Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Ingredients

The ingredients for this Japanese jiggly cheesecake recipe use pantry staples that you can find at your local grocery market. No hard-to-find ingredients are necessary!

• Cake Flour: cake flour will yield a very soft, light, and airy crumb texture. If you don’t have cake flour you can substitute it with 30 g of all-purpose flour and 10 g of corn starch.
• Corn Starch: makes the jiggly cheesecake even lighter and fluffier to create that melt-in-your-mouth texture.
• Granulated Sugar: the sugar is crucial in the meringue. Adding sugar to egg whites creates a thick and glossy foam that brings in all the air in the Japanese souffle cheesecake.
• Cream Cheese: make sure you use room temperature, full-fat brick cream cheese for the best flavor and texture.
• Milk: use whole milk since it has enough fat to keep the cheesecake moist and not dry out.
• Butter: butter adds fat, flavor, and moistness to the cotton cheesecake.
• Large Eggs: the egg yolks and the egg whites will be divided and mixed into 2 separate parts. Make sure you bring your eggs to room temperature.
• Lemon Juice: the touch of lemon juice adds a little acidity to the Japanese cheesecake and aids in the rise of meringue. You can also substitute the lemon juice for 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar.

Instructions

This Japanese cotton cheesecake may be a little tricky to master, but the final product is simply irresistible.

1. Preheat and prepare the pan. Preheat your oven to 300°F and line the bottom and sides of your 6-inch round baking pan with parchment paper.

2. Melt the butter and cream cheese over a double boiler. Fill a small saucepan with water halfway and then bring it to a boil. In a mixing bowl that fits on top of the saucepan, add the cream cheese, butter, and milk. Whisk until the butter and cream cheese are melted and fully combined and reach about 130°F (55°C)
3. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Remove the cream cheese bowl from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla until combined.

4. Sift in the cake flour. Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift in the cake flour and cornstarch. Whisk until smooth. Then pour the batter through the fine-mesh sieve.
5. Make the meringue. In a large mixing bowl, add the egg whites and lemon juice. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites on high until white and frothy. Then working in 3 batches, slowly pour in 1/3 of the sugar while the mixer is running. Keep mixing with the remaining thirds of sugar until the meringue reaches medium-soft peaks. Once it reaches soft peaks, turn the mixer on low and mix the eggs for an additional 30 seconds to beat out any large bubbles.

6. Mix 1/3 of the meringue into the egg batter. Add 1/3 of the meringue into the egg batter and fold until it is completely combined and smooth.
7. Mix the egg batter into the meringue. Then take the egg batter and gently pour it into the meringue and carefully fold the batter with a rubber spatula until just combined. Make sure to not over-mix.

Bake the Cheesecake

1. Prepare the pan. Pour the batter into the lined baking pan at about 5 inches from the pan to pop the remaining large air bubbles. Place the cheesecake round pan into a larger deep baking tray and fill it up with about 1-2 cm of hot boiling water

2. Bake. Bake in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 230°F (110°C) and bake for another 30 minutes. Then increase the temperature to 275°F (135°C) for 13-15 minutes. The cake is done when the top is golden and if you place a toothpick in the center and it comes out mostly clean.

3. Sit. Once the cake is done cooking, turn off the oven and leave the cake in the oven for about 15 minutes with the oven door cracked. Then remove the water bath and let the cake sit in the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and place the cake on the rack to cool completely. Sift some powdered sugar on top and enjoy!

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