If you haven’t guessed it already, I have a big sweet tooth, just check out my mochi bread, taro daifuku. Lately I’ve been finding a lot of dessert I want to make. This Japanese souffle cheesecake is something I’ve been making for a long time. In the past, the cake I made was really good in flavour but it always cracked and also deflated once I took it out of the oven. I’ve decided to do some investigation. I’ve made a few versions and finally found one that worked for me. I haven’t perfected it yet so it’s still a work in progress, but I think this one is pretty good. It’s my dad favourite cake to eat so I make it pretty often for my parents when I can.
Japanese cheesecake is different from North American Cheesecake. In Japanese cheesecake, the egg are separated and egg whites are whipped. This gives the cake a lighter and fluffier texture, unlike the rice and dense North American Cheesecake. While I love a classic New York Cheesecake, it can sometimes feel too rich even after a few bites. What I like about this Japanese cheesecake is that it’s lighter without sacrificing the cream cheesy flavour. I also like it because it’s less sweet than the typical cheesecake. This also mean that it’s a lot more dangerous for me. I can certainly eat a whole cheesecake rather than a slice.
While the egg plays a big role in this recipe, it still retains the cream cheese flavour beautifully. The biggest challenge I have with this cheesecake is getting the right texture for the whipped egg whites. I’m pretty impatient so I used to whip the egg whites on high speed. However, this will cause really large air bubbles to form and causes cracking and deflating of the cheesecake after baking. Whipping the egg white at a lower speed will help to incorporate smaller bubbles which will help to maintain its shape after cooking.
Pro Tip
- Whether using hand mixer or standing mixer, only mix using medium as it will help to incorporate air slowly and evenly
- Put the egg white in the fridge and take it out at the last minute to whip
- Use a bain-marie or water bath to melt butter, cream cheese, whipping cream together.
- Sift your flour so you don’t get clumps in the cake mixture
Let me know how you make your cheesecake and share your tips as well!
Japanese Souffle Cheesecake
Equipment
- small pot for double boiler
- standing mixer or hand mixer
- cake pan 23cm X 12cm X 5cm
Ingredients
- 150 g cream cheese
- 35 g butter
- 50 g whipping/heavy cream
- 30 g cake flour
- 45 g granulated sugar
- 3 large egg (egg white: 105g, egg yolk:65g)
- splash of lemon juice
Instructions
- Line the cake pan with parchment paper
- Separate the eggs and place the egg white back into the fridge. Place cream cheese, butter and whipping cream in a bowl
- Heat a pot of water on high heat and preheat the oven to 250℉
- Once there are small bubbles in the water, turn the heat to low and place the cream cheese bowl on top
- Whisk until everything is mixed together with no lumps
- Add in the egg yolks and mix quickly to prevent curdling
- Take the mixture off the heat, sift in cake flour and mix until smooth
- Pour the hot water into a oven safe dish for water bath
- Take the egg white out of the fridge, splash some lemon juice
- Use hand mixer or standing mixer start mixing on medium
- Once there are bubbles in the egg white, add 1/3 of the sugar, continue whisking
- Add the rest of sugar slowly until all of sugar are mixed in
- Whisk until the egg white is at soft peak stage. The tip of egg white should curve a bit on the whisk
- Mix 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the cream cheese mixture and mix
- Fold rest of egg white into the cream cheese mixture.
- Once everything is incorporated, place mixture into the pan and use your hand to tap on the bottom to get rid of some air bubble.
- Place the cake pan into the water bath from earlier
- Bake for 1 hour
- Turn to broil for 1 min for colour on top (it heats up quick, don't burn it)
- Let the cake cool completely before taking it out of cake pan
- Either serve immediately or firm up in fridge. It will last up to 1 week.