Basque Burnt Cheesecake

 巴斯克焦香芝士蛋糕

Basque Burnt Cheesecake is said to have originated in 1990 in San Sebastián, Spain. It is well known for its dark burnt top which adds tinge of caramel and creamy custardy filling. You can read this article to know more about this cake and it’s origin. 

Ingredients:

250g cream cheese (room temperature). I use the Philadelphia brand cream cheese.

200g whipping cream (room temperature)

100g mascarpone (room temperature)

2 large eggs (lightly beaten), 60g each

50g sugar

10g honey

4.5g plain flour

13g corn starch

A spoonful of love

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220 degree celcius for at least half an hour and line cake tin with baking paper. I use 6” round cake tin which is 3” deep. Crunch up the baking paper to make it easier to line the cake tin.

2. Use a spatula to beat the cream cheese until it is very soft and spreadable. Add in mascarpone and continue to mix/beat until evenly mixed in and smooth. Remember to scrape the mixing bowl often.

3. Add sugar in three batches to cheese mixture and mix using spatula until sugar has dissolved (i.e. you can’t feel sugar granules).

4. Add eggs in three batches to cheese mixture and mix using spatula until combined.

5. In a small bowl, sieve in plain flour and corn starch. Stir in 1/3 of the whipping cream and mix until there are no lumps of flour. Then stir in the rest of the whipping cream.

6. Pour the flour mixture into the cheese mixture, and use a whisk to mix until fully combined.

7. Sieve the cheese mixture and pour into cake tin.

8. Bake for 20-23minutes, middle rack, no fan with top and bottom heat. Use upper heat to bake for 5 more minutes or until the top is chow-ta/brown. Every oven is different, so do adjust the baking temperature and timings accordingly. 

9. Remove from oven and let the cake cool in the tin on a wire rack. Keep in fridge overnight once cake has cooled. It is worth the wait. 

Serve with a cuppa!

Note to self for next bake:

bake with fan mode, increase oven temp to max during preheating and reduce to 220 degree celcius when baking.

To add biscuit crust, mix 130g digestive biscuits (crushed) with1/2 teaspoon saltand 85g unsalted butter

Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

日式舒芙蕾芝士蛋糕

Souffle cheesecake originated in Japan and I recall that the first of such cake to sell in Singapore was under the brand 'miki ojisan'.

I baked this cheesecake last week. It has a pillowy soft, cottony texture and tastes best when chilled. 

Ingredients

Cream Cheese   160g (room temperature, take out from fridge at least half hour before baking starts)

Fresh milk         50g

Unsalted butter  20g

Cake flour          40g

Large eggs          4

Sugar                 70g

1 spoonful of love

Method

1. Separate the yolks from whites and keep the whites in fridge until ready to whisk (step 6)

2. Put butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl, and place it over a pot of hot water. Then whisk to combine these two ingredients until you get a smooth mixture.

3. Add milk to the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine. Remove the mixing bowl from the hot water.

4. Sieve in cake flour and whisk to combine.

5. Add in egg yolks (all 4 of them) and whisk to combine.

6. Make meringue. Whisk egg whites using electric mixer or hand whisk and add in sugar in 3 batches. Stop whisking when you reach soft peaks i.e. the egg white peak bends a little when you lift the whisk.

7. Take 1/3 of the meringue and whisk gently into the cream cheese mixture (from step 5). Then pour the cream cheese mixture into the remaining meringue, and use spatula to fold quickly but gently.

8. Pour into baking pan (lined with parchment paper). I use a 20cam square pan. Tap the pan on the bench/table top a few times to remove air pockets.

9. Place the baking pan in a bigger baking tray/pan that is filled with water up to 2cm of the souffle cheesecake baking pan. Bake in 150 deg cel preheated oven (top and bottom heat, no fan) for 30mins, open the oven door fully 5 seconds, then lower the oven temperature to 100 deg cel and continue to bake for another 30mins. Every oven is different, so do adjust the baking temperature and timings accordingly. 

