Hybrid cheesecake

Cuisine: American Japanese fusion

Cooking time: Approx 2 hours

Cooking Method: Bake (Bain marie)

Note: Contains alcohol (can be omitted)

Preamble

So, the pretentious name for this recipe comes from the fact that it is essentially a hybrid of both a japanese souffle cheesecake and an american new york style cheesecake, with a spin or two of my own invention. Essentially it’s a New York style cheesecake with an unfrothed japanese cheesecake as the filling.

I personally vastly prefer the creaminess of japanese souffle cheesecakes, but also prefer the firmness of american style cheesecakes (plus most of the time I can’t be arsed to whisk egg whites) so after some experimentation I came up with this recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Serously, when I came up with this recipe, I spent like a solid 3 weeks straight making a new one right after I finished the previous cake because it’s just that delicious.

I find that adding just a bit of brandy just fleshes out the flavour and makes it more sophisticated and complex. I prefer a brandy with raisiny notes, as I think they fit well with the other flavours, but make a choice based on your personal preference.

This recipe was adapted from Just One Cookbook - Souffle japanese cheesecake and Once Upon a Chef - New York Style Cheesecake

Actual recipe

Recipe makes 1 cake.

Notes: You can use lemon instead of lime, I personally prefer lime.

Ingredients

Base

• Approximately 125/150g of crumbled butter cookies
• 5 tbsp of melted butter
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt

Filling

• 300g unflavoured Philadelphia cream cheese
• 200ml heavy whipping cream
• 60g butter
• 155g sugar
• 5 g of vanilla sugar
• 6 Eggs
• 80g flour
• The zest of 1 lime
• 30 ml lime juice
• 20ml Brandy

Method

Base

1. Combine base ingredients
2. Cover the bottom of your cake dish with the base mixture
3. Bake at 200 c for 10 mins

Cake

1. In a large bowl, add 300 g cream cheese, 60 g unsalted butter, 200 ml heavy (whipping) cream, 155 g sugar and 5 g of vanilla sugar. Rest the bowl on the saucepan above the simmering water.
2. Mash the cream cheese and butter with a silicone spatula. Once they are softened, use a hand whisk to blend everything together. Remove the bowl from the heat.
3. Whisk the eggs into the warm cream cheese mixture
4. Using a fine-mesh strainer, sift 80 g flour into the batter. Whisk and blend together.
5. [Optional] Then, pass the batter through the same fine-mesh strainer into a clean large bowl. This creates a silky texture for the batter.
6. Add the zest of 1 lime, 30 ml of lime juice and 20 ml of brandy
7. Pour into cake mould with the prepared cookie base
8. Bake for 70 minutes at 160 c, with a bain marie
9. After 70 mins, reduce heat to 150 c and bake for another 10 mins
10. Allow to cool before removing from mould or serving

To test doneness insert a knife or stick into the cake. If nothing liquid and only firm giblets emerge, the cake is done.