Baked Cheesecake Recipe

This cheesecake reminds me of my all-time favourite Coffee Bean's Chicago Cheesecake that melt-in-the-mouth. without the base though. I actually like the crispy biscuit base but Jerome doesn't. Anyway, I'll be baking this cheesecake often :)

(adapted from Patsie Cheong's)

Makes 1  7-inch round cake

Ingredients:

(A) 

250g cream cheese, at room temperature

4 egg yolks

1 lemon rind

4 tbsp/ 60ml milk

(B) Sift

40g all purpose flour

40g cornflour

(C) Whisk 

4 egg whites

150g castor sugar

(Tip: Eggs are easier to be separated when it's fridge cold but are easier to whisk & beat when at room temperature. So separate the eggs first and allow to come to room's temperature.)

Method:

1) Beat the cream cheese till smooth & creamy with an electric mixer. Add egg yolk, 1 at a time and beat till well incorporated. Add the lemon rind and mix well. Slowly stir in the milk last. Mix well.

(Tip: If cheese is cold, the batter will be lumpy. So remove the cream cheese from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.)

2) Fold in the flour mixture (B) in 2 additions. Mix well and set aside.

3) In a grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites till frothy. Add in sugar gradually and continue whisking till white & glossy.

(Tip: For proper whisking of egg whites, make sure that the bowl & whisk is free from grease & egg yolks. 

4) Fold in the whipped egg white into the cream mixture, half at a time, till well mixed.

5) Pour batter into a lightly-greased 7-inch cake tin with a removeable base (eg springform tin) so that the cake can be easily removed when it's cooled. 

6) 'Waterproof' the tin with aluminium foil as the cheesecake requires baking in a water-bath. Wrap aluminium foil properly over the base and edge of the cake tin to prevent water from seeping through the removeable base. 

7) Place the cake tin into another bigger tray and pour water to 1-2 inches in height. This is baking in a water-bath, helping the cheesecake to bake evenly without cracking. 

8) Bake in a pre-heat oven of 140dc for 45 minutes and 180dc for another 15 mins (depending on your oven, you may need to adjust your temperature and baking time). The skewer that pass through the centre of the cake will be slightly moist with some crumbs. It's okay. The residual heat will continue to bake the cake and after refrigeration and firming up, it'll be just right.

9) Turn off the oven and allow the cake to cool in the oven for an hour before removing it for further cooling on a cooling rack.

10) Remove the cake gently from the tin once it's completely cool. Chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

(Tip: I use an air-tight Lock & Lock plastic container to keep the cake so that it will not absorb other odors and the cake will stay moist and not dry out. ) 

Finally, enjoy your cheesecake :)

For more tips & trouble shooting on baking cheesecakes, you can refer to the following sources:

Baking Cheesecake Step By Step Step by step instructions.

Baking Perfect Cheesecakes Tips on baking that perfect cheesecake...

Slicing Cheesecakes After baking the nice cheesecake, you wouldn't want to destroy it by cutting it into a mess (which I did :P) So check this out.