Japanese Cotton Cheesecake with Mango Glaze

This cotton cheesecake is a cake made with cheese as the name indicates, you will not find pie crust because it is a cake and not a pie or tart.

I had posted similar recipe years ago…throughout the time I kind of change slightly the recipe/method and I believe that has improved a bit…

– Why the hype with the Japanese cotton/souffle cheesecake?

The texture of this cheesecake is cottony, soft, and very…very light…if you are looking for the traditional New York cheesecake you will be disappointed…it is a marriage between chiffon cake and cheesecake.

– Is this the Japanese cheesecake that “jiggles”?

Yes, it will jiggle when out of the oven…but it will not jiggle at it best…cold.

– How to achieve such a texture?

The texture of the Japanese cheesecake is a marriage between chiffon cake and cheesecake…it is mainly the addition of cream cheese into the chiffon cake batter. Baked under lower heat and in water bath (bain marie).

– Do I need to glaze?

Absolutely no…it is up to you, but I find it prettier dur to the shiny layer and the hint of a sweet/tart with the light cheesecake just adds an extra sensation to the cake.

– Should we explore the recipe?

Here we go…

Ingredients:

Cheesecake

227 g cream cheese (8 oz)
140 g sugar
6 large or 5 jumbo size eggs, separated
100 g milk
60 g butter
60 g cake flour
20 g corn starch
10 g white vinegar
40 g lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mango Glaze

2 tablespoons mango jam (or any jam of your preference)
1 tablespoon water

Fresh mango and blueberries for garnish

Method:

Cheesecake

Preheat oven at 285^oF.

Prepare the baking pan by layering parchment paper at the bottom. Wrap the pan with aluminum foil, double it to prevent water to enter the pan as the cheesecake will be baked in bain-marie.

In a small bowl measure the cake flour, corn starch and add a pinch of salt.

In a double boiler melt cream cheese, butter, and milk. Let the mixture cool a little and fold in the egg yolk. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and then sift the flour mixture and mix gently until well blended. Set aside while preparing the egg white meringue.

Whisk egg whites with the vinegar until foamy. Add in the sugar into thirds and whisk until soft peaks form.

Fold in approximately ⅓ of the egg white into the cream cheese mixture and mix gently with a spatula just all the ingredients are incorporated.

Pour the mixed cream cheese mixture to the remaining of the egg white and fold in very gently not deflating the egg white.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan(s). Tap the pan on the counter a couple of times to remove the air bubbles trapped in the batter.

Place the cake pan(s) in a tray and add hot water (bain marie).

Bake the cheesecake at 285^oF for the first 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 275^oC and bake for another 15 minutes. The last 15 minutes at 250^oC, total of 45 minutes.

Turn off the oven and leave the oven door slightly open for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan(s) from the oven and gently remove the cheesecake(s) from the pan(s). Let it cool completely before coating the top with the mango glaze.

Mango Glaze.

In a small pan add the mango jam and water. Mix and cook under low heat until an even mixture. Pass the mango mixture through a fine mesh.

Let it cool slightly.

Assembly

Gently brush the top of the cheese cake with the mango sauce.

Place the cake in an air tight container and refrigerate overnight.

Garnish with fresh mango and blueberries or any other fruit of your preference.

Serve cold.

– More recipe like this?

Please take a look at the following…

Did you know that the term bain-marie came from a famous alchemist named Marie? Bain-marie or water-bath is a scientific method used in laboratories and industry where any substance solid or liquid is submerged into another container with water without having any contact with the water. The substance will never reach a temperature above 100^oC when using boiling water. In culinary is often used when making delicate sauces to create gentle and even heat throughout the process.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

Apple Cake

This apple cake is delicious, loaded with apples with a hint of rum…perfect for the afternoon tea or coffee.

– Where did I see this recipe?

I have wanted to make this cake since I saw it at Zaza’s blog…and today I am sharing it with you. The cake is pretty simple to put together, the only laborious step is the peeling and cutting the apples, other than that it is a piece of cake.

– How does the cake taste?

The cake has a quite dense crumb with a lovely hint of rum, the tartness of the apples combined with the sweetness of the cake is delicious especially accompanied by a cup of tea or coffee. I pretty much follow the recipe from Zaza only cut down a little of the sugar in the cake batter.

Oh, instead of one 8-inch round pan I poured the batter into 2 small pans (6-inch and 4.5-inch), to give my neighbor.

– Let’s go to the recipe…

Ingredients:

125 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
100 g sugar, plus more for sprinkling over cake
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons dark rum
3 small honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
Confectioners’ sugar for decorating cake

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Line the bottom and the side of the springform pan with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Using a handled mixer with beaters cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla and rum. The batter will look grainy, add the flour mixture and mix gently until just combined. Add the apples and fold into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and even the top. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the form, peel of the parchment paper and let the cakes cool on a rack.

Dust with Confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

– More recipes with apples?

If you enjoy this recipe with apple you might want to take a look at Simple Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.

