Jiggly cheesecake experiments (7 eggs)

Try 7: https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2020/04/black-sesame-goma-cheesecake.html
This blogger says that after baking, run a knife around the rim of the cake to dislodge it so that it doesn't form a waist. Perhaps similar to why bloggers drop the cake once the oven is switched off and also remove the water bath. Could these tips be the solution to all my woes? I would have to do them just after turning off the oven but before letting the cake sit inside the closed oven.
https://www.anncoojournal.com/recipe/cranberry-cheesecake/

Try 6 - Zebra cheesecake
Tried new timings and added chocolate.
https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2018/11/chocolate-zebra-cheesecake.html

Try 5 - New temps
Came across a new recipe so I thought I'd try to vary the temps to see if I can get it cooked through but without forming a waist or cracking.
https://japan.recipetineats.com/japanese-cheesecake-cotton-cheesecake/

Method (abbreviated)
1) Melt cheese in bain marie with butter.
2) Remove bowl and add (in turn) sugar, yolks, milk, lemon juice, zest, flour + cornflour.
3) Add whites in batches that have been beaten until soft peaks.
4) She only butters and lines the bottom but not side of the tin to avoid cracks and creases.
Every thing else remains the same.

Her recipe only contained 3 eggs and she advises that for a 8 to 9" tin, to increase the ingredients by a quarter or third, which ends up awkward in terms of the cream cheese inclusion. However, her advice on timing is important. So after incorporating her advice, here are my adjustments for 7 eggs but using my original recipe: Bake 30 min at 160 deg C, 40 mins at 140 deg C, leave with door closed for 30 mins. Remove from water bath, then back into oven with door open for 20 mins. Remove from oven and run a spatula around the edge of the cake to prevent cracking when the cake shrinks.

Small crack developing but nice rise

Cracked! :( But minimal shrinkage

Crack disappearing as it shrinks slightly. No waist and nice browning.

Very slightly eggy centre but cake is more fluffy (hence crumbly) than cooking at higher temp

Recipe feedback: Cracked but no waist and minimal shrinkage, hooray! But the crack may be due to my poor control of the oven temps. It was very hard trying to maintain 160 and 140 as my oven seemed to resist those temps and either went above 160 or below 140. The crack was less obvious when I turned off the heat but obvious after the 30 minutes with a closed door, probably after compounded by the shrinkage. In terms of total cooking time however, it seems correct. I was thinking of reducing the time when the door was closed to 25 minutes but it looks like I cannot do so otherwise the cake comes out undercooked.

Try 4 - Finalising temps
Not much different from the previous attempt except the temps were:
1) 180 deg C for 8 minutes
2) Turn down to 150 deg for 56 mins (my oven refused to stay at 155 deg C but did spend some time at 160 deg C, so I guess it averages out at 155 deg C)
3) Turn off for 30 mins but oven door closed
4) Open oven door for 25 minutes before bringing to the counter top to cool

No eggy centre at all!

Rising tall

Recipe feedback: The results were that there wasn't ANY eggy spots left! Hooray! But it did develop a waist. I noticed that after the 30th minute, I had rotated the cake tin slightly in the baking tray as far as it would go in the baking tray before catching on the cloth placed under the cake pan. The cake rise more evenly on that side. The side that wasn't rotated however, it didn't rise and developed a waist! There was just a tiny crack on top but that's ok. The top was particularly brown and the heat seemed to have concentrated on the side that rose. Next time, I might try to remove the water bath after the oven is switched off. I'm hoping this will even out the temp and not cause the top to shrink compared to the bottom.

Rising on the left but not the right

Didn't get to rotate this side (right). Waist. Not as brown.

Browner on this side (left) which I rotated and it rose. Minimal waist

Slight crack

Try 3 - 4 different temps
No change to the ingredients, just a change in technique and especially the temperatures.
Ingredients
250ml milk
250g cream cheese, room temp
65g butter, room temp
7 eggs, separated
58g cake flour
23g corn flour
133g sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt

Method
1) Prepare: a) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. b) Heat the milk till hot to the touch. c) Prepare the tin by buttering the sides and place a disc of parchment at the bottom.  d) Sift the corn flour and cake flour twice with the salt until well combined.
2) In a pot on very low heat, melt the cubed cream cheese and butter until well combined. Slowly add milk and incorporate until no lumps remain.
3) Whisk the egg yolks with ½ of the sugar until well combined.
4) Pour in the cream cheese mixture and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
5) Sift in the flour in 3 batches and fold, be careful to avoid lumps. If necessary, sieve the batter into a new bowl.
6) In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy and opaque. Add the sugar in 3 batches. Add the lemon juice. Continue beating until near stiff peaks.
7) Add ⅓ of the meringue into the batter. Use a whisk to stir it in until no white streaks remain. Add in the second third of meringue and do the same but this time more carefully. Finally, invert the batter into the remaining meringue. Carefully fold in until no white streaks remain. Drop the tin containing the cake batter from a height of 10cm onto the table to dispel big bubbles.
8) Pour the batter into the cake tin. Using zig zag motions, slash the batter to dispel big bubbles. Smooth the top of the batter. Drop the cake tin again if required.
9) Place the oven tray in the bottom third slot rather than at the bottom-most slot of the oven. Place into a water bath such that the water comes up 1.5 inches up the side of the cake tin (by the end of the whole process, almost all the water was gone!).