10. Leave the cake in the oven (door open) for 5 mins. Then remove the cake from the baking pan and place it on cooling rack. Chill the cake when it has cooled completely and enjoy!

Pandan Chiffon Cake

 斑斓戚風蛋糕

This recipe produced the best chiffon cake that is very soft and moist! I adapted from oladybakes who uses the cooked dough (烫面) method where the flour is slightly cooked in hot oil.

Ingredients

60g cooking oil (I use sunflower oil / coconut oil)

100g cake flour

4 egg yoks

5 egg whites

1 tsp fresh lemon juice (optional, you can replace with 1/2 tsp cream of tartar if you have it)

70g caster sugar

2 tsp of pandan extract

95g coconut milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder (I omitted this)

1 spoonful of love

Method

A. To make pandan extract:

I have ready access to pandan leaves as I grow my own pandan plant. Blend 2 bundles of pandan leaves (about 12-15leaves) with 200ml water, squeeze the pulp and filter the pandan water using a fine mesh sieve. Store the pandan water in a container and keep in fridge for at least two days for the pandan extract to settle to the bottom of the container. The thick dark green sediment (see red arrow) is the pandan extract.

B. To make chiffon cake:

1. Stir pandan extract and salt into coconut milk and set aside.

2. Heat up the oil to 60+ deg cel. Add sieved cake flour and use a whisk to combine. Add the pandan coconut mixture (step 1) and whisk to combine. (The mixture appears rough and curdled but will turn smooth once egg yolks are added.) Add in the egg yolks one at a time, and whisk to combine. You will get a smooth and thick batter like this:

3. Use hand or stand mixer to whisk the egg whites, lemon juice and sugar (add in 3 batches) to soft peak.

4. Take 1/4 of the meringue and whisk into the batter (step 2). Then pour the batter into the meringue and use spatula to fold in gently but quickly. 

5. Pour into 20cm chiffon cake tin and bang the tin a few times on table top to remove air pockets in the batter. Bake at 150 deg cel (top and bottom heat, no fan) for 30 - 35 minutes. Each oven is different, so please adjust baking temperature/time accordingly.

6. Invert the tin to cool the cake. Unmould the cake and serve.

Banana Cake

香蕉蛋糕

Harvested bananas from our community garden. Waited a week for them to ripen and made this moist, fluffy and fragrant banana cake yesterday. Adapted from Chef Richard Goh's recipe. 

Ingredients:

150g cake flour

60g sugar (I reduced the quantity of sugar from 120g as the bananas are already very sweet by themselves.)

3 large eggs 

90g sunflower oil

200g very ripe bananas

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (I reduced from 1/2 teaspoon)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste (omitted)

1 spoonful of love 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degree celcius. 

2. Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together and set aside.

3. Put eggs, banana (no need to mash at all) and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until pale and triple in volume. The batter should be thick/fluffy and when you lift the whisk, you should be able to get stiff peaks. I use electric stand mixer to do this job (speed 2 [medium], SPAR mixer), takes about 10 mins.

4. Add half of the sieved flour mixture (from step 2) into the mixing bowl and fold gently using spatula. Repeat for remaining half of the flour.

5. Once flour is folded in, take some batter and mix well with the oil. Then fold this gently into the remaining batter until fully combined.

6. Pour batter into a cake pan lined with baking paper. The amount of batter fits nicely into my square cake pan (7" x 7" × 2").

7. Bake at 190 degree celcius for 10mins. Then use aluminum foil to cover the cake, reduce oven temperature to 180 degree celcius and bake for 15 to 20mins. Use skewer to test doneness i.e.  skewer comes clean when you poke it into the cake. Note: To make cupcakes, fill the cupcake mold with the batter and bake at 160 degree celcius for 20 to 25 minutes.

8. Transfer cake to cooling rack. Done! Serve when cake has cooled down or better yet, wait for a day as I find the cake is even tastier and softer then.

Yummy! 🤩This cake is fluffy, moist and tastes very close to the famous Hiap Joo Bakery's banana cake across the causeway.