Sake kasu cheesecake

Here is another good example how versatile ingredient sake kasu is. If you haven’t seen my previous post, I reccomend you reading it, there I wrote about sake kasu in detailes and also baking a Japanese soft bread with it.

After my last post I received some questions about the availability of the sake lees. To be honest it’s not easy unless you, like me, make your own sake. I could also recommend contacting sake breweries, they might be selling or giving away some. Another option can be if you have a friend in Japan asking she or he to send you some dried one. If no luck getting the lees just make a delicious baked cheesecake leaving out the lees from it…

To create this recipe the inspiration came from the Basque burnt cheesecake ( you can find lots of recipes online ) and I substitute 50% of the cream cheese for sake kasu. I have tried with higher and lower proportions too, but I find this ratio the best for my taste. Most if the recipes using lots of eggs in it, but I’m not a fan of the too “eggy” deserts, so I reduced the quantity. I also reduced the the amount of sugar as the lees has leftover sugar from the fermentation so it’s gives an extra sweetness to the tart.

I recommend chilling the cake for the night in the fridge and only cut it on the next day. The resting helps   rounding the flavours. The slightly burned surface and a gentle but dominant flavour of the sake lees will melt together in a unique taste. It’s a wonderful partner with a macha tea or a perfect dessert with a Japanese style dinner.

Sake kasu cheesecake 

To  make this recipe you will need a 20cm round cake mould and parchment paper to line the tin. It’s important to use food safe eggs as we bake it until the core temperature only 65C. After baking the texture not going to be hard, it still have to be jiggly when you shake the tin. After chilling the texture going to be still moist and not dry at all.

Recipe:

• 350g sake kasu
• 350g cream cheese
• 130g sugar
• 150g double cream
• 4 medium eggs

1. The recipe is very simple and quick, so first turn on the oven to 230C with the fan on. While the oven warms you have plenty of time to make the cheesecake mixture.
2. First, measure the creamcheese, sake kasu and the sugar in a medium bowl and mix well with a spatula. To make sure that the texture of the eggs are smooth I pushed them trough in a sieve.  It’s entirely up to you, if you don’t mind that the chalaza stays in it just skip this step. Add the cream and fold together until the mixture becomes smooth.
3. Scrape into the baking tin lined with parchment paper. Tap it gently on the worktop to avoid bubbles and make the surface even.
4. Place it onto the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake it for 40-45 minutes or until the  mixture reaches the 65C core temperature.

After it has cooled down put it in the fridge for a night to let the flavours settle.

Enjoy!

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Enjoy!