Rising nicely before it cracked

Crack visible

10) Bake at 180 deg C for 10 minutes until the top is brown. Turn down to 155 deg C and bake for a further 50 minutes (total 60 minutes baking time). Turn off the oven but leave the door closed for 30 minutes until the oven's internal temp drops to 110 deg C. Open the door and leave ajar a further 25 minutes to cool before removing the cake from the oven to cool fully on the counter top.

11) To unmould, run a spatula around the rim to ensure that the cake has fully shrunk away and detached from the tin. This will prevent the tin from tearing the cake when removing the cake tin side.

No waist on this side. Note the waterline.

Waist visible from this side

12) Best served cold by leaving it overnight in the fridge.

Recipe feedback: The top cracked again even though the temperature was mostly only 150 deg C (instead of 155 deg C which my oven stubbornly did not want to maintain) in a water bath. Perhaps I should whisk until just past soft peaks rather than just before stiff peaks so that there's less air inside and it won't rise and dome as much? After it deflated, the top wrinkled but sadly, the crack didn't close.

Sadly too, a slight 'waist' formed on one side, probably from letting to stay in the closed oven after turning off the heat. But it's a tough balance - if I don't do leave it to cook in residual heat then more of the inside remains eggy, but if I do, it forms a waist. How? Luckily, the eggy centre was very minimal (about lowest 1cm and mostly in the centre of the cake) and the top of the cake was moist and not overly cooked, although you can see the waterline from the picture. However, nice brown top so 180 deg C for browning is the correct temperature.

Centre wasn't too eggy. Top layer of cake was moist!

Next time, I will maintain 180 deg C for 7 minutes (because it takes very long for my oven to lose heat), turn down to between 150 (for 56 mins) to 155 deg C (for 53 minutes). Switch off the oven and leave it inside for 30 minutes to reach 110 deg C, and then open the door for 25 minutes. Remove to counter to completely cool.

Try 2 - no water bath
Decided to try with 7 eggs again, but with slight changes in ingredients and method. Crucially, I decided not to use a water bath after seeing some recipes online, put back the corn flour as heavier cheesecake recipes have, and varied the temp 3x.

Ingredients
250ml milk
250g cream cheese, room temp
65g butter, room temp
7 eggs, separated
58g cake flour
23g corn flour
133g sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt

Method
1) Prepare: a) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. b) Heat the milk till hot to the touch. c) Prepare the tin by buttering the sides and place a disc of parchment at the bottom. d) Fill 4 ramekins nearly to the brim with water and each at a corner of the oven on the same shelf. e) Sift the corn flour and cake flour twice until well combined.
2) Whisk the butter and egg yolks until well combined.
3) Cube the cream cheese and whisk the cream cheese in until the batter is smooth.
4) Add the salt, vanilla, and milk and whisk until smooth.
5) Sift in the flour in 3 batches and fold, be careful to avoid lumps. If necessary, sieve the batter into a new bowl.
6) In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy and opaque. Add the sugar in 3 batches. Continue beating until near stiff peaks.
7) Add ⅓ of the meringue into the batter. Use a whisk to stir it in until no white streaks remain. Add in the second third of meringue and do the same but this time more carefully. Finally, invert the batter into the remaining meringue. Carefully fold in until no white streaks remain. Drop the tin containing the cake batter from a height of 10cm onto the table to dispel big bubbles.
8) Pour the batter into the cake tin. Using zig zag motions, slash the batter to dispel big bubbles. Smooth the top of the batter. Drop the cake tin again if required.

Rising nicely

Cracked!

9) Bake for 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to 155 deg C and bake for 43 mins (ie remainder of 50 minutes). Rotate the cake tin at 35 minutes (and no earlier because you don't want the cake to collapse) to ensure even browning. [The centre did not wobble but a tester came out crumbly.] Reduce to 130 deg C and bake for another 10 mins (ie total 60 minute baking time)

Fresh out of oven. Deflated a bit after leaving door open

Didn't sink any further in the middle. Had a waist on half of the cake

10) Turn off the oven but leave the tin inside for 15 to 20 minutes with the door ajar to let the cake cool slowly to prevent sudden changes in temp that may cause cracks.

⅓ gummy at the bottom 

11) Take out the cake tin and drop it onto the table from a height of 10cm. This will prevent further shrinkage of the cake. Use a knife to run around the edge of the tin so that when it shrinks, it won't stick to the side and tear the cake, leaving a huge crack across the top of the cake. Leave it to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack, preferably chill in tin for at least 2 hrs before unmoulding.

Recipe feedback: Cracked! Sank a bit in the middle! These are new problems that I've never had before, but probably have to do with the lack of a water bath. Bottom ⅓ of cake was eggy but the top layer seemed to have dried out. However, no waist and the side of the cake was a beautiful even shade of brown. Seems like even 155 deg C is too high if there is no water bath and temp of 180 deg C is too high which causes the top layer of the cake to dry out. However, this cake had a lot more browning which significantly improved the taste (Milliard reaction?)

