Vanilla Japanese Soft Cotton Cheesecake

Vanilla Japanese Soft Cotton Cheesecake

The pictures from the Japanese earthquake were shocking and surreal. It made for both compelling and uncomfortable viewing since it was akin to watching a disaster movie. My thoughts are with the people in Japan who have to deal with this tragedy.

It was by chance that I had planned to make a Japanese cheesecake for my mum's birthday picnic. The combination of a cheesecake and sponge cake has fascinated me so I was keeping it for a special occasion.

Ingredients:

125ml rice milk
300g cream cheese
75g dairy-free margarine
1 vanilla pod
85g plain gluten-free flour
30g corn flour
150g caster sugar
6 eggs
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160C. Prepare a 9 inch loose bottomed high cake tin by greasing the sides and lining with baking paper. Cover the sides of the tin with foil as it will be baked in a bain marie.

Pour some boiled water into a pan and in a large metal mixing bowl (bigger than the pan) place the rice milk, cream cheese and margarine. Put the bowl on top of the bowl over a low heat and whisk until blended together and there are no lumps.

Sieve the flour and corn flour into the cream cheese mix together with six egg yolks and the vanilla beans. Whisk together to ensure that the mixture has lots of air.

In another metal mixing bowl, whisk the 6 egg whites and cream of tartar for a few minutes until firm and peaks appear. Add in the caster sugar and whisk again until soft peaks appear.

Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture and add the rest of the egg whites a third at a time. The mixture should be very airy.

Pour into the prepared tin and place in a baking tin. Pour some hot water on the sides of the baking tin making sure not water gets into the cake tin.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes. For the last 15 minutes, place some foil over the cake to avoid over browning. Leave the oven door slightly ajar and leave the cake in the oven for at least 1 hour. Don't be too alarmed if the cake shrinks around the sides. That is a good sign!