March 3, 2017

Japanese Souffle Pancakes

by Kirbie

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

These Japanese-style Souffle Pancakes are incredibly light and fluffy. They are a popular trend in Japan, but you can recreate them in your own home.

As you may recall, I had the most fluffy Japanese pancakes at Gram Cafe during my trip to Tokyo. I’ve been wanting to recreate them ever since.

I tried quite a few recipes I came across on the internet, and while they tasted delicious, they didn’t quite taste like the ones I had at Gram.

After about a dozen attempts, I think this is as close as I can get until they share their recipe.

These do take more effort than your regular classic buttermilk pancakes, but they are a fun treat. The pancakes are cooked in a skillet just like regular pancakes, but the batter involves a meringue, which is what makes these so much lighter.

I’m sharing all my findings below so that you can successfully make these delicious hotcakes on your first attempt.

I’m actually sharing two versions. Here are the differences.

Version 1: Using baking powder

Pros: Nearly all the recipes I found use baking powder. The baking powder almost guarantees that your pancakes will rise high and helps create a more stable structure. Of the two, this is the easier recipe. They taste quite good, like fluffy little cakes.

Cons: I didn’t think these tasted as much like the version I had in Japan. I found that the baking powder changed the texture of the souffle pancakes, making them more cake-like. While fluffy, they aren’t quite as light and don’t “jiggle” the way the ones in Japan do. (If you look up videos of the ones in Japan, people love filming videos of the cakes jiggling.)

Version 2: Without baking powder

Pros: For me, this one tastes most like Gram Cafe’s version. It is even lighter than cake and tastes more like souffle. Souffle traditionally doesn’t use any baking powder, and neither does Japanese souffle cheesecake. When I ate the version at Gram Cafe, they had a similar texture to Japanese Souffle Cheesecake, so I think this is closer to the original recipe.

Cons: The flavor of these might not be for everyone as it does have an eggier taste. Japanese tend to like these not as sweet. I know eggy might sound unappetizing, but a hot souffle usually is quite eggy unless masked with other flavors. However, once you mix it with the syrup and whipped cream, it masks most of that eggy taste.

It is also a little trickier to make these, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience with making meringues or souffles. If your timing is off and you flip these too soon, they will deflate and collapse.

Other Notes

I used these English Muffin Rings (linked in the recipe card), which helps to make these uniform and also helps them achieve a better height as they cook up instead of spreading out. I have seen people make them free-form; they just likely won’t be as round and may not rise as high. If you do make them free-form, I suggest that you keep them small so that the batter doesn’t spread out too much.
These are best eaten hot and right away. It’s not really something you can make ahead of time. Once cold, the texture changes and they aren’t as fluffy.
Make sure you sift the cake flour into the batter, otherwise it will make the batter too heavy. If you don’t have a flour sifter, a fine mesh strainer works just as well and is what I used.
You want to use chilled egg whites as it will keep your meringue more stable.
Adding a little water to “steam” the cakes helps them achieve their texture and rise.
You can serve them with butter and warm maple syrup or fruit syrup. They’re also delicious with fresh berries.

More Japanese Recipes

Recipe now updated with video! You can also view all my recipe videos on my youtube channel.