Japanese Cheesecake

I often have the weirdest craving at the weirdest hour. This was last night. I desperately wanted some Japanese cheesecake, at 10pm. By the time my tastebuds were finally satiated, it was past midnight. Yes, this is how compulsive I can get and hence my nickname of an OCD queen.

A good Japanese cheesecake is known for its creamy and light texture and I am glad mine worked. Most recipes will recommend adding some lemon zest into the mixture but I am personally not a fan of lemon in my cheescake but please do so if you must. The crucial part of this recipe is to ensure that 1) your egg whites are whisked enough or else your cake will be heavy, 2) your oven must not be too hot as it will cause the cake to crack and finally 3) do not skip the water bath as you would want a moist and fluffy cake on your table. Have fun!

Ingredients:

150g                        cream cheese
60ml                        milk
50g                          unsalted butter
40g                          self raising flour
10g                          cornflour
3 tablespoons           white sugar
3                              eggs, yolk and white separate
1/4 teaspoon            cream of tartar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius.

Mix the cream cheese, milk and butter in a bowl, over a pot of simmering water. Stir until the cream cheese and butter have melted and are blended together with the milk. Leave aside to cool.

Add the self raising flour, cornflour and egg yolks into the mixture, mixing in a little at a time. Whisk to ensure that there are no lumps of flour.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites for about a minute. Add the cream of tartar, sugar and continue whisking until the egg whites are able to form a soft peak.

Fold the egg whites into the prepared mixture earlier, mixing in a little at a time. Pour the combined mixture into a greased tin lined with grease paper and place the tin in a water bath (i.e. into a larger pot, and filled half with water).

Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. When ready, leave the oven ajar for 10 minutes before removing the cake as too fast a drop in temperature will cause the cake to collapse. Remove from tin and cool on rack before refrigerating it. Serve cold.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

After several disappointing attempts in trying to find an ideal carrot cake in bakeries, I resorted to finding recipes instead. Many were loaded with enough sugar to kill the non-diabetic, whereas some were simply missing that creamy cream cheese frosting that I love. After merging several different recipes and tweaking them a little on my own, I think I've managed to concoct something that was satisfactory, to me at least. So, here's my version of an almost-gorgeous carrot cake.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup                           plain flour

3/4 cup                        sugar

1 teaspoon                   baking soda

1 teaspoon                   ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon                salt

2                                  eggs

3/4 cup                         vegetable oil

11/2 cups                     carrot, grated

1/2 cup                         walnuts, toasted and chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease the baking tin with butter.

In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt together. 

Add in the eggs and vegetable and whisk till combined.  

Add in the grated carrot and chopped walnuts. Pour into the baking tin and bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer is clear when inserted into the cake. Set aside to cool before spreading on the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 packet                cream cheese, room temperature

250g                      salted butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon          vanilla extract

200g                      icing sugar

Method:

Mix all ingredients together and spread on top of carrot cake.

Famous Chocolate Fudge Cake

I've always been a fan of June's Cake Station and Lana's chocolate cake. They are light, moist and chocolatey without being overly sweet. I don't exactly have a sweet tooth to begin with but I do adore an occasional slice of melt-in-your-mouth cocoa divineness.

This is a recipe that I've experimented and adjusted. Just in case you wonder, the sugar content has been reduced significantly to match my family's palate. If you prefer something a little sweeter, you can always increase the amount of icing sugar in the frosting. Don't say I didn't warn you, this is seriously addictive.

Ingredients (Chocolate Cake):

180g plain flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder (non-sweetened)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g sugar

2 eggs

120ml canola oil (yes this is correct, oil.)

150ml milk

2 tbsp golden syrup (available in all leading supermarkets)

Method:

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs and add in sugar and golden syrup. Whisk in the oil and milk till smooth. Fold in the dry goods that have been sifted earlier.

Grease your cake tin and line with baking sheet. Pour in the cake mixture and bake on 180 degrees celsius for 30 minutes or until a skewer is clear when inserted into the middle of the cake.

Ingredients (Chocolate Frosting):

100g butter

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

Cream the butter till soft and add in the icing sugar and cocoa powder. If the frosting is a little too dry, add in 2 tbsp of milk and mix evenly. Spread the frosting on top of the baked chocolate cake and chill in the refrigerator before serving.