Name: Japanese Cotton Cheesecake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 60g all purposed flour; 20g cornflour (cornstarch); 1/4 teaspoon salt; 50g unsalted butter, room temperature; 250g cream cheese, room temperature; 100g/ml fresh milk; 6 egg yolks; 1 tablespoon (10g) lemon juice; 6 egg whites; 120g fine granulated sugar (I used brown sugar and blend into powder); 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar; 6 inches round cake pan X 2 unites OR; 8 inches round cake pan X 1 unit

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Much thanks to my friend Mandy for introducing me to this recipe. She is great at baking and her results inspire me a lot. You may see her recipe shared on Rasa Malaysia.

This Japanese Cotton Cheesecake is very soft, fluffy and light compared to the regular cheesecake which is a lot more dense.

If you like cheesecake, I have New York Cheesecake recipe and Basque Burnt Cheesecake recipe that you may like to try.

I would suggest you read the following notes especially if you are don't bake often.

MERINGUE

Meringue plays a very important role in Chiffon or this Japanese Cotton Cheesecake. Over beating meringue may cause the cake to crack, while under beating will cause the cake to collapse or it may not rise much.

Use room temperature egg whites, this will yield more volume. Cold egg whites will not whip well. It is easier to separate your eggs when they are still cold, then leave the egg whites aside to come to room temperature.

Make sure your bowl is clean and there is no any trace of egg yolk or fat. Fat will interfere with the formation of meringue.

Use cream of tartar to stabilise the whipped meringue. Cream of tartar is acidic and can be replaced with lemon juice or white vinegar. The replacement ratio is 1:2. If your recipe asks for 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, then replace with 1/2 tsp lemon juice.

Sources from here, here and here

Stages of Meringue:

Soft Peak – The meringue is soft and unable to hold its form, it will drip after you turn your whisk upside down. You will see the ribbon lines, but it disappears the moment you stop whisking.

Firm Peak – The peak will hold and fold back slightly when you turn your whisk upside down. The meringue is glossy and the ribbon lines stay. This is the stage we look for if you do not want your cake to crack.

Stiff Peak – The peak will hold straight and doesn’t fold back when you turn the whisk upside down. The meringue is very glossy and thick too. Most chiffon cake recipes will prescribe this stage but the cake will easily crack when baking.

Over-beating – The meringue looks grainy, broken and dull. We do not want this stage in baking as you will not be able to fold it into the flour batter nicely.

OVEN TEMPERATURE AND BAKING TIME

Do note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.

It would be good to use an oven thermometer when baking. This will help you understand and know the actual temperature you are baking at. The actual temperature in the oven may not be the same as the oven’s setting. Leave the thermometer on the same rack where you place your baking.

I usually bake cakes with top and bottom heats setting. I don’t encourage baking cakes with fan-forced mode as this setting uses a fan to circulate the hot air for quick baking or cooking at high temperature and may result in cracks on the cake. However, if fan mode is used, it is recommended to reduce the temperature setting by about 20C if using a fan-forced mode.

WATER BATH vs DRY BAKE

For a water bath, the cake pan sits within another pan filled with a little water. Place the cake pan within a larger pan and pour hot water into the outer pan until it comes up to a level of 1.5cm – 2 cm. Place the whole thing in oven and bake.

The benefit of water bath is that it will moderate the baking temperature and prevent the cakes from cracking. The cake texture will be very moist too.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible. Do tag me on Instagram @Bakewithpaws if you attempt on this recipe.

How To Make Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Yields: One 8" Round Cake or two 6" Round Cakes

INGREDIENTS:

60g all purposed flour

20g cornflour (cornstarch)

1/4 teaspoon salt

50g unsalted butter, room temperature

250g cream cheese, room temperature

100g/ml fresh milk

6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon (10g) lemon juice

6 egg whites

120g fine granulated sugar (I used brown sugar and blend into powder)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Utensils:

6 inches round cake pan X 2 unites OR

8 inches round cake pan X 1 unit

METHOD:

Preparation:

Gather all the ingredients.
Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
Preheat the oven to 130C - 150C (top and bottom heat).
Line the bottom of the round cake pan with parchment paper.
Wrap the base of the cake pan with 2 or 3 layers of aluminium foil if loose base cake pan is used. You can also place the cake pan into a pan slightly bigger pan to prevent the water from seeping in.

Preparing The Batter:

Melt cream cheese, butter over a hot pot of water. Whisk until the butter and cream cheese are melted with hand. Add in salt, milk, egg yolks then lemon juice and whisk until all well combined.
Sift all purposed, corn flour and salt. Fold in the flour mixture and mix well.
Strain the batter through a fine sieve to make sure batter does not have any remaining lumps.
In another bowl of stand mixture, whisk egg whites until foamy, add in cream of tartar and whisk for few second. Gradually add in sugar and whisk until firm peaks form.
Gently fold the meringue into the cream cheese mixture with hand whisk in three batches. Change to spatula and fold gently until well incorporated.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pans. Use a chopstick to run through the batter to break down any air bubbles.

Baking:

To prepare a water bath – Place the cake pans in a larger roasting pan if loose base pan is used, and pour warm water into the roasting pan until it comes up to a level of 1.5 cm – 2 cm.
Bake cheesecake in a water bath for about 1 hours 30 minutes or until set and golden brown at 130C - 150 degrees (I set 130C for my oven).

Cooling:

Leave the cake to cool down in the oven with the oven door open, about 15 minutes. This is to prevent sudden change of temperature that may cause the cake to shrink drastically. It is normal the cake sinks slightly after cooling.
After 15 - 20 minutes when the cake is cool enough to handle, remove the cake from the pan. Run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and invert the cake on non-stick baking paper or plate. Peel off baking paper from the base and place on a rack to cool.
Serve when still warm to get the bouncy and fluffy texture, or chill in the fridge to get slightly solid texture. I personally like cold and solid texture cake.

Comments

Unknown7 December 2019 at 09:18
hi good day ... may i .know why is my japanese cheesecake is crumbly and not firm?
Van15 July 2020 at 03:20
Hi,
Can I cover it with aluminium foil if the top browns too much?
May I know which rack did you put it on? Many thanks.
CSA27 August 2020 at 07:12
Hi
Why do the sides of the cake wrinkle and cave in?
Bobausis13 October 2021 at 22:20
Hi, the bottom of my cake is soggy, somethink like panna cotta, even though my form is not spring but whole. I’m not sure why this is happenning, maybe you could help.
Anonymous3 December 2022 at 16:03
Can bake this cake using fan oven..cause my oven is the convection.oven.