So next time I will reintroduce the water bath. Bake at 180 deg C for 10 minutes for colouring, reduce to 155 deg C for 50 mins (total 60 min baking time), switch off oven for 25 minutes without opening door, and finally, open door for 15 to 20 minutes to cool down. I also would not drop the cake the next time because I think it caused the cake to sink.
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Try 1 - no corn flour
Adapted from my last successful attempt where the recipe was based on Diana's desserts, I decided to add an egg because otherwise the cheesecake is too short. The original recipe was for a 8" pan but mine is actually a 9" pan. Therefore, everything else has to be tweaked. Most importantly, I decided to use all cake flour instead of mixed with corn flour as the previous successful attempt turned out to be too soft unless you let it set overnight in the fridge. (Updated with technique tips from JOC)

Ingredients
250ml milk
250g cream cheese, room temp
65g butter, room temp
7 eggs, separated
70g cake flour
133g sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt

Method
1) Prepare: a) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. b) Heat the milk till hot to the touch. c) Prepare the tin by buttering the sides and place a disc of parchment at the bottom. If you don't have a one-piece cake tin or a Pushpan like me, triple wrap the bottom of the two-piece cake tin with foil to prevent seepage. (d) Place a pan with 2 inches deep of water in the oven, ideally at the base.
2) Whisk the butter and ¼ of the sugar until pale and smooth.
3) Cube the cream cheese and whisk the cream cheese until the batter is smooth.
4) Add the egg yolks one at a time and whisk after each addition.
5) Add the salt, vanilla, and milk and whisk until smooth.
6) Sift in the flour in 3 batches and fold. Using the whisk, fold to ensure no lumps remain. If necessary, sieve the batter into a new bowl.
7) In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy and opaque. Add the sugar in 3 batches. Continue beating until near stiff peaks. Add 1 tsp lemon juice to stabilise.

Not very smooth, 'mo bing' top but at least no cracks

8) Add ⅓ of the meringue into the batter. Use a whisk to stir it in until no white streaks remain. Add in the second third of meringue and do the same but this time more carefully. Finally, invert the batter into the remaining meringue. Carefully fold in until no white streaks remain. Drop the tin containing the cake batter from a height of 10cm onto the table to dispel big bubbles.
9) Pour the batter into the cake tin. Using zig zag motions, slash the batter to dispel big bubbles. Smooth the top of the batter. Drop the cake tin again if required.
10) Bake for 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to 155 deg C and bake for remainder of the 55 to 60 minutes. Rotate the cake tin at 35 minutes (and no earlier because you don't want the cake to collapse) to ensure even browning. The centre of the cake should still have a bit of wobble.

Shrank a bit but taste is ok.

12) Turn off the oven but leave the tin inside for 15 to 20 minutes with the door ajar to let the cake come up to prevent sudden changes in temp that may cause cracks.
13) Take out the cake tin and drop it onto the table from a height of 10cm. This will prevent further shrinkage of the cake. Use a knife to run around the edge of the tin so that when it shrinks, it won't stick to the side and tear the cake, leaving a huge crack across the top of the cake. Leave it to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack, preferably chill in tin for at least 2 hrs before unmoulding.

½ eggy bottom. Why?

Recipe feedback: Yay no 'waist'! It deflated a bit, which is ok but it still has the eggy thick bottom. I don't think that adding only cake flour made any difference but more and more I'm becoming convinced that the water bath is the issue. The depth of the eggy part in this attempt and previous all seem to coincide with the water bath. Maybe I really have to wrap the bottom of the tin in order to disperse the effect of the water bath OR bake without a water bath but perhaps put a tin of water in the oven somewhere near the floor just to create a humid atmosphere.

Malay cake (马来糕)

Adapted from http://mykitchen101en.com/dark-brown-sugar-ma-lai-koh-with-yeast/

The problem isn't with the recipe, it's with me. I misread the instructions. It didn't come out as fluffy as expected but not too bad. The cake tastes a bit soapy but could be because I didn't follow the steps. I've transcribed the original recipe and my steps.

Ingredients
3 eggs
⅔ C evaporated milk
3 tbsp water (or pandan juice if available)
180g plain flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
50g (3½ tbsp oil)

Method
1) In a bowl, sift the flour and salt. Add the dark sugar, salt, yeast and mix well.
2) In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add the evaporated milk and water (or pandan juice) and whisk well.
3) Add the wet to the dry slowly until a batter forms. Do not over beat. If desired, sieve the batter into another bowl to ensure that you don't have lumps of dark sugar.
4) Cover the bowl and proof for 2 hours.
5) Bring the water to a rolling boil. Wrap a cloth around the cover so that the condensation doesn't drip onto the cake during steaming.
6) Ensure enough water to steam for 40 minutes. Take a small bowl and add 4 to 5 tsp of the batter into it. Sift in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the oil and mix everything well. Return this batter back to the main batter and mix well.
7) Pour into a lined cake tin (mine was 28" rather than 29" stated in the recipe).
8) Steam for 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Do not lift the lid to peek until at least after the first 30 minutes otherwise the cake will collapse. Switch off the flame and let the cake rest for 10 minutes to stabilise.
9) Remove the cake tin onto a wire rack and unmould to cool.
10) Serve warm if possible.

Less well rise compared to the blogger

This is my wrong method. I think perhaps the yeast deactivated the baking soda or vice versa. But it still comes out moist and light, perhaps due to the steaming rather than baking.

