a cherry blossom painting soon. And that photo with the bridge is awesome. Did you take it?
🙂
Everyone feels the call of the cake (any cake haha) now and then! The pink flowers are so beautiful and make me feel hopeful! The bridge photo is not mine. I should put that I found it online! I love it too. ❤
Hahaha. Love it @everyone feels the call of the cake. Oh yes, I agree @any cake too.
I wish I took that photo. It’s so pretty.
🙂
😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙
Such an interesting cake! Great job again 😀
Thank you so much! This one was the simplest and was really good! 😙😙😙😙😙
I guess this cake has been aptly named 🙂 Looks so wonderful!
Thank you! It was easy to make too! Love that!!!
Great.. loved reading the background. Cherry blossoms tell me about it. The cake is gorgeous like the blossoms.
Thank you!!! Nice how cake and flowers can make you smile!(Especially cake haha)
This is a beautiful version of a cheesecake.
Thank you! It was so easy to make too! Not at all dense and heavy like a regular cheesecake. 😙😙😙
Thank you for the follow. I am already loving your recipes. I just nominated you for a couple of awards. Head over to my blog https://cmugrad817.wordpress.com to check it out. Give me a couple more minutes to finish the post, as I am linking the rest of my nominees!!
You´re very welcome! I like your note challenge posts. So often, we take for granted what a writen word can do. Thank you for nominating me! I was not expecting anything like that but I am very grateful!! I will check them out!!! xxxx
I just checked it out! Great post and it is so nice to learn more about you! I think it is just fantastic that you get on so well with the ¨other woman¨ . And early childcare is by no means easy (people think you play all day, those are the people that should get there arses in there and try it!) so I commend you for your patience! thank you agin for nominating me! xxxxx
Looks like a lovely cheesecake!
Thank you! I am not wild about cheesecake but this was easy to make and delivious!
A beautiful light and fluffy cheesecake. You did a great job Natasha. It looks incredible. Thanks so much bringing to the party.
Thank YOU for taking the time to look and to comment. This was so easy to make and it was yummy. (And I am not wild about cheesecake!) 😘😘😘😘😘
Gorgeous! It looks so light! I love cheesecake but sometimes it can be a bit hard to eat….
Thanks for bringing this by Throwback Thursday, too!
Mollie
Thank you! I agree. Cheesecake can be heavy and very rich. This was the opposite! 👍👍👍👍