Did you know that apples promote healthy in many ways? Apples contain high fiber content and it is a good source of vitamin C, polyphenols which can help fighting weight, cholesterol and heart disease.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

Tangerine Chiffon Cake

After purchasing many of the tangerines, known as cutie I found myself with too many tangerines in the fridge. So I decided to make a cake using the fresh squeezed juice from the tangerines. You can substitute with orange juice or even lemon juice.

In order to keep the cake light, I used sour cream frosting and garnished with honey caviar. The cake turned out awesome, the slightly citrus flavor of the tangerine, the tartness of the sour cream and the sweetness of the honey caviar were just a perfect and delicate balance in my palate.

Oh! Be aware that this recipe is for a small cake, 6 inches cake size…

Ingredients:

Chiffon Cake

2 eggs, separated
51 g cake flour
5 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoon canola oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Sour Cream Frosting

1 cup sour cream
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 325F.

Cover a 6 inch round pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, salt, baking powder together, whisk to make sure all the ingredients are combined thoroughly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. With the mixer running, slowly rain in the remaining 2 tablespoon sugar. Continue to beat the whites until stiff peaks form when the beater is lifted. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale yellow add the vegetable oil slowly and then the vanilla extract. Continue beating until the mixture turns slightly thick. Pour the egg yolks into the dry ingredients, mix gently and add the tangerine juice and Grand Marnier. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until completely smooth.

Fold the beaten whites into the rest of the batter by gently spooning one-third at the time. Fold in the white slowly and carefully using a spatula. Be very gentle as you fold in the whites so you not deflate them. Gently fold in the remaining third of the whites.
Spoon or gently pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 325F and then 3 minutes at 300F, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Remove from heat and invert the pan over an inverted cup. Set the pan aside in a quiet place until cooled completely, approximately 1 hour.

Sour Cream Frosting

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients.

Assembly:

Cover the cake with the sour cream frosting. Refrigerate for approximately 2 hours.

Garnish with honey caviar.

Serve cold

If you enjoy this simple recipe for tangerine chiffon cake you might want to check on Chiffon Cake with Lemon Curd or Chocolate Chiffon Mini Cupcake.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [dot] Me and have a great week!

Banana Sponge Cake

As always, I am looking for banana recipes. This cake is very simple and easy to make, and it is delicious, light and very fluffy. The first time I used a loaf pan, and the cake just disappeared…this time I made them into small servings, so we can better control the portions.

This cake is great to serve as a snack and it stays moist and fresh for a couple of days. You can always dress these cupcakes up by topping with your favorite frosting. I chose to keep it plain for the time being…

The cake/cupcakes will shrink a little once you remove them from the oven, but do not worry, it will not affect its texture. They will still be very light, moist and fluffy.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
¾ cup mashed banana
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup canola oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup chopped walnut

Method:

Preheat oven at 325F.

In a bowl sift the flour with baking soda, baking powder. In another bowl mix the eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, mashed banana and mix until ribbon stage.

Add the flour mix to the egg and banana mix, mixing gently. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the walnut and the oil.

Pour into the prepared muffin cup (approximately 18 cups) and bake for approximately 25 minute at preheated oven or until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

Cool on the wire rack and serve.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for banana sponge cake.

You might want to check out other recipes using banana, such as banana muffins with walnut or banana bread with chocolate chips.

Did you know that banana leaves, because of their size (large), flexibility and waterproof quality are often used as disposable plates in South Asia and Southeast Asia?

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Soft Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

I hope you all had a great weekend…since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day I thought that this simple recipe of cheesecake decorated with bright red strawberry sauce would be appropriate for the occasion.

The cheesecake is very light when compared to the classic cheesecake. In a way it is between a cheesecake and a chiffon cake. This cottony cheesecake was adapted from Alex Goh’s recipe from Passionate About Baking.

Ingredients:

Cheesecake

1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs separated
1 ½ tablespoon butter
4 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
5 tablespoon cake flour
2 ½ tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
pinch cream of tartar

Strawberry Sauce

1 lb fresh strawberry
3 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon water
½ lemon zest
½ tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in ½ tablespoon water

Method:

Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 325F
Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the corn starch, egg yolks, vanilla extract, lemon juice, pinch of salt and mix well.

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

Add the cheese mixture to the egg white by folding gently and not deflating the egg white. Pour into a cake pan lightly greased and floured.

Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 325F.

Strawberry Sauce

In a sauce pan place the strawberries and all the listed ingredients, first in high heat until starts to boil, then turn the heat to low and let is cook until the strawberries are soft and the sauce is reduced.

Add the corn starch diluted in water to the strawberries and continue mixing until the sauce turns thick.

Let it cool before serving with the cheesecake.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipes for a very light and yet tasty cheesecake and …

You might want to check out the vanilla chiffon cake with lemon curd or the meringue kisses cookies, they are perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week ahead!

