Taro Cheesecake

Now that I’m back on track, lots of bakings have been going on. My friends were questioning how did I find time to bake amidst this busy school period. Perhaps that’s what happens when you have the will to do something.

I was telling my brother how much I craved for cheesecakes and he have always been the cheesecake baker in my home. Being a sweetie pie, he told me he could bake it on the coming friday and the next moment was him searching for recipes online. (Alright, there could be possibilities that he kinda want to do some bakings since he haven’t baked for a long time, but I’ll stick to the idea that he wants to bake for his sister.) I was helping him with the search and suggested to baking taro cheesecake. It’s something really rare and unique that is not exactly out in the market, probably only in one of the cafes (Maison Ikkoku) in Singapore.  Other than that, I’ve never tasted or seen that before.

If you are a fan of yam paste and cheesecake, this cake will be your next favorite cake.  ‘Cos it’s practically eating yam paste and cheesecake; both goodness at the same time.

We adapted the recipe from a Singapore blogger (here) who won an award for this extraordinary cheesecake.

Unfortunately, we are a fan of graham crackers crust so we ditched the oreo crust from the original recipe and replaced it.

Taro Cheesecake
makes 8-inch cake

Ingredients
Crust

• 140g graham cookies (or digestives)
• 70g unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 500g cream cheese, softened
• 120g castor sugar
• 2½ eggs
• 150ml whipping cream
• ½ tsp salt
• 1¾ cup steamed and mashed yam (about 250g)
• few drops of purple food coloring (optional)

Topping

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1½ tbsp coconut milk

Method
Crust

1. Finely ground biscuit, pour warm butter over biscuit.
2. Toss well to coat biscuit with butter.
3. Press firmly into even layer and freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes.

Filling

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy.
2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until just incorporated.
3. Gradually add cream and alternate with the mashed yam. Add salt. (Do not over-mix!)
4. Bake at 150° C for 60 – 75 minutes. Cool on rack for 5 minutes. The edge of the cake is set and center will be slightly wobbly.

Topping

1. Using hand, gently whisk sour cream, sugar and coconut milk in a bowl.
2. Spread on top of cheesecake and bake for another 5 minutes at 150° C.
3. Cool cheesecake for 1 – 2 hours. Then cover and chill the cheesecake for at least 4 hours.

The thing about cheesecake is that, always remember to keep them overnight. They always always always taste best after a night. :)

Enjoy.
Jeul