Japanese cheesecake

I used to really love cheesecake, but I could never eat more than a few bites because it was so rich. Japanese cheesecake, on the other hand, is the opposite. It is super light and pillowy soft. The texture is like a souffle and the cream cheese in the cake makes it melt in your mouth.

Not too long ago, I saw a recipe for a Japanese cheesecake on Christine’s Recipes. I had seen Japanese cheesecake recipes before but had been afraid to try them. I especially was afraid to bake the cake in a water bath, which is required. Christine explained everything in such detail that I had the confidence to try it out (and the water bath isn’t really that scary).

I worried that the cake would fall flat and collapse in like my castella cake attempts, but luckily it didn’t. The cake did shrink a little, but it’s supposed to. It came out really light and creamy. It wasn’t exactly like the previous Japanese cheesecakes I’ve eaten in the past though. The ones I’ve had are more cake-like. This cake was good, it just wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I’ll probably check out a few more Japanese cheesecake recipes to try to find one similar to the ones I’ve eaten before, but this recipe is a keeper.

I am pretty happy with my first attempt and will try this again. You can view the recipe here.

Japanese Cheesecake

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Japanese

Japanese cheesecake is super light and pillowy soft unlike American-style cheesecakes that are often very rich and dense.

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Ingredients

• 250 ml milk
• 250 g cream cheese cubed and softened
• 6 egg yolks
• 55 g cake flour
• 20 g corn flour
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 6 egg whites
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• 130 g caster sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C)
• Pour the milk into a large bowl. Place the bowl over simmering water on the stove top. Be sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water.
• Add cream cheese and stir it occasionally until it’s completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the butter and stir until it melts into the cream cheese. Remove from heat and let it cool for a few minutes. You don’t want to add the egg yolks while it’s hot otherwise the eggs will cook. Add the egg yolks and stir to combine.
• In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour and corn flour. Sift in the flours into the cream cheese mixture in batches stirring between before adding more. There shouldn’t be any lumps in the batter. Stir in the lemon zest.
• Place egg whites in a large clean bowl. (Note: Make sure there’s no oil or water in the bowl at all.) Beat the egg whites for 3 minutes, add the cream of tartar and beat again. Pour the sugar in the egg whites and beat until the egg whites hold very stiff peaks.
• Fold-in the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture gently with a rubber spatula just until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not stir or beat.
• Pour the mixture into the two baking pans. Place the pans into another larger baking tray. Add hot water in the tray up to half way. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
• Turn off the oven. Leave the oven door ajar for 10 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and remove the cakes from the pans. Cool the cakes completely on a wire rack. Chill in a fridge for about 3 hours before slicing and serving.

Notes

Recipe source: Christine’s Recipes

The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.

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