Welcome to the launch of our first ever volume of Kitsby's Lunar New Year community cookbook featuring recipes from our AAPI foodie network! The themes we wanted to shine through this project are how incredibly diverse our AAPI community is, and community - none of what we do here at Kitsby would exist without the support of our friends, family, neighbors, and beyond.
Many of us, who help to actively build the growing AAPI network that we have today, share roots in points of common nostalgia, which is exactly why we wanted this project to feature the nostalgia dish (the dish that transports you back to your roots) of each partner in a cookbook-format!
Meet Daniel Corpuz of Daniel Corpuz Chocolatier:
Daniel Joseph Corpuz is a pastry chef and chocolatier based in New York City. As a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Daniel achieved his Associates Degree in Baking and Pastry and his Bachelor’s Degree in Food Business Administration in 2019. He has worked in several NYC-based fine dining restaurants, including The Modern at MoMA, Manhatta, and One White Street.
As a result of the pandemic, Daniel’s extensive work with chocolate led him the opportunity to be on Netflix’s new show, ‘School of Chocolate’ with world renowned Pastry Chef Amaury Guichon.
With his Filipino-American background, he ultimately decided to launch Daniel Corpuz Chocolatier. This chocolate brand centers on his upbringing while amplifying his industry experience by utilizing Filipino and Asian ingredients and flavors into his chocolates.
This recipe was from my time working in Michelin restaurants and is a fusion of the classic NY Cheesecake that I grew up loving, and that of Japanese Cheesecakes that speak to my AAPI background.
Japanese Cotton Cheesecake with Basil-glazed Blueberries
- Servings
- 2 - 8” Round Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust- 500g Graham Cracker Crumbs
- 100g Light Brown Sugar
- 200g Butter, melted
- 3g Salt
Cheesecake
- 60g Cake Flour
- 40g Cornstarch
- 360g Cream Cheese
- 60g Butter
- 100g Milk
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 6 Egg Whites
- 140g Granulated Sugar
Basil-glazed Blueberries
- 100g Granulated Sugar
- 100g Water
- 50g Fresh Basil
- 1 pint Blueberries
Steps
For the crust:
- Melt the butter
- Combine the crumbs and sugar in a mixer with a paddle
- Stream in the melted butter until fully combined.
- Pack the crust into a pan, ensuring that the layer is even.
For the cheesecakes:
- Preheat the oven at 300 F
- Melt the butter and cream cheese in a bowl over a pot of boiling water
- Once the butter and cream cheese are fully melted, mix in the egg yolks until combined
- In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and sift it all into the melted cream cheese
- Using a stand mixer, combine together the egg whites and sugar. Whip the egg whites until it reaches a soft peak meringue
- Fold half the meringue into the cream cheese, ensuring it is fully mixed. Repeat this process until all the meringue is incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the pan lined with a layer of graham cracker crust.
- Place the pans in a water bath.
- Bake at 300 F for 30 minutes. Lower the temperature of the oven to 250 F and bake for another 30- 40
- The cake is done when the top is slightly golden brown
For the blueberry topping:
- In a pot combine the sugar, water, and basil.
- Bring the sugar syrup to a boil, or just until all the sugar fully dissolves.
- Strain the fresh basil out, and transfer the syrup back to a pot, and bring to a boil.
- While the syrup is boiling again, pick through the blueberries, ensuring that all the stems have been picked out and that already burst blueberries are taken out.
- Once at a boil, pour the basil syrup onto the blueberries and let it sit for about 3 minutes.
- After three minutes strain the blueberries out. Use the glazed blueberries for the cheese cake, and reserve the basil glaze for future uses.*
*The shelf life of basil glaze can be around 1 month as long as there are no fruit remnants are in the syrup for storage.