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

Some how I have two consecutive posts with mini cupcakes…well, we were invited for a BBQ at our friend’s boat. Diana lives in a 54 foot boat in Marina Del Rey and love to entertain…so I told her that I would make some mini cupcakes. I decided to make a conventional yellow batter for the cake and cover it with pineapple cream cheese frosting to bring a more fruity flavor to the cupcakes and of course decorate the mini cupcakes with blueberries and raspberries to make them blue and red. I have to confess that I was some how disappointed with the cake texture, I expected to be a little lighter…anyway, here it is…
I was able to make 40 mini cupcakes and had some leftover frosting, which we were able to finish very fast

Ingredients:

Cake Batter
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup skim milk

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
10 oz crushed pineapple (natural juice) well drained
8 oz cool whip

Method:

Cake
Shift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder, set aside. In a large bowl blend together the butter and the sugar until a cream texture. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the milk and yogurt to the batter and the flour mixture. Pour approximately 1 tablespoon into small size bake cups (1 in). Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes out on the rack, let the cupcakes cool completely.

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting
In a large bowl mix the cream cheese with the sugar until forming a cream, add the drained pineapple to the cream cheese. Gently fold the cool whip to the pineapple cream cheese cream. The pineapple cream cheese frosting is ready to be used.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

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Banana Upside Down Cake

This is a recipe that I used to use when back in Brazil decades ago…and decided to revive it. It is simple and easy. It is three layers: caramel (which will melt), bananas, and the cake batter.
The cake batter is a recipe from a University classmate’s mom. I lost contact with her after moving to US and every time I make this cake I wish I could find her again.
This cake is great accompanied with a cup of your favorite tea.

Ingredients:

Caramel
½ cup sugar
¼ to 1/3 cup water

Cake batter
¾ cup sugar
1 stick butter
2 cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 pack flan powder dissolved in 6 tablespoon milk
3 eggs

Banana sliced to cover a 9 x 9 pan

Method:

Caramel
Mix the sugar with the water and cook in medium heat until the sugar caramelized. Once turned brownish, pour in the pan, and every spread the caramel. Be careful since the pan will be very hot. Set aside and let it cool.

Once the caramel settle and cool down, place the sliced banana on top of the caramel.

Cake batter
In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg one at the time by continuous beating. Add the flour and baking powder to the egg mix, beating gently. Add the milk with the flan powder dissolved in it. Put the batter on top of the layer of banana and bake in a pre-heated oven for 45 to 50 minutes.
Remove from the oven and flip the cake. Let it cool before serving.

Did you know that bananas are naturally radioactive? It is because of its high levels of potassium and a small amount of potassium-40, which is the largest source of natural radioactivity found in animals and humans.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes!

Lemon Chiffon Cake

I love everything that contains lemon…this lemon chiffon cake is very easy and simple to make. The cake is very light and can be served with cream, jam or just like that.

Ingredients:

5 eggs, separated
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon balking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon grind

Method:

Preheat oven to 325F. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Separate the eggs carefully. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and mix using a clean and dry beater until stiff, add the other half sugar and continue to beat until flip upside down it does not fall.

Add the oil to the egg yolk and beat until the color is a pale yellow, add the other half sugar and continue to beat. Add the milk, lemon extract and the grated lemon grind, beat until well mixed. Add the dry ingredients and beat for more approximately 2 minutes.

Gently fold the egg whites to the batter using a spatula, make sure that you mix very gently.

Pour the batter to the cake pan for 20 to 25 minutes.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Lime Pudding Cake

This is an easy and simple recipe adapted from Desserts Magazine…I had lots of lime from my brother’s lime tree so I made some changes from the original recipe which uses lemon and is served with raspberry sauce. It is so good that you will not miss the raspberry sauce, I could not even wait, so as soon as the lime pudding cake cooled down I dig my spoon in it…trust me it is delicious, you will find a layer of cake and a layer of pudding… anyway, for the original recipe please visit Desserts Magazine, and if you haven’t seen this virtual magazine you HAVE to check it out, it is absolutely amazing.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
~~3/4~~ 2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for ramekins
1 tablespoon of grated ~~lemon~~ lime zests
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup ~~whole~~ fat free milk
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed ~~lemon~~ lime juice
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Method:

Heat oven to 350F. Butter 4 small pirex ramekins and coat with sugar. Place a folded dish towel in bottom of 13 x 9-inches pan, set aside. Boil water for the water bath.

In a bowl mix sugar, salt and flour. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the butter until well blended.

Whisk in the milk, lemon juice and zest until well blended. Whisk the flour mixture into the lemon mixture until incorporated; the batter will be very liquid.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Whisk gently the egg whites in egg-yolk mixture until there are no large lumps.

Immediately pour into custard cups; place in prepared baking pan; fill pan halfway with hot water. Bake until they are puffy and golden on top or when you insert a clean knife inserted in the center of lemon pudding cake and the knife comes out clean; the cake is done, about 30-35 minutes. Cool puddings on a wire rack, 30 minutes. Sprinkle confectioner’s sugar before serving.

Did you know that lime is denser that lemon? Lemon contains more oil than lime. Lime is more acid than lemon, therefore is more sour.