matcha cheesecake.

So I actually had a chocolate cake scheduled today because I had this wonderful vision of using this ingredient, which I won't reveal just yet of course, to decorate the outsides but I was mildly sick of chocolate somewhat so I decided to postpone the idea. In fact I think I'm tired of the texture of cake; I bake way too many cakes all the time because they are so gloriously versatile and perfect for my random decoration brainwaves.

Because I temporarily gave up on my fabulous cake idea *grins* I had to choose something equally stunning in appearance to make up for the disappointment (even though it was my own fault). I turned to my new Japanese recipe book that focuses on decorating techniques. There were so many enticing options but I settled on this cheesecake firstly because it had no cake component whatsoever and secondly, I had cream cheese to use up. The instructions were also relatively uncomplicated which was great as the decision to switch was pretty last minute.

The decorating stage was the most fun as usual. I had no idea that those little tadpole/leaf designs were so easy to do! After I finished dotting the surface with them I stood back and I thought to myself that the cake looked pretty good in a simple yet presentable way, but I just couldn't leave it as it was. Like what's new. I took some extra matcha filling, whipped up some more cream, stirred them together, got out my piping bag with the star tip, filled it with the matcha cream and started piping. At first I piped six frilly little mounds of cream, spaced equally apart from each other. I still had some more cream left though, and before I knew it I was filling the spaces with smaller mounds of cream. It looked rather messy, like a border of misplaced afterthoughts like it really was, so I concluded that the newer tufts of cream needed something to differentiate them from the larger ones. I raided my snack cupboard for an appropriate decoration and I found some collon biscuits that were green tea flavored as well - jackpot. I stopped myself short of adding silver dragees, thankfully.

The matcha filling is really airy and fluffy, very mousse-like. Honestly speaking, I would increase the amount of matcha powder but it still tastes acceptable. If you like a very intense matcha flavour though, feel free to amp it up!

Matcha Cheesecake
makes a 6 inch cake

For the crust:
45g butter
22g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
90g flour
egg white, for brushing onto the baked crust

For the matcha cream cheese filling:
75g cream cheese, softened
25ml milk
15g sugar
1 1/2 tsp matcha powder
3g powdered gelatin softened in 15ml water
50ml cream, beaten to medium-stiff peaks
25g egg whites beaten to stiff peaks with 10g sugar

For decoration:
50ml cream beaten to medium-stiff peaks with 1 tsp sugar

Make the crust: Cream the butter and icing sugar until well combined. Add the egg yolk and beat until incorporated. Stir in the flour.

Press the dough evenly into a 6 inch round pan, prick the surface with the tines of a fork and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Bake in an oven preheated at 170C for 15 minutes. Brush the egg white over the surface and bake for another 2 minutes. Cool completely before proceeding.

Make the matcha cream cheese filling: Beat the cream cheese and milk until combined. Add in the sugar and matcha powder and stir until incorporated. Stir in the softened gelatin. Fold in the beaten cream. Fold in the beaten egg whites in two additions until all traces of egg white disappear. Pour batter into the cooled crust, reserving 1 tbsp for decoration. Chill until firm.

Decorate the cake: Spread the whipped cream evenly on the surface of the matcha filling. Pipe small dots of the reserved matcha filling on top. Use a toothpick and drag it through each dot to create a tadpole kind of pattern. Chill until whipped cream has firmed up before serving.