Yuzu soufflé cheesecake
This cake. Oh, I fell hard for this cake. When I first met it, I was
instantly obsessed and ate three whole cakes over three days in
my hotel room without a gram of cottony remorse. And then
<INSERT RECORD SCRATCH SOUND> I tried to bake
my own. What a catastrophe!

But I am a lover AND a fighter so I kept trying (50+ times).

I put some boundaries in place – only Philadelphia™ brand,
a ceramic roasting tray and strict adherence to no fan-forced
ovens. And I accept, like in the best and deepest of relationships,
that superficial imperfections (cracks) just don’t matter. Love is
dichotomous – it is fissures of frustration and the elation of jiggly
goodness all at once.

Lightly smear the base and sides of a 20 cm (8 in) round × 7.5 cm
(3 in) deep cake tin with the soft butter. Place a snug circle of baking
paper in the base. Sit the tin in a ceramic lasagne dish with a square
of paper towel on the base to stop the tin from slipping around.

If you choose a springform tin or one where the base is welded to the side,
you will need to wrap the outside of the tin with a triple layer of extra-wide
foil so water won’t breach the tin. If the water does leach in at any stage,
remove the foil to drain away.

Ceramic keeps the batter from heating up too fast and cracking.

Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) with no fan on.

The best baking environment for soufflé cheesecake happens in a still
oven (no fan force), so if you have the option to turn off the fan, do it. Fan-
force baking accelerates crackage, so I’ve suggested reduced temperatures
below, and make sure you keep an extra eagle eye during the bake.

Make a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 5 cm (2 in) of water and
bring to the barest simmer. Break the cream cheese into small nuggets
into a wide heatproof bowl, then add the milk, butter and vanilla. Nest
the bowl on the saucepan (don’t let the base touch the water). Heat and
whisk often to make a creamy paste – a few teeny lumps won’t matter.

continued …

Keeps At room temperature on the

day of baking. After that, keep chilled
for up to 3 days.

Makes Enough for 1 ( just kidding …

but also not), or up to 8 people.

Takes Around 40 minutes to prep and

mix, 1 hour to bake and then at least
1 hour to cool.
10 g ( ¼ oz) soft butter
250 g (9 oz) full-fat regular
cream cheese, Philadelphia™
brand preferred
120 g/ml (4½ oz) full-cream
(whole) milk
100 g (3½ oz) unsalted butter,
roughly chopped
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
out OR 5 g (⅛ oz/½ teaspoon)
vanilla paste
70 g (2½ oz) soft plain
(all-purpose) flour
50 g (1¾ oz) cornflour
(cornstarch)
20 g (¾ oz) milk powder
(optional, but makes it
extra creamy)
180 g (6½ oz) caster (superfine)
sugar
140 g (5 oz) egg yolk (from
approx. 7 eggs) + 210 g
(7½ oz) egg white (from
approx. 7 eggs), cold
20 g/ml (¾ oz) bottled (or fresh)
yuzu juice (or Tiff’s zingy
lemon stuff, page 289)
3 g (⅛ oz/heaped ¼ teaspoon)
cream of tartar