Japanese cheesecake

Here's one cake that needs no guinea pigs .....

As I can eat it all by my lonesome , expanding tummy be damned ! lol

Nearly the same as the recipe from Diana's Desserts that I've been baking from time to time .....

But when I stumbled upon this recipe , with so much rave reviews , I couldn't help but bake it asap ! 

I've seen this recipe's link from this awesome Japanese blog Just one cookbook .....

This one though only uses 3 eggs instead of 6 and the height is not as impressive but it's just as delectable ! 

This cake is much more softer , its texture's more like the lighter version of a traditional cheesecake sans the richness and much easier to slice so no messy slices !  

The recipe's link is in Japanese so use the translation button in your computer - the English translation is a little bit off but still easy to understand : )

I omitted the rum , used a generous teaspoon of lime instead of lemon and added a pinch of salt .

Recipe from Cookpad

200 - 225 grams cream cheese , at room tempearature

30 grams granulated sugar

30 grams butter , at room temp 

3 eggs , separated

100 ml cream , at room temp

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tbsp rum

40 grams cake flour

50 grams granulated sugar for the egg whites

some apricot jam for glazing

* Preheat oven to 150°C . Lightly grease the bottom and the sides of a 7-inch springform or removable- bottom pan and lined with parchment paper , grease it as well  ( the parchment paper should be an inch higher than the pan ) .

* Combine the cream cheese , cream , sugar and butter and whisk until smooth .
* Add egg yolks , lemon juice and rum to the cream cheese mixture , whisk until well combined .
* Add the cake flour in two additions and mix until well incorporated .
* In another bowl , beat the egg whites and add sugar in 3 additions ; whip mixture until the texture looks silky and is still dripping when you scoop it ( Don't overbeat or else the surface of the cake will crack when baked ) Mine still crack , so don't worry if you overbeat your egg whites !
* Add 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the cream cheese mixture and mix well then pour that mixture back in the remaining egg white mixture and fold well thoroughly but gently .
* Pour batter in the prepared pan and drop the pan to remove the air bubbles in the batter . ( Don't mind  that small craters in my cake heh ! ) .
* Bake cheesecake in a water bath at 150°C for 30 minutes then lower to 140°C and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes or until the skewer or toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean .
* Leave to cool in the oven with door slightly ajar , about 30 minutes to an hour .
* Brush some warm apricot glaze on top ( I mixed a generous tablespoon of apricot jam and a tsp of water and heat it , strain if prefer )

This is how I bake my cheesecakes , instead of wrapping a foil around the pan and putting it directly into the pan with water , put a roasting tin at the bottom , add the hot water after preheating the oven  , and a wire rack at the top , that way , no water can seep into the cake .