Light and Creamy Japanese Cheesecake

I have been craving for cheesecake for weeks;  trying to look for which cheesecake shall I bake and finally when I bookmark one, off I go to supermarket to look for sour cream ~ going in an out to almost 3 to 4 supermarkets in town, I can't believe it myself that there is no sour cream on their shelves!!  And I have the shelf out the idea to bake a cheesecake till now.

I chosen Fern's recipe of this light and creamy cheesecake.  I know I will never be able to bake as beautiful as hers even though I keep my fingers crossed while keeping a close watch as the cake risen.  Well, as the clock ticking minute by minute, I can see that the side of the cake is slowly cracking away and my heart felt the disappointment already. 

I did tent the top with foil but still can't help much to prevent the crack.  

Light and Creamy Cheesecake

Recipe fully adapted from To Food With Love

Ingredients

Crust:

3/4 cup (about 100g) finely crushed Digestive biscuits (or other sweet biscuits)
3 tbsp (50g) butter, melted


Filling:
250g (8oz) Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp fresh milk
1 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
3 egg whites

Method

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Grease and line the base of a 20cm (8 inch) non-stick springform cake tin with non-stick baking paper. Prepare another pan (either roasting tin/cake tin etc is fine) with some boiling water (about 1 inch deep) which you will need to put in the oven later together with the cake. This provides moisture in the oven when the cake is baking and help prevent cracks from forming on top of the cake.

In a small bowl, mix the ingredients for the crust with a spoon until evenly combined. Press the mixture firmly into the base of the prepared cake tin.

Using an electric mixer, beat cheese with milk on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the sour cream, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice, yolks and vanilla extract until well combined. Beat in the cornflour.

In another bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks, and then add the remaining 3 tbsp sugar. Continue to whisk until they just reach stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the cheese mixture above until well combined.

Pour into the cake tin over the crust. Place the pan of boiling water (step 1 above) in the lowest rack of the oven. Place the cake on the middle rack, and bake for 50 minutes or until lightly golden brown. The top of the cake will still have a slight wobble when you move the tin. Turn off the oven. Let the cake sit in the oven for 1 hour with the oven door closed. After that, you can leave the door ajar with a one-inch gap and let the cake cool for another 2-3 hours. You can leave the door closed too if you want (it will just take longer to cool!). While the cake is cooling, the top of the cake may start to come down slowly. That's fine. The top of the cake will be flat and level, and shouldn't collapse if you let it slowly cool down in the oven.

While the cake is cooling, the sides will start to shrink and come off the side of the cake tin. At this point, you can remove the cake from the oven and run a sharp knife around the edge of the tin. Quickly put the cake back in the oven and close the oven door (or leave it 1 inch ajar).

Once the cake has completely cooled (if it's just a little warm, it's okay too), remove from the oven and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.

Remove the cheesecake from the pan. Cut into slices with a hot sharp knife. Dust with icing sugar and serve with strawberries and cream if desired.

Fern..... "the cheesecake gods" didn't come to visit me while I was baking this cheesecake but nevertheless, this cheesecake taste absolutely so delicious!  

It doesn't matter it was not perfectly baked, I love it.

Usually I like to have my cheesecake with some strawberry sauce to go with it.... taste so yummy and I already had two big slice to stop my craving for weeks now.  

And...and....I'm going to be called Fat Mel soon...... lol  :-)