1) Whisk the eggs and oil until pale. 

2) In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the dark sugar, yeast and salt and mix well.

3) Add the dry to the wet gradually and fold in. Do not overmix. Cover and proof for 2 hours in a warm place.

4) Give the batter a stir and pour it into a cake tin. It will be very runny. 

The rest of the steps are the same. This recipe will be updated eventually with a new picture when I do it correctly.

Update: This version also uses brown sugar but uses baking powder and steams. It is more similar to steamed egg cake.

Portuguese egg tart

To me, this is the cheat's version of the HK or Cantonese egg tart because it's 'hardier' and the egg custard isn't soft and quivering like the Cantonese one. This also uses puff pastry, which in my case, has already been ready made. Therefore, this recipe is like the introduction to baking egg custard and if I get this right, I can move on to the pale HK egg tarts.

Recipe adapted from https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/2016/01/29/chinese-egg-tarts/
She used 2 eggs and 1 yolk but as I can never figure out what to do with the extra white so I added it in. Maybe that puffed it up more than normal.

Ingredients (makes 16 to 20 tarts)
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
3 eggs, beaten
⅓ C + 1 tbsp (80g) sugar
⅔ C warm milk
⅓ C evaporated milk
½ tsp vanilla essence

Method
1) Warm up the milk and melt the sugar. Let it come to room temp. Preheat oven to 200 deg C and place the oven shelf at the lowest third of the oven.
2) Beat the eggs with evaporated milk and vanilla. Add the sugary milk. Strain into a pouring jug.
3) Unfold the pastry sheet and lay it over a lightly floured surface.
4) Using a round cookie cutter (9cm for tart tin and 10cm for muffin tin), cut out as many rounds as you can squeeze in. Place them into the oiled tart or muffin tins. Trim off any excess.
5) Pour the egg mixture into the pastry case but leave a rim. Do not fill to the brim or over fill or else the mixture will overflow during baking and stick the tart to the tin.
6) Bake the tarts at 200 deg C for 15 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, watch out for when they start to puff up. Open the oven to let out the hot air escape. If not, they will deflate after removal from the oven. Reduce the temp to 175 deg C and then bake for a further 14 minutes (tart tin) to 16 minutes (muffin tin). Check for readiness by inserting a toothpick which will stand upright unaided.
7) Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tins. Once the tins are cool enough to handle, remove from the tin. Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container.

Matcha chiffon

This is probably the worst chiffon that I've made. It didn't rise properly and the top seemed to stick. I knew something was up when I stirred the batter. It was so sticky that it made it hard for the meringue to give it enough lift, despite the ½ tsp of baking powder inside. I also wonder if it could be because I 'played' more with the meringue this time compared to previously in an attempt to incorporate it, to spread it out in the tin more evenly, and finally, to dispell the big air bubbles. The latter didn't seem to have work though. Not likely to try this recipe again soon because to begin with, match is such an expensive ingredient. I paid $4 for 20g of culinary grade matcha (the cheapest brand available) and the entire 20g is needed in the recipe.

Adapted from http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2016/04/matcha-chiffon-cake/ to increase the liquid in an attempt to make the batter less sticky and added more baking powder for 'lift'

Ingredients

7 eggs, separated

160ml milk (from 149)

100ml oil (from 93)

35 + 135 g sugar (no change as the sweetness is needed to counter the bitterness)

½ tsp salt

21g matcha powder

1 tsp baking powder (from ½ baking powder)

½ tsp cream of tartar

Method

1) In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Sift the ingredients twice so that the matcha is well incorporated with the flour.

2) In another bowl, whisk the yolks and 35g of sugar until pale. Add the oil and beat until pale. Add the milk and mix well.

3) Sift in the dry ingredients in 2 batches and carefully fold in.

4) In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites. Add cream to tartar to stabilise. Beat until stiff peaks.

Oddly shaped and cracked

5) Add the meringue in 3 batches to the batter. The first addition is to lighten the mixture so you can be less careful but carefully fold the second batch and then tip the entire batter into the left over third of meringue. Fold in until no streaks remain.

6) Pour into the ungreased chiffon tin and take care to spread more batter at the outer edges. Use a spatula to make zigzag slashes to dispel the bigger air bubbles. Drop the tin 10cm onto the countertop several times to dispel more air bubbles.

7) Bake at 170 deg C for 65 minutes. Remove and immediately invert the tin so that the cake 'hangs' to cool.

8) Once completely cool, carve out the cake from the tin.

Hardly rose and very big air pockets

Banana chiffon

This recipe was again taken off my favourite chiffon goddess but for the first time ever, I'm disappointed. The cake came out so short! I think it has to do with the fact that she uses 6 rather than 7 eggs because her pan is 25" and she put in baking soda (not powder) As you can see from the picture, the cake rose to about 1 inch away from the top of my tin but when I initially poured in the batter, it came to less than half of my tin! I was quite shocked and disappointed. I think even if I put in 7 eggs, my tin will be able to handle it because it's 26" not 25" like hers. I looked at her other chiffons which used only 6 eggs for the 25" tin and realised that those had a lot more liquid e.g. milk added in. So the recipe below is proportionately adjusted for an additional egg in a 26" tin and should still work. Oh and another thing - it looks like 160 deg C is really the ideal temp for chiffons. No cracks and no overly brown top and edges! But this is a relatively drier recipe with less liquid in it so it may not work for recipes with more liquid e.g. milk or tea in them, and expanding the baking time would simply dry out the cake too much.

