Japanese cheesecake
スフレチーズケーキ
The soufflé cotton cheesecake: cream cheese batter lightened with soft meringue, baked slowly in a water bath until it wobbles. Light, damp and faintly tangy.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: スフレチーズケーキ.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 10 min
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 2 hr 10 min
- Difficulty
- A bit of work
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Japanese cheesecake is a cream cheese soufflé baked as a cake: light enough to wobble, damp and fine-crumbed, and only faintly cheesy. Cream cheese, butter and milk are melted together, enriched with egg yolks and a little flour and cornflour, then lightened with a meringue whisked only to soft peaks. It bakes slowly in a water bath, hot at first to rise, then cooler to set, and cools in the oven so it does not collapse. The common failures are a cracked top, from meringue whipped too stiff or an oven too hot, and a dense, wet band at the bottom, from heavy folding. Neither ruins the taste.
What you'll need
9 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Cheese batter
- Meringue
Ingredients
Cheese batter
- Cream cheese, full-fat, at room temperature250 g
- Butter50 g
- Milk, whole100 ml
- Egg, separated, whites kept cold for the meringue6 large
- Lemon juice15 ml
- Wheat flour, plain or cake flour60 g
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Line the base and sides of an 18 cm round cake tin, at least 7 cm deep, with baking paper, letting the side paper stand 3 cm above the rim. If it is a springform tin, wrap the outside in two layers of foil. Heat the oven to 160°C, with the fan off if you can (fan air cracks and browns the top), and boil a kettle.
10 min160°C
Step 2
Melt the cream cheese, butter and milk in a bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, whisking until smooth. Off the heat, whisk in the yolks one at a time, then the lemon juice. Sift in the flour and cornflour, whisk until smooth and pass the batter through a sieve.
10 min
Step 3
In a clean bowl, whisk the whites with the salt until foamy, then add the sugar in three lots and keep whisking until you have soft peaks that fold over at the tip.
6 min
Tip: Stop early rather than late. Stiff meringue is what cracks the top.
Step 4
Whisk a third of the meringue into the cheese batter to loosen it, then fold in the rest in two lots with a spatula until no white streaks remain. Pour into the tin and tap it twice on the worktop to knock out large bubbles.
4 min
Step 5
Set the tin in a deep baking tray and pour in hot water to come 2 to 3 cm up the side. Bake at 160°C for 20 minutes, until risen and pale gold, then lower to 140°C and bake 50 minutes more. Turn the oven off and leave the cake inside with the door shut for 15 minutes, then with the door ajar for 15 minutes.
100 min140°C
Watch: Do not open the oven in the first 40 minutes. A blast of cold air sinks it.
Step 6
Lift the cake out by its paper while still warm and peel the paper away. Eat it warm and wobbling, or chill it for 3 hours for a denser, creamier slice.
5 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 293 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 20.7 g
- Fat
- 20.3 g
- Saturated fat
- 10.9 g
- Fibre
- 0.2 g
- Sugar
- 12.4 g
- Sodium
- 202 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Milk
- Eggs
- Wheat
- Vegetarian
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Plain flour and cornflour → 80 g cake flour
Cake flour is lower in protein and gives the finest crumb. Use it on its own.
Tips
- Weigh the egg whites. Very large eggs throw the ratio; you want about 180 g of white.
- A thin coat of warmed apricot jam on top gives the shop shine.
History & culture
In Japan it is sold as souffle cheesecake in department-store food halls and at bakery chains, often eaten warm on the day it is baked. Abroad, chains from Osaka and Fukuoka drew long queues for it, and videos of the cakes jiggling did the rest. At home it is a weekend bake for people with a cake tin and some patience.
The usual story credits Tomotaro Kuzuno, a Japanese cook who tasted German käsekuchen in Berlin in the 1960s and came home to make a lighter version. Osaka bakeries made the jiggling style famous in the 1980s, and by the 2010s Japanese chains had taken it to the rest of Asia, Australia and North America.
Traditional — Japanese recipes use cake flour; plain flour with the cornflour here gives the same soft crumb. Shops bake in steam ovens, and a water bath in a deep tray is the home equivalent. You need an 18 cm round cake tin, which is not in our equipment list.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Japanese cheesecake take?
2 hr 10 min all in — 30 min prep, 1 hr 10 min cook, 30 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 8 slices. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
A bit of work.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Milk, Eggs, Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Nut-free.
8 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Oven, Baking tray, Mixing bowl, Saucepan, Kitchen scale.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 pinch.
How much sugar?
80 g (caster) of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Plain flour and cornflour → 80 g cake flour. Cake flour is lower in protein and gives the finest crumb. Use it on its own.
What should I watch for?
Do not open the oven in the first 40 minutes. A blast of cold air sinks it.
Any tips from this recipe?
Weigh the egg whites. Very large eggs throw the ratio; you want about 180 g of white. A thin coat of warmed apricot jam on top gives the shop shine.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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