Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake : Dare to Fail

There are things that you were born to fail at. It's written in the stars. Or that's what I think. Like dancing. I can never in the life of me follow or remember the choreography. The moment the music starts, I forget where is left and where is right. Or up or down for that matter. My brain just isn't wired that way.

And then there's the Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake. You may or may not have read about my obsession and ensuing exasperation with this cake here and if I had this kind of gung ho enthusiasm when preparing for my SRP or SPM exams, I would have scored straight A's.

I am well aware that this cake has been done to death in the blogosphere. I have viewed so many blogs and admired their perfect cottony cake and followed the numerous tips and tricks. The most notable being The Little Teochew, the Mecca of Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake.

But oh no, try as I may, I did get my cake but THAT texture eluded me. It was more on the dense side, too moist but still edible. I guess that's what matters most.

Just for laughs, this is how a failed Japanese Cheesecake looks like :

Looks like a cardboard box. All leathery.

Or even better, this :

Aiyo! Why your cake look like that one! Like tayar pancet.

Wendy's recipe that uses failed cakes comes in really handy for this. That ugly thing up there actually tastes pretty good. I cut it while it was still slightly warm and it has a firm custardy texture. Quite nice and better still if I had some vanilla ice cream with it.

Haven't I given up already? Noooo........I tried again with water bath using Kimmy's new method. This was what I got :

Much better but the sides are crinkly.

Slight improvement, at least it wasn't all collapsed in a heap. But the texture was still dense and it was too moist. Taste wise, it was good, just too wet for my liking.

Not cottony at all. Dense and too moist.

Certain spots look like it was almost there.

I would go down in history as the person who murdered the Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake. Anyway if you haven't already attempted this cake, get the recipe at Diana's Desserts. Even though I failed, I am still documenting the steps that I did below for future reference. And believe me, this won't be my last attempt. Some people just don't know how to give up. Hmmmph!