Also, I usually omit the cream of tartar because I realised that the meringue works just as well without but in this instance, since baking soda (not powder) was used, you need an acid to balance out and activate the alkali otherwise there will be a soapy taste. I didn't have cream of tartar but I read elsewhere that any acid e.g. lemon juice or white vinegar works just as well, so here, I substituted with an equal amount of apple cider vinegar.

No cracks!

Perfect flat cake! The middle dome sank just a little.

Source: http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2015/05/banana-chiffon-cake/

Ingredients

7 eggs, separated

30g (for yolk) + 105g (for whites) sugar - this is the full proportionate recipe amount but can be reduced depending on the sweetness of the bananas

70ml oil

210g banana, mashed

½ tsp vanilla

128g cake flour

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp apple cider vinegar

Method

1) In a very clean bowl, separate out the fridge cold eggs: the yolks from the whites. Set aside to come to room temp. Mash the banana with the salt.

2) Whisk the yolks with the sugar till paler, then add the oil and continue to whisk until paler yellow.

3) Add the mashed banana and vanilla and whisk until well incorporated. It might be a bit lumpy due to the mashed banana.

4) Sift in the baking powder and cake flour and fold carefully. Try not to over beat.

5) Whisk the egg whites and add in the sugar in 3 additions and the apple cider vinegar. Whisk until stiff peaks.

6) Dollop a third of the meringue into the yolk mixture and using the whisk, stir gently to incorporate. Repeat with a second third of the meringue but with more care. Lastly tip everything back into the bowl with the remaining third of meringue. This time, very carefully fold in using the whisk, rotating the bowl as you go. There should be no white streaks remaining.

7) Pour into the ungreased tin. Using a spatula, slash the batter to remove the big air bubbles, taking care to trace around the rim of the tin and also the one. At this point, I also push more batter outwards towards the rim to get a flatter cake as I notice it always tend to dome higher along the cone.

8) Bake at 160 deg C for 60 minutes.

9) Remove tin from the oven and immediately invert onto a tin can or something to elevate. Let it cool completely before carving out of the tin to unmould.

Azuki and coconut milk chiffon

I still have a lot of cake flour which I try to use up before summer comes. Decided to use my frozen tsubuan which I made quite some back as well. Based on the density of the tsubuan, decided to adapt the recipe for chocolate milk and cocoa chips because this recipe has more flour which will give it the density to 'hold' up the tsubuan. 

http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2016/02/chocolate-milk-chiffon-cake-with-chocolate-chips/

I substituted the milk for coconut milk and choc chips for tsubuan and some other changes e.g. sugar and milk volume. Didn't turn out too bad. Surprisingly seems a bit undercooked compared to when I usually bake this which comes out really brown. Really moist though. At first I thought the temp may be too high (170 deg C usually is) but as you can see, the top has already cracked.

Ingredients

7 eggs, separated

210 ml coconut milk

120 ml oil

35 (for yolks) + 135g (for whites) sugar

225g cake flour

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

140g tsubuan or koshian

Method

1) Add the 35g of sugar to the yolks and beat till the sugar has mostly dissolved. 

2) Add the oil and beat until paler in colour. 

3) Add in the coconut milk and salt. Whisk until combined.

4) In 2 batches, sift in the cake flour and baking powder and fold using a whisk. Try not to over beat or you will develop gluten. Set aside.

5) In a very clean bowl (no oil, water, or detergent), beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy and opaque. Add sugar in 3 batches. After all the sugar has been added, turn up the speed to max and beat until stiff peaks.

6) Add the meringue to the yolk mixture in 3 batches. The first batch: incorporate till no streaks remain. You don't have to be too gentle. The second batch: This time, fold in gently so as not to knock out the air. The third batch: This time, return the yolk mixture to the left over third of meringue. Very gently fold in with a whisk (my preferred) or spatula until just combined.

7) In the ungreased 26 to 26" cake tin, pour in ⅓ of the mixture. Top with ½ of the tsubuan, trying to distribute evenly. Top with the next ⅓ of the cake mixture and another ½ of the tsubuan. Finally, cover with the remaining batter.

8) Using a spatula, run around batter in a zig zag manner and pay attention to the edges of the tin and around the centre funnel. This will disperse the bigger air bubbles and also swirl the tsubuan. (The original recipe recommends dropping the cake tin on the counter to dispel more air bubbles but I don't do this if the recipe has a very dense filling which will tend to sink to the bottom anyway as you can see from the picture)

9) Bake at 170 deg C for 65 minutes. Tent in the last 20 minutes or adjust to 165 deg C for up to 70 minutes, checking at 65 mins. Remove and immediately invert and allow to cool completely in the tin.

10) Unmould by running a knife or spatula around the edges and invert onto a plate. The bottom should be the top of the cake because that's where it's flattest.

