K’s Saffron Cheesecake

ANYTHING THAT SAYS “3-INGREDIENT” SPARKS MY INTEREST. THE INTERNET IS FLOODED WITH JAPANESE CHEESECAKES MADE WITH THREE INGREDIENTS.

This one is a YouTube sensation. So I gave it a go. I simplified it a tiny bit — and then added a couple of bells and whistles for a special occasion: my sister’s birthday.

HERE’S MY TAKE:

INGREDIENTS:

• 9 ounces white chocolate
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 large eggs, separated, room temperature
• pinch of saffron (optional)
• juice of 1 lemon (depending on the brand of cheesecake you use, you may need the lemon juice to lighten the flavor a bit)

Special equipment:

• 8″ round cake tin (you can use a 9″ one too, but your cake will be quite flat)
• A roasting tray or dish, big enough to hold the cake tin
• knob of butter and parchment paper to line the cake tin

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Soak a pinch of saffron in a tablespoon of hot water and set aside.
3. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and heat in microwave in 1 minute intervals, stirring in between, until melted.
4. Add the saffron and stir in cream cheese. The cream cheese should taste tangy. **Depending on the cream cheese brand you use, you MAY need to ADD the juice of one lemon. Set aside and let the mixture cool.
5. Separate our eggs. Put the yolks aside. Using an electric mixer on high speed, whip egg whites in another large bowl until stiff peaks form.
6. Mix in the egg yolks into your cream cheese mixture. **Make sure the mixture is cool before you add the eggs, or they’ll curdle.
7. Fold in a third of egg whites into to cream cheese mixture. Gently fold in remaining egg whites in two more batches.
8. Line cake tin along the sides and bottom with butter, and then parchment paper. **You can also do this before you start the recipe.
9. Pour batter into the cake tin. Place pan in the roasting dish or pan and pour hot water around the tin until it reaches halfway up sides.
10. Bake cheesecake until set, 40–45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
11. Put the cheesecake in the fridge and allow to chill for at least 2 hours (the longer the better). Take the cake out of the tin, transfer to a serving dish.

SAVORY SOUNDS

SINCE IT’S MY SISTER’S BIRTHDAY RECIPE, I ASKED HER FOR HER MUSIC PICKS. SHE’S A 90’S HIP-HOP QUEEN. SO HERE ARE A FEW OF HER FAVES.

No 90s playlist would be complete without Tupac:

Same goes for BIGGIE. I’ve already shared a Hynotize remix on another recipe. So here’s a new version of Big Poppa.

You know what they say, the Ladies Love Cool J:

Technically this is from 2002, but close enough and my sis loves it: