Soft like a pillow and light as air, diet-friendly Japanese cheesecake delivers a delicious rich flavor of cream cheese with a subtle tanginess of lemon that won’t compromise your diet. You can have your cheesecake and eat it too!
You can serve the cheesecake upside down the way it is when you turn it out of the pan.
Or flip the cheesecake again so it’s right side up.
Japanese cheesecake doesn’t really need much anything else except for an optional light dusting of powdered sugar. I’ve made this a couple of times some years ago, before this blog, and it’s something I’ll never get tired of making.
It’s a cross between regular cheesecake and a fluffy chiffon cake. Compared to regular cheesecake it has considerably less cream cheese, yet its flavor is extremely pronounced. It’s airy and incredibly moist and soft. Although it has less sugar than regular cheesecake, the sweetness is just perfect. Really just absolutely delicious.
For a non-fat cake, try funfetti angel food cake covered with fat free frosting.
There is no rising agent in Japanese cheesecake, so it will get its lift from meringue. It’s baked in a bain marie or water bath that gives it moisture. I used a lasagna / roasting pan for the water bath, but any baking dish or pan large enough to contain the cake pan will work. When done, the cheesecake will retract from the sides of the pan as shown here.
Pour hot water into the holding dish when it’s already in the oven, rather than fill it before and have the water slosh around as you transfer it to the oven. Place the rack at the lowest level, just above the heating element, to avoid over browning the surface. For this post I made a couple of cheesecakes each time, varying the bake time and oven temperature. I got the best results with nice even browning when I baked it at 325°F for one hour, then lowered the temperature to 320°F and baked it for an additional ten minutes. I turned the oven off and let the cheesecake sit in the oven, with the door closed, for another 45 minutes.
The recipe box has all the details, but here’s a quick reference card to show an outline of the steps. I have to say I really enjoy making Japanese cheesecake so I had a good excuse to use two weekends to get the right proportions for the perfect cheesecake. Here are some notes that may seem trivial, but do affect the outcome greatly:
- You can melt the cream cheese, milk and butter either in the microwave or stove top, but I find the microwave more convenient. There will be tiny lumps of cream cheese, so transfer the mixture into a stand mixer bowl and beat the living daylights out of it to smoothen it out before you proceed to the next step.
- Stop the mixer and add the sifted dry ingredients, part of the sugar, egg yolks and lemon juice. Start the mixer and beat them all together until smooth, free of lumps and the batter falls in a ribbon.
- I find that if I beat the egg whites just on a steady medium speed I get a finer more even crumb. The tiny air bubbles are more uniform when beaten on medium than if I crank the speed all the way up to high. It will take a few more minutes to get to the right stage but I think it’s worth it.
- I used a regular 8-inch x 3-inch round cake pan, but a 9-inch x 3-inch round pan would also work.
- As I mentioned earlier, the bake time coupled with the gradual decrease in temperature make for a perfectly baked Japanese cheesecake.
Here’s the cheesecake served upside down.
And here it is again served right side up.
Simple yet exquisite with a very fine and even crumb, soft, light, deliciously moist and so full of flavor—that’s Japanese cheesecake. Cheesecake without guilt. Give it a try and you’ll likely make it more than once.
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cream cheese (260 g)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (57 g)
- 7 tablespoons milk (96 g)
- ¾ cup cake flour (88 g)
- 2 ½ tablespoons + 1 teaspoon corn starch (28 g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons + 1 teaspoon lemon juice (23 g)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (165 g) [1/4 cup or 55 g will be added to the cream cheese mixture; ½ cup or 110 g will be used to make the meringue]
- One 8-inch x 3-inch OR 9-inch x 3-inch round cake pan
- Water bath (bain marie) - baking dish or pan large enough to hold the cake pan (I used a roasting / lasagna pan) to be filled with hot water
- Separate the eggs. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Make sure the bowl is clean, dry and devoid of any trace of fat. Set aside to bring to room temperature. If you have only one mixer bowl place the egg whites in any other clean bowl and set aside.
- Spray with non-stick cooking spray an 8-inch x 3-inch round cake pan. A 9-inch x 3-inch round cake pan will also work. Pre heat the oven to 325° F.
- Melt together the cream cheese, butter and milk in the microwave. Stir every 60 seconds and repeat 2 or 3 times until the butter and cream cheese are melted. Transfer the cream cheese mixture into a bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the flat beater attachment to smooth out any small remaining lumps of cream cheese. Mix until completely smooth.
- Sift the flour, corn starch and salt together.
