From this video recipe by Mommy Oven. I had 1 block of Philly to use and was so sick of the normal cream cheese recipes. I found this video blog sponsored by Philly nonetheless and decided to upsize to half a block aka 125g (out of a 250g block of cheese). The original recipe calls for 100g so these are my own upsized measurements to fit my 24*13*7 big loaf tin.
Ingredients (all at room temp)
125g cream cheese
31g honey
44g milk
150g sugar
32g oil
5 eggs, separated
150g cake flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp lemon juice
Method
1. Put the half block of softened Philly cream cheese and using a spatula, flatten it against the side of the bowl to break up.
2. Add honey and combine until no more lumps. Take care to really work it so that there are no more lumps.
3. Add milk and continue to combine until no more lumps.
4. Finally add oil and vanilla extract and do the same. Set aside.
5. In a very clean bowl, beat the egg white until opaque at low speed (KA1). Add the sugar in 3 batches, adding the next batch of sugar only when the previous batch has been incorporated.
6. Add a dash of lemon juice. Turn up the speed to KA 2 and then gradually increase to 4.
7. Turn up to KA6 and beat briefly, alternating with speed 4 to get small bubbles. Be very careful at Speed 6 as it can go from beaten to watery in a matter of seconds (trust me I know because I had to feed a whole batch of 5 eggs to the dogs!)
6. Once the meringue reaches just before stiff peaks, add the egg yolks and at Speed 1, beat very very briefly (about 1 min) until just combined. The mixture should resemble ribbons when it falls on itself.
7. Sift the flour into the mixture in two batches, making sure to fold each time. Take your time to fold carefully until no dry flour spots remain.
8. Pour ⅓ of the cheese mixture into the egg mixture and incorporate to loosen the egg mixture, you can be quite rough and beat it in for about 30 seconds. Pour the loosened cream cheese mixture back into the egg mixture. Fold decisively with as few strokes as possible (approx 30 seconds) turning the bowl as you go.
9. Pour the mixture from a height into a prepared (parchment wood-lined) loaf tin. Tap the tin on the counter to dispel air bubbles. Then, using 2 skewers, draw lines up and down the mixture in a grid to dispel the smaller air bubbles.
10. Bake at 175* deg C for 10 minutes, then turn down to 140 deg C for 45 minutes until cooked.
11. Take the tin out and drop it onto the counter from a height. Oil a parchment and invert the top of the cake on to the parchment and leave it top side down for 5 minutes so that the cake top is smooth and flat.
12. Remove the parchment from the bottom and invert the bottom back onto a cooling rack to allow to cool completely.
12. Let it down completely. Best wrapped in cling foil and then left at room temp for a day. Next day, partake!
Verdict:
- Try 1: * The top cracked! According to this blogger, either the meriginue was overbeaten (beat to medium instead of stiff peak), the tin was too small (possibly, the side of the pan may have been too short) or the temp was too high (possibly because recipe starts at 180 deg C and short of taking the cake out of the oven and collapsing, the oven temp takes some time to come down. However, if I put it in for less than 180 deg C initially, it may not brown sufficiently). Perhaps to turn down to 175 deg C for 10 minutes followed by 140 deg C for 45 to 50 minutes (incorporated changes in original recipe).
: Right out of the oven, the top is crispy but the sponge feels dry. I cooled it down then wrapped it in plastic wrap. The next day, the sponge felt moist while still soft! There were a few minor gummy spots, which means I cannot reduce the heat or cooking time by too much. However, by Day 2 it felt dry.
- Try 2: Top still cracked. I tried serving it bottom side up which looks nicer and flatter but the sloping sides of the pan made it look awkward. Straight out of the oven, it doesn't feel as dry as the first attempt.