Recipe feedback

The cake came out very slightly undercooked inside although the outside was quite brown. I have adjusted the recipe to bring down the temp from 170 to 165 deg C and to increase from 65 to 70 minutes. Alternatively, to tent the cake.

Peanut butter chocolate challah

I've been wanting to make braided bread for a long time. Came across a recipe called crazy dough that uses yoghurt https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/crazy-dough/

and then she added Nutella and braided it https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/crazy-dough-nutella-braided-loaf/

I've played around with the ingredients e.g. made it less salty and more sweet since this is a sweet bread, and used Reese's new chocolate peanut butter spread instead of Nutella which I've run out of.

Not a bad recipe, it produces a crusty top like french baguette and isn't soft like brioche. This fits the description of challah which is a Jewish braided bread that has no butter and uses milk. I've since found out that the look/style is probably closer to a babka which is a bread has butter, oil, and water but not milk. Not sure what the texture will be like but I suspect it will be softer.

Nutella: http://prettysimplesweet.com/nutella-babka/ 

Chocolate: http://prettysimplesweet.com/chocolate-babka/ 

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)

½ cup (120ml) warm milk

¾ cup yoghurt

1 egg

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp instant yeast

1½ tsp baking powder

½ cup Reese's chocolate peanut butter spread

2 tbsp melted butter

Method

1) Mix the wet: milk, yoghurt, and beat the egg.

2) In another bowl, mix the dry: sugar, salt, flour, baking powder.

3) Pour the wet into the dry and mix until a shaggy dough forms. If needed, add slightly more flour or milk to allow the ball to form.

4) Knead till you get a smooth dough, about 5 to 10 minutes. I used the window pane test. Form a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with cling film and a tea towel and set aside in a warm place to prove for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

5) Take out and knock out the air. Dust the work surface with just a bit of flour. Knead until all the air has been deflated, about 5 minutes. Roll out to about 1 to 1.5 cm thick. To fit the loaf pan, don't spread it too much lengthways but have it wider i.e. you want a thicker roll rather than a longer one.

6) Spread a thin layer onto the dough, leaving a seam of 2cm at one end untouched. (I microwaved the spread for 30 seconds so it became pourable and easier to spread). Do not spread too thickly otherwise when you cut it in half, it will smear onto the 'white' parts.

7) Roll it up sideways at the longer edge, from the end that has no spread. Once you reach the seam, pinch to secure and turn it so the seam faces down.

8) Using a sharp knife, slide lengthways down the middle. Pinch two ends together and pleat (watch the video (http://prettysimplesweet.com/nutella-babka/).

9) Place into the loaf pan and cover to prove for 45 to 60 minutes.

10) Brush the white parts (ie dough that has no spread on it) with the melted butter while you preheat the oven to 190 deg C.

11) Bake for 20 (my small loaf pan) to 25 (my big loaf pan) minutes until crusty. When you tap the crust, it sounds hollow.

12) Leave it to cool in the tin on a wire rack for 20 to 25 minutes otherwise the filling will be molten hot!

13) Store in an airtight box out of the fridge for up to 3 days. Also freezes well.

Black sesame chiffon

I have wanted to bake this since about 2 years ago but never got down to it because I could not find a recipe for it. All the recipes I came across were for small pans but nothing suited the 25-26" pan I had. I had come across this recipe: http://greencilantro.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/black-sesame-chiffon-cake.html. It claimed that it was for a 10" pan. However, the ingredients only used 4 eggs, which didn't seem plausible for such a big pan unless it was going to come out really flat. I multiplied the proportions to 7 eggs (which my favourite blogger seems to recommend for 25"pans) and it came to something quite ridiculous e.g. way too much liquid, and way too much sesame seed powder.

As such, I decided to adapt from my favourite and most successful chiffon blogger and used this recipe for cocoa chiffon http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2014/11/chocolate-chiffon-cake/

I initially thought of reducing the cake flour because from past experience with this recipe, it was very dense. But after the flour went in, the resulting batter seemed too thin to hold up the sesame seed powder. In the end, I more or less followed the recipe but with a few tweaks.

Rising tall with a few cracks

Ingredients (for 26 inch pan)

7 eggs, separated

190g sugar

42g black sesame powder

224g cake flour

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

120 ml oil (½ cup)

192ml fresh milk

Beautiful! Pardon the air pockets.

Method

1) Prepare the black sesame seeds. Toast in a pan until lightly roasted. Let cool and pulverize in a food processor. 

2) In a small bowl, combine the following dry ingredients: cake flour, salt, baking powder, and black sesame powder.

3) In a big bowl, beat the egg yolks with half the sugar until the sugar has mostly dissolved. Add the oil and beat until paler in colour. Pour in the milk and whisk to incorporate.

4) In three batches, sift in the dry ingredients and fold in gently. Ensure no lumps.

5) In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the sugar in three additions and beat till stiff peaks.

6) Add ⅓ of the meringue into the yolk batter to loosen. With the next third, fold it in until no streaks of white remain. Finally, pour the batter into the remaining ⅓ meringue and this time, fold very carefully until no streaks remain.

7) Pour into the chiffon tin, making sure to distribute the batter throughout the tin. Concentrate on the sides rather than the centre. For some reason, the cake seems to rise more in the middle centre funnel than along the sides. Using a spatula, making slashes in the batter to dispel the air bubbles and especially run the spatular along the rim (as you can see in the picture, I wasn't totally successful in this area). Drop the cake tin onto the countertop from a 10 cm height. Repeat a few times to dispel the big air bubbles. 