- Stop the mixer. Add the following ingredients to the cream cheese mixture: sifted dry ingredients, ¼ cup sugar (55 g), egg yolks and lemon juice. Start the mixer and, all at the same time, blend the added ingredients well with the cream cheese mixture. Beat until smooth and free of lumps and the batter falls in a ribbon. Set aside. If you have only one stand mixer bowl, transfer the batter to another large bowl and wash the mixer bowl very well in hot sudsy water making sure no trace of fat remains, in preparation for whipping the egg whites.
- Whip the egg whites with the wire whip of a stand mixer on medium speed. When the meringue starts to take shape add the cream of tartar. Gradually add ½ cup sugar (110 g). Whip until meringue turns glossy, has increased in volume and holds medium peaks.
- Take a dollop of meringue and fold it in by hand with a spatula into the cream cheese batter to slacken the mixture. Take a third of the meringue and add it to the batter. Cut and fold the meringue swiftly but gently to minimize deflating the meringue. In one motion, cut the center all the way down to the bottom of the bowl and fold the batter over the meringue. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as you fold up. Repeat with several strokes until the meringue is blended. Fold in the next ⅓ of meringue, mixing until blended. Fold in the last ⅓ of meringue making sure all the meringue is completely blended. The resulting batter at this point should be light and airy.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake pan. Place the cake pan in the larger dish, then place both in the oven. Pour hot water into the water bath until about half way up the sides of the cake pan. Be careful not to splash water into the batter.
- Bake for 60 minutes at 325°F. Decrease the temperature to 320°F and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Turn off oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door closed for 30 – 45 minutes.
- Turn out the cheesecake from the pan onto a cake plate and serve. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
Soft and Light as Air Japanese Cheesecake
hello a question if I do not have tartar cream I can also make the cake?
Hi, yes, just try replacing the cream of tartar with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice to help stabilize the meringue.
Hello! Your cake is really amazing and the recipe is so easy to understand but i have a question that if i dont find a cream of tartar so can i use salt and lemon juice to substitute? Thank you so much.
Hi, the cream of tartar just acts as a stabilizer for the meringue. Try replacing it with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Sounds great. Going to have to try. You didn’t mention but do you line your pan with paper first? Or just pour batter right into the pan with out anything on it. So use to greasing and flouring.
Hi Greg,
I sprayed the pan with non-stick spray.
I just made this today after having tasted Japanese Cheesecake for the first time a few weeks ago. Your instructions were very clear and easy to understand. I picked up an 8″x 3″ pan, used your weight measurements for the ingredients and it turned out perfectly. Thank you for such a nicely laid out recipe.
This is the most unusual and exciting cake I have ever seen in my whole baking career. I am 76 years old and have just made it this afternoon while my husband is at golf and it has turned out 100% perfect so I have just rushed a large piece down to 2 neighbours and they were in raptures about it. I am going to enter this recipe into a local cooking competition.
Looks like you’re using a springform pan. Do you wrap the pan in foil to avoid water seeping through?
Hi Chris,
No, I did not use a springform pan. That is just a regular 8″ x 3″ cake pan. If you use a springform pan, definitely wrap it in foil to avoid seepage.
I have a question I made the cheesecake
The question is the 165g of sugar there is nothing written what to do with it like the rest of the instructions can you please explain or break it down easier For me
My cheesecake did not come out like yours
Hi Larry,
Thanks for the message. The 165 g is divided as follows: 55 g (1/4 cup) mixed with the cream cheese mixture; 110 g (1/2 cup) whipped with the egg whites to make the meringue. See steps 5 and 6.
You cake looks amazing. So the cake needs to be in water while baking? Or water needs to be in water bath, not touching the cake form? Since it doesn’t have exact explanation. Thank you dear.
Hi Taisa,
The cake batter is poured into your cake pan. Then place your cake pan into a deep dish. Carefully pour hot water into the larger dish taking care not to splash it into the cake batter. So your cake pan holding the cake batter is now surrounded by water. That is called a water bath.
I have to say, this looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. Love your crocheted laces!
I really like your recipe, it was very good looking :D.
May i ask you a question? At the end of baking, should we take out the water bath and leave the cake inside the oven for 30mins?
Because i read so many recipes, and they always take out the water bath.
Thanks ^^
Hi, at the end of bake time, I just leave the cake as it is in the water bath in the oven for about 30 minutes.
Hello! Your cake looks absolutely beautiful and I’m going to make it today.
But I have some questions about the amount of each ingredient. Could you please confirm it?
cream cheese 260g
unsalted butter 57g
milk 96g
cake flour 88gr
corn starch 28g (please confirm)
1/4 teaspoon salt
lemon juice 23g (please confirm)
1/4 cream of tartar
165g sugar (55g added to the cream cheese and 110g to make the meringue)
Thank you very much for our help!
Best regards from PORTUGAL
Hi Maria,
Yes, you got that right.