Jiggly Japanese cheesecake

I absolutely love traveling and Japan was one of my travel highlights in 2019, before the world has fallen apart in 2020. After tasting the famous, original Jiggly Japanese cheesecake on Osaka´s food market (look for Ricuro), I knew I want to bring the recipe for you one day.

This Jiggly Japanese cheesecake recipe is the ultimate fluffy, souffle like cheesecake recipe that some refer to Japanese Cotton cheesecake due to its unique texture. It comes together in 10 minutes, however don´t confuse quick with easy - it is also true the other way around, some desserts are very easy but takes a lot of time to prepare. Jiggle Japanese cheesecake consists of a few basics ingredients you probably already have at home, the most important part of the recipe is the actual technique. This is one of the cakes that I tested the most (I have done 4 tests overall), so do not be disappointed if your first attempt will not look quite perfect. Keep experimenting, it´s so worth it!

What does success look like when making this Jiggly Japanese cheesecake recipe?

The result we are looking for is a tall, evenly risen cake that has no cracks on the top, holds its shape and its texture is like a souffle; creamy and airy at the same time. It is not too sweet, in fact literally feels like eating the clouds from the sky.

This Japanese cotton cheesecake recipe using a few basic ingredients like sugar, cream cheese, butter, milk and flour however it is important to read and follow the instructions carefully in order to avoid typical mistakes such as

1. cracked top - this is the most common

2. soggy inside

3. deflated structure

4. burnt top

etc.

My Top 5 Baking Tips for home bakers

1. Read the recipe carefully including my tips and recommendations on how to avoid and fix typical issues during baking
2. Avoid using substitutes and changing the recipe unless you are aware of how to fully reformulate the recipe in order to keep the balance in texture as well as flavour. Reducing sugar, replacing egg, using milk instead of cream etc. will all have an impact on your baking
3. For consistent, happy baking experience always measure your ingredients with the help of a Digital scale. Cup measurement is provided as an indicative figure only and might be used for less complex and large batch recipes however it is not an appropriate method for more delicate, complex pastries
4. Did you know that most home ovens can significantly under or oven run? Also, oven temperature hugely drops when opening the oven door therefore it is recommended to always pre-heat the oven above the required baking temperature.
5. Temperature is so important when it comes to baking and especially when it comes to something as delicate as Japanese Cotton cheesecake....accurate oven temperature is key, can make or break any recipe. Make sure you invest into an inexpensive Digital oven thermometer to avoid under baked or burnt and cracked cheesecake

Some important notes regarding the ingredients of this Jiggly Japanese cheesecake recipe

1. Cream cheese: I always use Philadelphia when I state cream cheese in my recipes. I find it easy to cream and very pleasant in taste
2. Milk: Whole milk is the best, definitely avoid using milk substitutes for this recipe unless you are aware of how to reformulate the recipe
3. Butter: Use always unsalted as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. While in most of the recipes butter needs to be on room temperature, this is an exception. Since butter will be heated, it is fine to use it straight out of the fridge
4. Flour + Cornstarch : I use pastry flour in this recipe which is low in protein combined with cornstarch for the fluffiest results. In most of the countries there are different kinds of flour available with a range of different protein content. Perhaps it is not called pastry flour in your country but you will be able to identify the different kinds of flour using my Flour Guide in here
5. Sugar: I recommend to use you superfine sugar that you can either buy or make at home by pulse blending granulated sugar until it breaks into tiny pieces. Please do not save this step, both granulated sugar and powder sugar can just cause an extra potential mistake while making the meringue, super fine sugar is exactly what you will need
6. Egg: Room temperature as always, you will have to separate egg white from yolk. Make sure you do not get egg yolk into your white as it can totally break the meringue and therefore the entire recipe

My top 5 tips to make this Jiggly Japanese cheesecake recipe

1. What cake pan to use to make Japanese Cotton cheesecake

I recommend using a 15 cm (6 inch) round cake pan and this is definitely not the recipe that you want to double and bake in a huge pan unless you are super experienced and aware of how to bake a huge, souffle like cake. Line the bottom and side of the baking pan with parchment paper so it will be easy to remove the cheesecake from the tin once baked. I would avoid using loose base spring form as when it comes to the water bath, it is very easy to get some leakage and ruin the whole cheesecake.

