Japanese Cheesecake: light and fluffy

Based on recipe from Dianna's Desserts

Prep time: around 1 hour (faster if you're a seasoned baker)
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 mins

Equipment

• Double boiler, or similar - I use a Pyrex bowl sitting on a smaller pot of boiling water, with the base of the bowl ideally not touching the water
• 8'' round baking-tin, with high sides (say 3'') and a sealed base - if the base is removable, use tinfoil to wrap the entire outside of the cake-tin to seal it
• Bain-marie - I use a large pot (with the plastic handles removed) or a high-sided roasting tin
• Electric whisk - or a normal whisk and arms of steel 

Ingredients

• 2 pack cream cheese
• 4 tbsp butter, unsalted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 5 eggs, large - separate into whites and yolks
• 1/2 cup plain cake flour
• 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 3/4 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Melt the cream cheese, butter, and milk together in the double boiler, until there are no lumps. Cool this cream mixture, e.g. by put the bowl/pot into a larger bowl of cold water.

Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites, and whisk until foamy. Whisk until you get "soft peaks".

Returning to the cooled cream mixture: mix in the egg yolks, sugar, and salt, then the lemon juice. Gently fold in the flour and cornstarch, sieving it as you add it.

Add the cream-flour mixture to the egg white mixture bit by bit. Mix together very gently, to not loose the "airiness".

Line the sides and base of baking tin with grease-proof/baking paper, and pour in the combined mixture. Put the baking tin into a bain-marie - fill the bain-marie with enough water that the tin starts to float and then add some more (as it will evaporate off).

Place bain-marie into preheated oven 320 F and bake for 1 hour10 minutes. Don't open the oven before you think the cake is ready. (Usually 1 hour is enough).

To cool, tip the cake out, upside-down, onto a plate, remove baking paper (if you leave it to cool in tin, the top surface will crumple as the cake subsides). Leave to cool.

To serve, remove baking paper and tip cake back to brown-side-up. Serve cold.

Enjoy!