Japanese Souffle Cheesecake (2024)

A light and fluffy Japanese style souffle or cotton cheesecake that is light and air-y, melt in your mouth good and super easy to make!

Looking for a recipe idea for mom this Mother’s Day weekend? How about a light and fluffy Japanese style souffle cheesecake? This cheesecake has an air-y almost cottony texture all in cheesecake form! The texture comes from the way the egg whites are beaten into fluffy soft peaks and then folded into the cream cheese mixture to form the batter. The air bubbles then bake up leaving it nice and light and pillow-y good! I like to add a hint of lemon to the cheesecake but otherwise it’s perfect with the standard cheesecake flavour! Yum! This cotton cheesecake is so easy to make and mom will certainly be impressed by your show of appreciation!

Japanese Souffle Cheesecake

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 55 minutes Servings: 6

A light and fluffy Japanese style souffle or cotton cheesecake that is light and air-y, melt in your mouth good and super easy to make!

ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 5 large eggs, room temperature and separated
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (rice flour for gluten-free)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
• 1/2 cup sugar

directions

1. Heat the cream cheese, egg yolks, butter, milk, lemon zest and juice over low heat, whisking until smooth before removing from heat and mixing in the flour and corn starch.
2. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar into soft peaks, before beating in the sugar.
3. Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture 1/3 at a time.
4. Pour the batter into a greased 8 inch spring form pan, wrap the bottom of the pan in foil, place in a larger pan with a small amount of hot water and bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until the top is lightly golden brown and just a little wiggly, about 30-45 minutes, before removing from the oven and letting cool to room temperature.

Note: The bottom of the spring form pan is wrapped up in foil and placed in another pan with hot water in it. The foil wrapping prevents the water from leaking into the springform pan. Baking the cheesecake in the water bath helps to ensure that no cracks form on the surface of the cheesecake. You can omit this step if you do not mind any possible cracks.
Option: With 1/2 cup sugar this is not super sweet! If you would like it sweeter, increase the sugar to 3/4 cups or even 1 cup of sugar.
Option: Melt 3.5 ounces of dark, milk or white chocolate to the cream cheese mixture in step one!
Option: This recipe fits perfectly in an 8 in spring form pan. I like to use a 7 inch spring form pan to allow it to rise more.
Option: Line the pan with parchment paper.