8) Bake at 170 deg C for 65 minutes. After about 45 minutes, you can tent with foil if it gets too brown, or turn down the temp to between 160 to 165 deg C.

9) Remove from the oven and immediately invert over a can to keep the cake elevated. When completely cool (about 3 hours in winter!), unmould by literally carving out the cake from the tin. 

10) Serve with the top inverted onto a plate - the flat bottom has now become the top. This hides the cracked top.

Fudgey peanut butter brownies

This is truely the best brownie recipe that I've tasted. I'm not sure if it has to do with the peanut butter, but it was really fudgey. First time busting out my new square tin!

This link is instructive :http://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2017/02/05/bakeproof-brownies

It explains that fudgey brownies have more oil and higher cocoa to flour ratio but cakey ones have more flour and cocoa and less fat. Brown sugar and extra egg yolks up the fudginess factor with shorter baking time. Less sugar however means less crust ie less crispiness. More cocoa or high content choco means more bitter.

https://cafedelites.com/2016/08/28/best-fudgy-cocoa-brownies/

The peanut butter swirls were my addition. The recipe calls for a baking time of 21 mins but the top was still not set even after 23 minutes, but by 25 minutes, the sides and top had gotten a bit too dry even after I removed them from the pan almost immediately. Perhaps 24 minutes would be perfect if I left them in the pan to cool?

Ingredients (for a 20 inch square tin)

½ C melted butter

1 tbsp oil

1 ⅛ C sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup flour

½ cup cocoa powder

¼ tsp salt

Method

1) Prepare a square tin by lining with parchment. Pre-heat to 175 deg C.

2) Using a whisk, beat the sugar, salt, melted butter and oil really well.

3) Add the eggs and vanilla and beat very well with a whisk until it is lighter in colour.

4) In another bowl, combine the flour and cocoa and ensure that they are well mixed.

5) Soft the flour and cocoa into the wet mixture. Use the whisk to fold in but do not beat.

6) Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Use the spatula to smooth out the top.

7) Bake for 23 to 25 mins, checking after 23 mins. The top should be set and should no longer jiggle.

8) Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly in the tin. If it is too soft, it looses it shape after removal from the tin. Remove from the tin when it has cooled down. Let it continue to cool on a wire rack.

9) Once completely cool, cut up. I sliced mine into 24 pieces but its usual to do 12.

Update: Slightly different recipe that mostly double the portions yet still fits into the same size pan

https://bakingamoment.com/simply-perfect-brownies-from-scratch/

Souffle cheesecake (double cream)

It is very frustrating making Japanese cheese cakes. This time, I came across a recipe which used double cream but no butter. Great! Things seemed to go ok at first and I corrected all the mistakes of the last attempt which I felt had too little liquid or was the wrong temp, but something new developed - my cheesecake now has a 'waist'!

Looking good

Shrunk by 1cm which is ok

Formed a waist

Really not sure what has happened. Maybe the contents are too heavy for the cake flour and corn flour to hold up. According to the below link, forming a waist could be a temperature issue because the cake deflates on removal from the oven. (Update: i misread the instructions and left it for an extra half hr in the residual heat! This has been corrected below) This cake was less brown than the previous attempt but it will suffice.

Source: http://www.ricenflour.com/recipe/how-to-make-japanese-cotton-cheesecake-recipe/

Ingredients are doubled. The link is quite good as it provides troubleshooting of various problems: cracks, falling, dense at the bottom, and forming a waist. 

Ingredients (for 9" pan)

250g cream cheese

220g double cream (approx 230ml)

6 eggs (separated)

100g cake flour

40g corn starch

140g sugar

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice + ¼ tsp replacement for cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

Method

1) Prepare. Butter the bottom and sides of the thin and line the bottom with a parchment. Boil the water for the bain marie. Prepare a baking tin with a cloth at the bottom. 

1) In a bain marie, melt the cream cheese. Add the whipping cream and half the sugar and whisk till smooth. Remove from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.

2) Add the yolks and beat until pale yellow. Add the salt, juice and zest and whisk to incorporate.

3) Sift the flours and fold into the flour. Do not over-beat. To ensure that there are no lumps, pour through a sieve.

4) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Whisk the egg whites till foamy at medium speed. Add the ¼ tsp of lemon juice and ⅓ of the sugar. Continue to whisk at medium speed and add remaining sugar in 2 more additions. When all the sugar has been added, whisk at high speed until firm peaks (midway between soft and stiff peaks. At this stage when you turn the whisk upside down, the peak will hold for 1 seconds and then fold down on itself).

5) Add ⅓ of the meringue into the yolk batter to thin it. Add a second third of the meringue into the yolk batter but this time, carefully fold in using the whisk. Then, pour the yolk batter into the remaining third of the meringue. Carefully fold in until no white streaks remain.

6) Pour the batter into the tin. Using the spatula and make slashing motions to dispel the bubbles.

