Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

Directions

1. Start by lining and greasing a cake mold with a removable bottom of 23 cm (or one of 22 or 24 should also work fine, the cheesecake will be a little higher or lower), cut 2 strips of paper for the sides and a circle the size of the bottom out of non-stick cooking paper, grease well the sides and bottom with butter, put the papers, then grease the papers again so the papers are greased on both sides, don’t go overboard, just make sure everything is well greased, also note that you want the side papers higher than the form, because this is a type of souffle, it will rise and then fall, so the high paper will make sure the cheesecake will keep its form.
2. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, but take note that you will be cooking at 160ºC in a water bath, so also prepare a wide tray where you can put the hot water and then put the cake pan in it.
3. Measure the ingredients so it’s easy to add them without having to stop and measure, also separate the yolks from the whites and store the whites in the fridge (you want them as cold as possible).
4. Bring a large pot of hot water to the boil, put a large bowl, preferably a glass one, on top of it, to cook slowly in a water bath (bain-marie), when the water starts boiling, lower the heat and leave it on a medium-low heat.

5. Add in the glass bowl the cream cheese, unsalted butter, cream and 60g of sugar, stir with a whisk or spatula until everything is melted and creamy, then remove the bowl from the heat.
6. Now, while stirring the mixture, add the egg yolks, one by one, mixing each one well before adding the next.

7. Sift the flour into the mixture, stir again without beating.

8. Then pass the mixture from one bowl to another through a fine strainer, this is important to remove lumps and create a smooth and creamy mixture (this step is important because much of the flavor of a Japanese cheesecake comes from its very smooth and creamy texture).

9. Zest 1 lime, be careful to only add the zest and not the white pulp under the zest, then squeeze the lime for about 30ml of juice that you will also add to the batter, stir everything well and set aside.
10. At this point it’s a good idea to add the tray with hot water in the oven, to create some humidity inside, before adding the cheesecake.

11. Now whisk the egg whites, when they start to foam and bubble start adding the 100gr sugar little by little, when you have added all the sugar put the mixer on maximum and whisk until you get medium peaks ( to check medium peaks, do this with a spoon, make a little peak in the egg whites, if it stays but then falls after a few seconds then it’s perfect, you can also see when beating, if the egg whites start not moving around while whisking).

12. Now you are going to fold the egg whites in the cream cheese mixture, fold carefully with a whisk, the best is to pour only 1/4 of the egg whites, fold (without whisking), then another 1/4 and so on, until you get a very smooth and fluffy mixture without any white of the egg whites.

13. Pour the mixture into the prepared lined pan and beat the bottom of the pan 2 or 3 times to remove air bubbles from the bottom.
14. Then place it in the oven on top of the tray with water (add a little more hot water if necessary) in the middle of the oven, lower the oven to 160ºC and let it bake for about 70 to 75 minutes (a larger cake pan will cook faster, a smaller one needs a little more time), the cake should double in size.
15. After 70 minutes you can lower the oven to 145ºC and poke the center with a toothpick if it comes out dry the cake is ready, if there is still some sticky dough, then leave it for another 10 minutes to finish baking and brown the top.
16. When the cake is baked, turn off the oven, open the oven door, and leave the cake in there for another 15 minutes, this will make the cake collapse more slowly, this will help it retain its airy structure better, it won’t dry out so much.
17. Finally take the cake out of the oven, it should have cooled down by now, let it cool a few minutes and then take it out of the pan.
18. Mix the apricot jam and the hot water in a bowl, mix it to create a very liquid jam, you will brush the top of the cake still warm, you don’t want too much, just a thin covering of jam.
19. Finally you can serve the cake still warm (at this point it has almost the texture of pudding), or put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to set (it gets a creamier texture), bon appetite and Happy Valentines day!