Japanese cheesecake: the one that springs back under a finger
A Japanese cheesecake has nothing in common with a baked European one: no base, far less cheese, and a texture somewhere between sponge and soufflé. It is so light that pressed with a finger it springs back. It is lifted solely by egg whites whipped to soft peaks — not stiff, because stiff meringue tears as it is folded, so the cake rises crooked and then collapses. It bakes in a water bath and cools very, very slowly.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Batter 30 min
- Baking 75 min
- Cooling 75 min
Step by step
0 / 6 donePrepare the tin and the bath
Grease an 18 cm tin thinly with butter (the paper sticks better) and line it with paper: the base and the sides to a height of 10 cm, standing above the rim. Wrap the outside of the base in two layers of foil so water cannot get in. Heat the oven to 160 °C with a roasting tray of hot water inside.
Ingredients: 10 g butter · 1 tbsp icing sugar
TipPaper taller than the tin is not decoration: the cake rises above the rim and without a paper collar it spills over the sides.
Paper to 10 cm, base in two layers of foilMelt the base over steam
In a bowl over a pan of steaming water melt the cream cheese with the butter and milk, whisking until completely smooth. Take it off the steam and cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the yolks one at a time, then the sifted flour and starch and the lemon juice and zest.
Ingredients: 250 g cream cheese · 100 ml milk · 50 g butter · 6 pcs egg yolks · 40 g plain flour · 30 g potato starch · 1 pcs lemon, zest and juice
TipThe base must be lukewarm before it meets the meringue. Warm, it deflates the foam instantly and all the whisking is wasted.
A smooth base, cooled to lukewarmWhip the meringue to soft peaks
Whip the whites with the salt and citric acid, adding the sugar a spoon at a time. Whip only to soft peaks: the whisk should leave a peak that folds over at the tip. Stiff meringue is a mistake here — it tears when folded and leaves holes in the cake.
Ingredients: 6 pcs egg whites · 130 g caster sugar · 1 pinch citric acid · 1 pinch salt
TipThis is the opposite of a sponge, where the meringue must be stiff. A cotton cheesecake wants an elastic foam that stretches with the rising batter instead of tearing.
The peak should fold over, not stand stiffFold in three additions
Add a third of the meringue to the base and mix it in vigorously — that portion is there to loosen the batter and can be treated without mercy. Add the rest in two additions, folding with a spatula from the bottom, very gently, until no white remains.
First third vigorously, the rest gentlyBake in a water bath
Pour the batter into the tin and tap it on the counter to knock out large bubbles. Set it in the roasting tray with hot water 3 cm deep. Bake 25 minutes at 160 °C, then drop to 130 °C and bake 50 minutes. The top should be pale gold and the centre wobble slightly.
TipA water bath keeps the heat moist and gentle. Without it the cake bakes from the edges, cracks on top and comes out dry at the sides.
Water 3 cm deep, then 130 °C for fifty minutesCool in the ajar oven
Turn the oven off and prop the door open the width of a wooden spoon. Leave the cake 60 minutes, then take it out and cool further in the tin. A sudden change in temperature makes it sink and wrinkle within minutes — the commonest failure in this recipe. Before serving, peel off the paper and dust the top with icing sugar.
Ingredients: 10 g butter · 1 tbsp icing sugar
An hour in a switched-off oven, door ajar
Before you start
Why it collapsed
In this order: cooling too fast, meringue whipped too stiff, or too high a baking temperature. A slight settling once cool is normal — a cotton cheesecake always loses a little height.
Serving
Icing sugar alone is enough, but sharp fruit suits it beautifully: raspberries, strawberries or passion fruit sauce. This cake is barely sweet, so it carries sweet accompaniments better than a dense baked cheesecake.
How long it keeps
Three days in a sealed container in the fridge. Take it out 30 minutes before serving: cold it is dense and muted, at room temperature its lightness returns.
Without an 18 cm tin
In a 20 cm tin it comes out lower; shorten the second baking phase by 5–10 minutes. At 24 cm it becomes a flat disc and loses the point — that height is part of the effect.