7) Place the cake tin in the baking tin

8i) Bake at 160 deg C (some heat would have been lost from opening the oven) for 40 to 50 minutes until the top is browned. It took me 50 minutes. At this temp and time, my cheesecake was *just* about to crack when I turned down the temp. On slicing open, I found the top was too hard. Next time stick to 40 mins.

ii) Turn down to 140 deg C and bake for a further 20 to 30 minutes until the top springs back. It took me 20 minutes. Based on my slice, next time I will do 30 mins.

iii) Remove from the oven and remove the water bath to prevent condensation at the bottom of the cake. Replace in the oven with door open ajar for a further 30 minutes. The cake should have shrunk from the sides and the tin should be cool enough to handle. Unmould. Let it thoroughly cool down before slicing up.

Recipe feedback

I'm almost about to throw in the towel regarding Japanese cheesecakes and just stick to regular cheesecakes. Not too sweet but it was more kueh like.

Update: I feel exactly like this blogger: http://www.bakeforhappykids.com/2015/05/having-problems-baking-japanese.html

Have tried all the recipes and none work! Not cream, not milk, not technique. While I believe my problem is also oven temp, my oven is different from hers. Hers is a small oven an non-fan forced. Mine is a big oven, so unfortunately, her solutions will not work for me. But our frustration is the same.

Sausage in cream bun

Been experiment with different bun recipes because I wanted the soft fluffy bread associated with Asian pastries. Have tried tangzong and it wasn't great. Came across this recipe that uses 2 different flours and also double cream and it works fantastically!

Sausage recipe (without gram measurements): http://thewoksoflife.com/2015/03/chinese-hot-dog-buns/

Hokkaido milk bread recipe (with metric measurements): http://thewoksoflife.com/2015/01/milk-bread-2/

Ingredients (makes 12)

⅔ cup (158ml) double cream - room temp

1 cup + 1 tbsp (250ml) milk - room temp

1 large egg

⅓ cup (115g) sugar

½ cup (approx 70g) cake flour

3½ cup (approx 500g) bread flour

1 ½ tsp (7g) salt 

1 tbsp dry yeast (approx 11g)

12 sausage franks

Glaze

1 egg, beaten + dash of water

1 tsp white sesame seeds

2 tbsp hot water

2 tsbp sugar

Method

1) In a bowl (or stand mixer bowl), add the following in turn: cream, milk, egg, sugar, cake and bread flours, yeast, and salt. Mix well until it forms a dough that leaves the bowl clean. If needed, add a dash more milk or flour as required.

2) Knead the dough for 20 to 25 minutes until it passes the window pane test.

3) Leave in a covered oiled bowl to prove for 1 hours or until it expands to 1.5x its size.

4) Deflate the dough and cut into 12 pieces.

5) Roll into 12 ropes and coil around the sausage, leaving a gap between each coil as it will expand. Crimp the ends or tuck them in. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

6) Leave to prove for another hour until fully expanded. You should see some bubbles on the surface and the edges are rounded.

7) Glaze with the egg wash. Sprinkle on the sesame seeds.

8) Bake for 14 to 15 mins in a preheated oven at 175 deg C. Rotate and swop trays halfway. 

9) While the buns are baking, make the simple sugar solution.

10) Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Immediately while the buns are still hot, glaze with the simple sugar solution to give it that characteristic HK baked pastry shine.

Apple flakey pie

I bought puff pastry some time ago and never quite knew what to do with it. When I had 4 lingering apples in the fridge, hey, make apple puff pastry tart!

Came across four different recipes but the base recipe was similar, the only difference was the presentation.

Open faced: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/quick-easy-and-yummy-apple-tart/
Apple pie ie closed faced: http://www.justonecookbook.com/easy-apple-pie/
Croissant rolls: http://theblondcook.com/apple-pie-bites/
Apple strudel: https://www.puffpastry.com/recipe/apple-strudel/

With apple poking through

Ingredients
2 sheets of puff pastry
4 medium apples, peeled and cored
Juice and zest of ½ a lemon
Bowl of salted water.
1 tbsp raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
2 to 3 tbsp brown sugar (adjust to taste)
2 tbsp corn flour - this is key because raw apples are used, otherwise the pastry becomes soggy
1 egg, beaten

Method
1) Peel and core the apples and then halve it and cut thin slices.
2) Thaw the pastry in the fridge (½ hour) or countertop (10 minutes). If it becomes too hard to work with, stick it back into the freezer but make sure that it is well wrapped otherwise it dries out.
3) Place the apple slides in a bowl of salted water to prevent oxidation. In a bowl, add the lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar and toss in the apple slices to coat. Taste. It should be slightly too sweet for your palate.
3) Take 1 sheet and cut into four. Invert onto a parchment covered baking sheet and peel off the baking plastic. Leave a gap between each slide.
4) Lay the apple slices on top neatly but leave an edge. Brush egg wash on the edge.
5) Cut the next sheet of pastry into 4, and make 3 slits in each pastry. Lay this second piece on top of the apple slices and crimp all around the edges using a fork.
6) Bake in an oven at 220 deg C for 5 minutes as the pie will be very soggy. Turn down and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes, turning the pan halfway to ensure even browning. Check to see that it has browned and puffed up, and you should also see the liquid inside bubbling away.
7) Serve hot but be careful as inside would be scaldingly hot. Place the remaining tarts on a wire rack to cool fully before storing.