2. How to make the meringue part of the Japanese jiggly cake recipe

Whipping egg white is probably the most important step of making this cheesecake recipe. Make sure you use room temperature egg white that is absolutely free from any sort of fat (e.g. egg yolk). If you get some egg yolk into the egg white in the process of separating, start again. Believe me, you can’t make a successful Japanese souffle cheesecake with that batch unfortunately.

While whipping egg white, start on low speed then increase gradually. You must use superfine sugar which has smaller crystals than regular granulated sugar therefore dissolves quickly while beating up the egg white into meringue. If you can’t find superfine sugar in your local supermarket, pulse blend regular granulated sugar in food processor until the sugar crystals get smaller, however make sure you don’t make powder sugar out of it.

Sugar needs to be added to the egg white very slowly, one table spoon at a time while the mixer is on otherwise it might get crystallized and you have to start the whole process all over again. You can use a hand mixer or stand mixer, it does not really matter however you have to pay close attention to the meringue as it is going through the different stages.

Speaking about stages, is very important that you whip egg white until soft peaks, not stiff peaks. It is hard to estimate but even better if you stop 10 seconds before soft peaks. Anyway, if you have to choose it should more on the soft part of the soft peak, if that makes sense? Soft peaks is the optimum stage for the meringue while making Japanese cheesecake for two reasons. 1. It is easier to fold with the rest of the ingredients 2. It will continue to expand in the oven while baking. Stiff peaks can result in Japanese cheesecake collapsing straight after baking.

3. Why and how to use water bath for baking Japanese cheesecake

Water bath is nothing new, most cheesecake requires water bath while baking but it is hard to decide what sort of water bath we talk about. I have tried different kinds and the one I recommend using is a few cm bigger spring form or baking tin, fill ⅓ with water and place it into the oven while pre-heating the oven. In this way the baking tin with the cheesecake in it will be "surrounded" by water all around and the water level will come up rather high around the baking tin that works much better, than just a simple large baking tray filled with water. Water bath will support even baking, without cracks and helps the cheesecake to keep its high structure after baking. Please note that with water inside the oven you have to be super careful with the baking temperature as if it is 10-15C lower than recommended, your cheesecake will stay raw even after 1,5h. That brings us to the next topic.

4. What is the optimal temperature to bake this Jiggly Japanese Cheesecake

Two consideration, regarding oven temperature; First one is the temperature on paper, if it’s too low, it won’t bake especially this super fluffy, tall Jiggly Japanese cheesecake however if the oven temperature is too high, the cake will rise too fast resulting in cracks on the top. I find the ideal oven temperature is starting with 150C / 302F until cheesecake nicely risen then reducing the temperature to 100C / 212F and bake for another hour. Your cheesecake should not burn on this temperature and if you are unsure, I would rather over bake the cheesecake than under bake.

Second consideration is your REAL oven temperature, what do I mean on that? See my oven for example. The oven temp dropped when I opened the door and I had to turn my oven to 180C in order to quickly heat it back up to 150C. In my recipes I always state the real oven temp using my Digital oven thermometer and I strongly suggest that you also make sure about your real oven temperature particularly when it comes to bakes like this Jiggly Japanese cheesecake or other delicate pastries like eclair, macaron etc.

5. Be Patient

I honestly can not emphasis this enough! Beside carefully reading the recipe and having the appropriate quality ingredients and tools, everyone also has to learn certain baking techniques and experiment using own judgement time to time. Patience is key, do not give up if something does not turn out immediately as you were expecting it. This is a recipe I tasted many times before shared with my audience yet you have to ge tto know your own oven and ingredients. Learn from your mistakes and enjoy the ride!

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