J​apanese Cheesecake

T​his was a request for part of a birthday cake and, neither of us having actually tasted it before, we weren't sure what to expect. A fluffy cheesecake - whats not to love?

C​hallenge accepted!

I​ could only find recipes for plain or lemon versions of this and I wanted to make a chocolate one, because chocolate! So this is what i've come up with and the result was, as you might expect, very light and fluffy but tasted just like cheesecake. Would definitely recommend

What you'll need

230g cream cheese

60g unsalted butter

75ml whole milk

6 large eggs, separated

40g plain flour

30g cornflour

3​0g cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

200g granulated sugar

2​ tsp vanilla essense

Make the cake!

1​. Preheat the oven to 160C and grease and line a springform pan (I used 8" but larger would also work) with parchment paper. Ensure you have a tin or caserole dish big enough to place this in as it bakes in a bain marie

2. Melt the butter and cream cheese, with the milk, in a bowl over simmering water till smooth before removing from the heat and adding the vanilla essence

3​. Whisk in the egg yolks and sift in the flour, cornflour and cocoa powder, folding till combined

4​. If you've not already had to transfer to a bigger bowl, consider it now!

5​. Separately, whisk together the egg whites and cream of tartar till it starts to become white then gradually add the sugar, whisking till meringue like (stiff peaks form. You can tip it up over your head if you wish but on your head be it - literally!)

6. Gently fold the meringue mix into the original mix, one third at a time till fully combined. Try to keep as much air in the mix as possible

7​. Gently pour the whole mix into the lined tin and place this in the casserole dish, half filled with boiling water (you are going to spill here, its just a fact, the best method i've found is adding the water after the whole lot is in the over. You're still likely to get wet!)

8. Bake at 160C for around 1 and a quarter hours before removing the tin from the bain marie

9​. Allow to cool in the tin before removing and revealing it in all its risen fluffy glory.

D​ecorate!

Y​ou can really do what you like with this, it could lend itself to fully icing, as it has a fair structure, but its a good enough texture that even a light sprinkling of icing sugar would be plenty.

I​ went for decorative lime buttercream as the recipient is a lover of citrus but im a hater of lemon!

2​00g unsalted butter, 330g icing sugar and lime to taste - I used about 40-50ml and blimey is it limey, but we like it!

L​et me know if this is up your street and i'd love you to give it a go!