The best Japanese Cheesecake Recipe — modern asian baking (2024)

Cakes

Oct 11

Written By Kat Lieu

Hi friends! After three years of baking, I’ve finally discovered the techniques and ways to bake a fool-proof Japanese souffle cheesecake that has a beautiful top, will not crack while baking and rising, and will not deflate (much at least) after removal from the oven! Japanese souffle cheesecake is also known as Japanese cotton cheesecake or just Japanese cheesecake. It is a mix between a regular cheesecake (Basque or NY Style) mixed with a chiffon cake. It’s airy, fluffy, and less dense than cheesecakes. It’s the perfect offspring of a cake, and I’m sharing my baking secrets with you! Happy baking!

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Japanese Cheesecake Recipe 🎂 DIY perfect jiggly cotton cheesecake souffle that doesn't deflate/crackhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKS9Lvk2_fo

Foolproof Japanese Cheesecake Recipe

Yield

6-8 people

Author

Kat Lieu

Prep time

20 Min

Ingredients

Egg White Meringue (Stiff Peaks)

5 egg whites 🥚
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (or vinegar or lemon juice)
1/4 cup (50g) fine (granulated) sugar (Not Confectioner sugar)

Cake Batter

5 egg yolks 🥚
8 oz cream cheese (1 bar)
1/4 cup (55g) butter
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
1/4 cup (50g) fine (granulated) sugar
2 tbsp (15g) corn starch (magic ingredient)
1/4 cup (34g) flour (use rice flour or Mochiko instead to make a gluten-free Japanese Cheesecake) (Vanilla extract or powder or lemon juice for extra flavoring are all optional)
Optional toppings: strawberries, confectioner sugar, fruits of your choice, honey, matcha powder, etc...

Instructions

Separate 5 beautiful eggs. Place the egg yolks in a bowl, and the egg whites in a mixer bowl.
Place the butter, cream cheese and 1/4 cup of fine sugar into a pot over low-heat. Allow the ingredients to melt, and mix together into a beautifully smooth batter mixture.
Remove the pot from heat, and add the egg yolks into the batter mixture. Mix well, but gently.
Add the cornstarch and flour. Once again, mix well. Clumps should disappear.
Add milk and optionally vanilla extract or other flavors of your choice.
Mix well. The batter should be smooth and liquid-y. You won’t have to strain this mixture. (See video)
Set aside the batter as you beat the egg whites into stiff peaks (see below for egg beating tips.)
Pre-heat oven to 330F. Prepare a bain-marie by putting water in a deep rectangular baking pan or dish. Place into the oven.
Prepare baking pans— with these ingredients, you can bake one 8-inch cake or two 6-inch cakes. Line the bottoms of the baking pans with circular parchment paper, and the inside sides with rectangular strips of parchment paper. (Not wax paper.)
Once you achieve stiff peaks, place some beaten egg white into the batter and mix together.
Repeat the above step two more times.
You don’t want to over mix the batter. Pour the batter into the rest of the egg whites and mix together using folding techniques. You don’t want to over-mix or under mix. If you over-mix, the cake will not rise. If you under-mix, your cake will be uneven. The egg white will float to the top and you’ll have a meringue-like cake at the top, and a dense cheesecake at the bottom.
Pour the well-incorporated, but not over-mixed batter into the baking pan(s).
Bake bain-marie style for 25 minutes 330F (Depending on your oven, you may have to adjust the temperature.) If your cake is not rising, your oven temperature is too low. Raise by 10 degrees.
After 25 minutes, your cake should rise. If it has not risen yet, allow it to stay at the same temperature and give it time to rise (or you may have to raise the temperature). Once it rises nicely, crack open the oven door slightly and keep it open for 10 seconds (approximately). Lower the oven temperature to about 245-265F, depending on your oven, and bake for an additional 45 minutes. At this point, there is a possibility your cake may crack if the oven temperature is too high.
Allow your cake to rest in the oven after baking for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Be careful and use oven mitts as needed.
Place a sheet of parchment paper over the cake. Place a plate over the cake and parchment paper. Flip the cake upside down so the top of it is now the bottom while resting on the parchment paper over the plate. Remove the cake from the pan by sliding it out, or gently shaking it out.
Remove the wet parchment paper from the cake, replace the bottom parchment paper of the cake.
Now place another plate— the presentation or serving plate, on top of the cake. It should be on top of the bottom of the cake. Flip the cake again, carefully.
Play with the bouncy jiggly-ness of the cake. Serve when still warm, or chill in the fridge. It won’t be bouncy or fluffy after chilling though!

Notes:

🥚To beat egg whites into stiff peaks, gradually increase the mixer speed, starting at medium, to medium-high, to high, each speed taking around 2-3 minutes.🥚Add cream of tartar when you see some egg foam. Gradually add fine sugar when the beaten egg whites have become very white and foamy.🥚Baking tip! Bake (bain-marie style) for 25 minutes on higher heat (320-345F depending on your oven), then crack open the oven door for about 10 seconds and bake for 45 minutes on lower heat (245-265F depending on your oven.)🥚Your baking powder and cornstarch should be gluten-free. To make your Japanese cheesecake gluten-free, substitute all purpose flour with sweet rice flour (Mochiko).🥚You can add flavorings to this cheesecake such as 2 tablespoons of matcha powder or 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the egg yolk batter, to make either a green-tea flavored Japanese cheesecake or a chocolate Japanese cheesecake.

Recommended Products:

Modern Asian Baking at Home Cookbook

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https://www.philandmama.com/adventures/2020/4/20/foolproof-japanese-souffle-cheesecake-recipe-make-a-jiggly-japanese-cheesecake-that-doesnt-flatten-or-crack

Recipe COPYRIGHT © PHILANDMAMA.COM 2020, Phil and Mama, LLC. All rights reserved. You may not use any photographs of Phil and Mama Kat without both verbal and written consent from the owners of www.philandmama.com.

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JAPANESE CHEESECAKE TROUBLESHOOTING:

If your cake does crack, the heat may have been too high. Just decorate over the crack. It’s okay, baking does not have to be perfect! Your cake will still taste good! I am always afraid of a deflating cake, so I rather it crack than deflate. You could also try to beat the meringue to firm/medium peaks instead of stiff peaks.
If your cake is airy and fluffy at the top, and dense on the bottom, then you did not incorporate your final batter well enough. Too much of the beaten egg whites have not been mixed into the yolk batter. Next time, make sure your final batter is well-mixed, thick, and creamy with little to no beaten egg white streaks.
If your cake has not risen at all in the oven, then your initial temperature is too low, or your egg whites were over or under beaten (you want glossy beautiful stiff peaks), or you have over-mixed your final batter. The final batter needs to be thick like milkshake and well-incorporated at the same time.
If you don’t get a brown top, again the temperature may have been too low. You can be clever and broil the top of your cake for a brown, creme brûlée effect! Also, make sure your cake is baking mid-rack in the oven, and that the parchment paper you use to line the rim of your cake pan is not too high.

The best Japanese Cheesecake Recipe — modern asian baking (9)

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Kat Lieu

Kat Lieu is a doctor of physical therapy, certified lymphedema therapist, and the editor-in-chief of Phil and Mama.

http://www.philandmama.com