Japanese Cheesecake with Green Tea Swirls

I didn't do much on Memorial Day weekend yesterday. M left to Korea for a business trip, and I went to work on Monday while everyone else was in the pool or BBQ enjoying the sun. I was planning on doing a lot of baking but I didn't do as much as I wanted too. In fact, I only made different components for this and that, but no finished dessert yet. My long-time friend came to visit from Indonesia so we hung out for quite a bit. He was here when I started my early baking life so he got to taste some of my first cakes. I am making some of them while he's here, along with some other desserts like lemon tart.

That aside, I want to post a very simple cake that I made a while ago. I had a tiny bit of cream cheese left after making the cheesecakes and the raspberry white chocolate and I didn't want it to go to waste. I decided to make this Japanese Cheesecake that I haven't made in years. This is also one of the cakes that I used to make a lot when I started baking. it is very simple, not quite like NY cheesecake, more like cheese-flavored sponge cake, but creamier, and lemony from the lemon zests. I decided to add green tea swirl to it as I think they will go really well together.

It only makes three 4" round cheesecakes but it was perfect for anytime dessert, with tea or coffee. This cake used to be one of my favorite cakes to make as it was easy and it pleases people, back when Japanese cheesecake was really popular among Asian community.

I made other variations before, but Japanese Cheesecakes are usually topped with fresh fruits. Here are some of the ones I made in the past, plain with apricot glaze, strawberries and decorated with cream for bday, and the latest one was topped with different kinds of fruits

If you put it in the fridge, then the texture will be denser and creamier. If you leave it at room temperature, it will be much lighter.

Japanese Cheesecake
Taken from "Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake" from Diana's Dessert

140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
50g/2 oz. butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).

4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

Makes 1 (8-inch) cheesecake, 12 servings.
Note: To make the green tea swirl, take a little bit of the batter and add a mixture of matcha powder+a few drops of water to make a thick paste. Combine the two mixture and spoon it on top of the white cheesecake batter. Using a toothpick or chopstick, make a swirl pattern