Thursday, August 16, 2012

Japanese Cheesecake - A perfect replica of Rikuro Ojisan cheesecake

Rikuro Ojisan cheesecake was one of “Must Eat in Osaka” in Japan travel guides. However, I was a little disappointed when I tried it, because I already had a similar one in Chinatown, New York.  Later, I knew the Rikuro Ojisan cheesecake was one of the cakes called as “Japanese cheesecakes “or “soufflé cheesecake”.  
The cake was light and fluffy. It was a cross between a chiffon cake and a cheesecake. The most interest thing about the cake was it could be served right out of the oven. In Osaka, Japan, there was a long line of people who waited for just-baked-cheesecakes in front of the bakery, although I preferred to one in fridge.

I was craving for Rikuro Ojisan cheesecake last week. I searched for the recipe of the cake on the internet and got this from some blog.  It was a perfect replica of Rikuro Ojisan cheesecake. 

Japanese Cheesecake

Japanese cheesecake (Rikuro Ojisan cheesecake)
Adapted from Dianna's Dessert

Ingredients:
Yield: one 9” cheesecake
Baking time: 1 hr 10min @ 325F(160C)

1/3 cup+1 Tsp1 (60g or 2oz.) cake flour
3 Tbsp1 (20g or 1oz. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup+2 Tbsp1 (140g or 5oz.) extra fine granulated sugar 2
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
4 Tbs1 (50g or 2oz.) unsalted butter
1 brick(8 oz.) +1 oz. of another brick1(250g or 9oz.) cream cheese
1/3 cup1 (100ml or 3 fl. oz.) whole milk
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)3

Instructions:
1. Grease a 9” spring form pan and line side and bottom with parchment paper. Place a piece of aluminum foil over side and bottom of the pan.
2. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Add egg yolks, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Set aside.
3.  Sift cake flour, cornstarch and salt. Fold the flour mixture in the cheese mixture. Mix well.
4. Preheat the oven to 325F (160C).
5. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
6. Add the cheese and the flour mixture to the egg white mixture. Mix well.
7.  Pour into a 9” spring form pan.
8. Bake cheesecake in a water bath4 for 1 hr. 10 min. at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F)

Tips:
1. I converted the original weight recipes to us standard volume measurement.
2. I ground regular granulated sugar in a food processor to make extra fine sugar.
3. I added 1 tsp of vanilla extract because the original recipe was too eggy.
4. I used a roasting pan filled with 1” water and put the cake pan on the removable rack.

18 comments:

  1. the ingredients mentioned 1/4 tsp of salt but, in the instructions it says nothing about adding in the salt to the cheese mixture or egg whites...

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  2. Hi Grace...i just wonder what might be the purpose for baking this cake in a water bath?

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    1. It's to prevent the cake from cooling too quickly after it's done baking. Once the oven timer is up, you'd have to leave the cake in the oven for approximately 5 hours (better overnight) to cool down to a point where you can safely remove it from the oven. If you open the oven door even just a bit, you'll let out the hot air, making the surface of the cheesecake crack.

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    2. Why didn't you mention that in the instructions? Most people won't know to do that. Most people won't think to look at the comments.

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  3. Lower the temperature and at the same time add moist n avoid cracking of the cake

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    1. Add moist? She said to cool the cheese mixture before combining with the flour mixture, is that what you mean or is it something else?

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    2. If you cool the cake to quickly, the surface will crack and look ugly. The water is to keep the cake at oven temperature and slowly cool from there. The cooling process for cheesecakes cooked with this method is about 5 hours, without opening the oven door. If you open the oven door, you'll let out all of the hot air and it will crack.

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  4. I just made it 1.5 amount of the composition ... I think that I can't wait tommorow and it it.

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  6. I made this cake for brunch and came out delicious! It sounds more complicated to prepare than it really is. I added the vainilla as the author said because otherwise the cake will taste too eggy (more like a soufflé than a cheesecake). One thing though, I folded (very gently) 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to the cheese mixture an then folded it into the remaining egg whites mixture. I cannot stress how important is to fold the mixture gently. That is how you will get the fluffiness when the cake bakes. Also, don't take the cake out of the oven immediately. Let it rest inside the oven with the door open for at least 1/2 an hour. The more gradually it cools off the better. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

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  7. hi! I have seen a few videos & cant figure out exactly what is on the bottom? umeboshi plums? raisins?

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  8. hi! I have seen a few videos & cant figure out exactly what is on the bottom? umeboshi plums? raisins?

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  9. Thank you for posting this! Can't wait to try it!!!

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  11. Hi, thanks a lot for the reverse recipe... But I think it must be something quite else because they just could not sell it THAT cheap with such ingredients, by far, even considering wholesale, integrated supply, prices... and of course natural vanilla is just out of the question, while lemon flavor could be stronger... There has to be some chemistry helping Rikuro Ojisan for sure;)

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