Blueberry Japanese Cheesecake Cupcake

 (scroll down for a different picture)

I wanted to title this post "Japanese Cheesecupcake" but my eyes bleed when I see the word "cheesecupcake". It's an ugly word that I just invented. Instead, it shall be named Japanese Cheesecake Cupcake.

I decided that I should join the 5th annual Ice Cream Cupcake Contest that is hosted by Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious. The moment I saw that contest, I instantly planned a cupcake flavor that I am gonna do. I even practiced making ice cream just for it and I could say that it was a success as my siblings love the first ice cream I made, a Strawberry Ice Cream.

It's actually hard to find some ingredients here in the Philippines, unlike in other developed countries. I would have to travel an hour just to buy some of the things I used here. I bought canned blueberries (you can't blame me, it's hard to find imported fruits that are fresh here, and by hard I mean I should travel about 4 hours just to get there, somehow try to minimize the time I waste from getting lost, finding the fruit stand of the market, and travelling another 4 hours = that will take about half of my day, and considering I am still studying I don't have that much time. and this is the longest "parenthesis remarks" I made. yay!) for the ice cream as I will also be making it. I "like" blueberries, they are not that sweet, and they have that distinct flavor which goes amazingly well with cinnamon. Then I decided to go with japanese cheesecake, which I LOVE. It's so creamy. And it's so easy to make if you are used to beating and folding egg whites.

Yesterday I bought the ingredients, baked the cupcakes, and made the blueberry ice cream. I assembled the cupcakes just this morning at 5:30 because I have a class at 7:00. Here is what the cupcake will look like assembled:

Ingredients 

Cupcakes (makes 10 regular-sized cupcakes)

⅓ c. all purpose flour

¾ tsp. baking powder

½ c. white sugar

3 pcs. egg whites

¼ tsp. cream of tartar

¼ stick butter (about 2 tablespoons)

4 oz. cream cheese

2 tbsp. heavy cream

3 pcs. egg yolks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tin with liners. Prepare a "bain-marie like" setup in your oven by placing a tray with water of about half inch deep.

In a saucepan, combine cream cheese, heavy cream and butter. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Let cool, then add egg yolks.

In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Then add to the cream cheese mixture.

In another bowl, add cream of tartar to the egg whites and whisk. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until medium peaks form. Fold into the cream cheese mixture.

Fill cupcake liners ⅔ to ¾ full of batter.

Put cupcake tin above the prepared tray in your oven by putting a wire rack over the tray. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top are golden brown.

Cool cupcakes in a cooling rack. Assemble as pictured. (add blueberry sauce on plate, then add the cupcake, top the cupcake with ice cream)

Blueberry Cinnamon Ice Cream

1 c. heavy cream

1 c. milk
¾ c. sugar
2 egg yolks
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ c. blueberries
¼ c. water / syrup that comes with blueberry if canned

Directions

Beat egg yolks until pale yellow.
In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cinnamon and egg yolks and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it covers the back of the spoon. Strain, then let cool.
In another saucepan, combine blueberries and water/syrup and cook until it is thick. Add to milk mixture. Then add heavy cream. Transfer mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Blueberry Sauce (optional)

½ c. blueberries

¼ c. sugar

¼ c. water/syrup

Directions

In a saucepan add all ingredients, cook over medium heat. Stir (and squishing the blueberries would be necessary) until mixture thickens. Let cool.

My camera has problems with it's flash when the object is near, so I just used another source of light in the first photo, but here is the true color of the ice cream cupcake using my camera's flash at a farther distance.

So that's it. I hope you'll enjoy making it like I did. See you next time.