Cherry Blossom Japanese Cheesecake

Freeze-dried cherries that I bought. I think they were not dried out enough which is why they clumped back together after I put it in the food processor.

I put the freeze dried cherries in my food processor, hoping to get it to a powder consistency.

I saw this recipe on Tastemade on a Cherry Blossom Japanese Cheesecake and wanted to make this so long. I found a freeze-dried cherries at the Buford Farmer's market. However, I think the cherries that I bought were too moist so it was hard to incorporate it into the batter. by the time I tried sifting it back into the batter, much of the cherry powder had already become moist (maybe from humidity in the air) and clumped together. My cake had a little bit of cherry flavor but could have probably had more. And since I didn't have enough cherry powder, it didn't give the cake a beautiful pink color. I also opted not to put fresh cherries in this cake. Lastly, I forgot to put parchment paper around the edges of my springform pan, but the cake still turned out fine.

The cake still turned out tasty. Next time, I might try another freeze dried fruit like strawberries and blueberries from Trader Joe's or Target.

I've made 3 Japanese cheesecake recipes so far. One was from Tastemade and the other from the Japanese Tasty website. This one called for less eggs (just 6 egg yolks/whites) while the other 2 called for 13 egg whites and 8 egg yolks. There was also more cream cheese in this recipe. I used an entire 8 oz cream cheese whereas the other 2 called for 4 oz. All 3 called for 2/3 cup of sugar but I think this cake was sweeter, with more flavor with the added lemon juice and zest. The recipe from the Japanese Tasty website seemed to produce the more beautiful cake, but this one tasted the best (despite problems with the cherry powder).

Cherry Blossom Japanese Cheesecake (~from Tastemade)

This cherry blossom Japanese cheesecake proves it is spring, despite what the weather would have you believe...

Ingredients

·        1 cup cream cheese (used 8 oz cream cheese)

·        6 eggs, divided

·        2/3 cup sugar, divided

·        4 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

·        1/2 cup whole milk, warm

·        1 teaspoon lemon juice

·        1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

·        1/2 cup cake flour

·        3 tablespoons cornstarch

·        2 tablespoons freeze-dried cherry powder, plus more for garnish

·        1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

·        3/4 cup cherries, halved

·        1/2 cup powdered sugar

·        2 tablespoons pink powdered food coloring

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Grease and line an 8-by-3 inch cake pan with parchment paper.

2.     Over low heat melt the cream cheese. Turn off the heat and incorporate the yolks, one at a time, then add half of the sugar. Mix in the warm butter and milk, the lemon juice and zest until combined.

3.     Sift in the flour, cornstarch and freeze-dried cherry powder and mix well.

4.     Place the egg whites in a bowl and mix on medium speed. When soft peaks form slowly add the cream of tartar and remaining sugar. Beat just until stiff peaks form, then slowly fold into the batter.

5.     Toss the cherry pieces in a tablespoon of flour then fold into the cake mix. Pour into prepared cake pan. Place the pan in a water bath and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 280 degrees and bake for 40 to 50 more minutes. Allow the cake to cool slowly in a water bath.

6.     Remove parchment paper, and dust top with powdered sugar. Blend the powdered food coloring with the remaining powdered sugar, and, using a cherry blossom stencil and tinted powdered sugar, dust a cherry blossom motif onto the cake. Cut and serve.