This recipe was taken from a cute Japanese baking cookbook. I just love the rustic quality of the design and photos of the book. The format of the book is like a journal with lined pages inside. The author has a “website”. There’s not much information on there, so I am better off just reading the cookbook. I decided to try this recipe because I happened to have all the ingredients at home, and more importantly, I have my homemade strawberry jam made from local strawberries. The flavour and colour of the jam is just so much better than store-bought – I don’t think I will buy them again. I am patiently waiting for local berries to be in season again so I get to pick and eat them!
Don’t expect a very dense cheesecake from this recipe, it is rather soft and smooth, more like a custard. I have noticed Japanese cheesecake recipe often yield a softer and creamier texture than North American recipes – probably because of the high liquid contents. For this recipe, strawberry jam is actually mixed into part of the cheesecake batter and them poured on top. I don’t know if it is the ingredients here that made the difference, my cake didn’t turn out like the one on the picture – it turned out more like a swirl instead. However, it was quite tasty and creamy.
Ingredients
- 250g Cream Cheese (1 package)
- 100g Sour Cream
- 200 mL Whipping Cream
- 90 g Granulated Sugar
- 20 g Cake Flour, sifted
- 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 60 g Strawberry Jam
- 130 g Graham Crackers
- 60 g Butter (melted)
- 100 g Sour Cream
- 3 tbsp Whipping Cream
- 1 tbsp Icing Sugar
Method
- Preheat oven to 325F/160C, heat water for water bath.
- Line spring-form pan with parchment paper and wrap bottom with foil to prevent water from going in when baked in a water bath.
- Place graham crackers in a plastic bag and crush them into little pieces using a rolling pin.
- Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter, press onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Place cream cheese in a mixing bowl, with an electrical mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar, and salt until well combined.
- In the following order, blend in: sour cream, eggs, whipping cream, cake flour, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
- Reserve about one-third of the batter, pour the rest into the prepared pan.
- Mix strawberry jam into the reserved batter, pour into the pan.
- Bake in a water bath for about 45 minutes, until the center sets.
- Mix together whipping cream, sour cream, and icing sugar.
- When cake is done baking, increase oven temperature to 350C/180C.
- Pour topping mixture carefully onto the baked cake, smooth top.
- Return cake to the oven and bake for about 3-5 minutes.
- When done baking, cool cake and chill overnight before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Takako Inada's "Small Baked Goods and Sweets to Share", 2007.
I like the creamy and light texture of this cheesecake, it is also not too sweet. The jam also adds a subtle strawberry flavour. You can also top it off with more strawberries, or a strawberry sauce, but I find it delicious as is.
We can here use here Goat Cheese alternative for Cow Cheese to make this strawberry Cheese Cake…???
Hi Chennai,
I haven’t tried the recipe using goat cheese, so I can’t tell you if it will work out the way it did with regular cream cheese. However, I am guessing you can substitute it with a fresh mild goat cheese?
Betty
I like that this is different from a traditional cheesecake…the fact that it’s custardy sounds amazing and the strawberry jam all swirled in is making my mouth water. Lovely!
Hi Julia,
Thanks for stopping by, do give this recipe a try. I can imagine it would be delicious with other fruit jams too!
Betty
This looks super delicious! I agree-homemade jam is so much better than store bought! 🙂
Thanks, Sara. Berry season is almost here – I am ready for jam-making!
Is there a substite for the graham biscuits? and also for the strawberry jam, does it have to be melted before it is put in the cake because the picture looks as if the strawberry jam is liquid.
Thanks so much!
Hello,
You can substitute the graham crackers with digestive biscuits, as for the strawberry jam, it is mixed into about one-third of the batter and poured on top (in the recipe). The strawberry jam doesn’t need to be melted before mixing into the batter. Happy baking!