Cheesecake that isn’t really like cheesecake is not a misnomer and even then technically it is cheesecake if you look at the ingredients list. Thoroughly confused? Allow me to explain or possibly confuse you a little further. One type of Japanese cheesecake is a soft cotton chesecake that people go in raptures over. It’s so very different from your usual cheescake in that it’s light as a feather and like a cross between a cheesecake and a sponge cake courtesy of the whipped half dozen egg whites. Another distinctive feature is that of the eater – the ability to scoff 3 pieces of this cake easily without feeling like you’ve eaten anything at all. Yes it’s dangerous stuff. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
I’d first eaten this cheesecake in Japan where I lived for a couple of years. Like everything there they do their own version of a western style dish and the offerings are invariably lighter than the original version to suit the Japanese palate (the exception of course being the pizzas which are laden down with a slew of toppings including tuna, corn and mayonnaise, a personal favourite). But I digress, we were talking about cheesecake weren’t we? The Japanese also do a chilled cheesecake called “rare cheese” which is simply an unbaked cheesecake with gelatin used to set it (nothing to do with rare or exotic ingredients). Never did I see a true baked cheesecake while there and I used to scour the depato (department store) floors looking for things to eat. The department stores were wonderful and open until 8pm most nights (ugh I wish they did that here!) so often late after work you’d find me walking up and down the aisles looking for my next sugary fix like a food addict. It wasn’t a pretty sight and I’m sure some of those department store ladies must have whispered to each other “She just stands there and just stares at the food”.
I made one attempt to make this and I didn’t stir the egg whites enough so the egg yolks sank to the bottom while the fluffy whites stayed at the top. It was perfectly edible, delicious even but it wasn’t right so I made another ensuring that I folded the egg whites in properly. Then I saw a recipe on a blog which had a middle layer of Rare Blueberry Cheesecake which I thought was utter genius! So I made that while the other cake was cooling.
The cake itself is gorgeous and the key thing is that it’s light but not too sweet. It’s for the people who are always saying that desserts are too sweet for them and perhaps go for the cheese plate option at a restaurant. It’s not savoury though but the lack of rich cloying sweetness does mean that several slices can be inhaled at any one time so I give this recipe with some caution. Beware as it’s the kind of dessert you may find yourself cutting off slice after slice muttering quietly to yourself “Just one little sliver more”.
So tell me Dear Reader, what’s your addiction food? The one where you just cannot stop at one piece?
And yes it’s Wednesday again so here’s your Wallpaper Wednesday Wallpaper! I hope you like it!
Japanese Soft Cotton Blueberry Rare Cheese Cheesecake
For soft cotton cheesecake
- 50g/2 ozs butter
- 250g/9 ozs cream cheese
- 100 ml/3 fl ozs milk
- 60g/2 ozs plain flour
- 20g/1 oz cornflour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 150g/5 ozs fine granulated sugar
- 6 eggs separated
- 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
For Rare Cheese cheesecake
- 100gm fresh or frozen blueberries
- 125gm cream cheese
- 100gm fresh cream
- 3 tbsp fresh milk
- 30gm sugar
- ¼ tbsp lemon juice
- 2½ tsp gelatin
- ¼ cup hot water
To decorate
- a handful of fresh blueberries (about 1 oz/30g)
- Whipped cream in a piping bag with a star tip
Instructions for soft cotton cheesecake:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture over an ice bath. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, 6 egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
2. Whisk 6 egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
3. Place a kettlefull of water to boil. Add one third of the egg white mixture to the cheese mixture to loosen. Then add the rest in third batches and mix well and ensure that the egg whites are thoroughly combined gently. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper). Wrap two layers of foil around the tin to prevent water seeping in. Place in a large baking dish.
4. Carefully pour the boiling water around the cheesecake to make a water bath. Bake cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F). Chill thoroughly.
Makes 1 (8-inch) cheesecake, 12 servings.
Instructions for Blueberry Rare Cheese cheesecake
5. Line the same 8 inch springform baking tin with parchment. In a small bowl, mix together gelatin with hot water and stir briskly with a fork until all of the gelatine is dissolved.
6. Blend all remaining ingredients in a food processor. Add gelatine mixture and pulse until mixed. Scrape into prepared tin and cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until set.
To decorate:
7. Slice completely cold soft cotton cheesecake in half horizontally. Try and do a better job than I did, it won’t be hard! Carefully lift the top half off touching it on the base (if you touch the browned top, the top will come off onto your hand – trust me on that). Remove parchment from sides of rare cheesecake and place face down onto the bottom half of the soft cotton cheesecake. Peel off the parchment from the blueberry cheese layer. Then lift the top layer of soft cotton cheesecake and place on top. Using a large palette knife scrape gently along the edges to even the sides of the blueberry layer.
8. Pipe with whipped cream and place fresh blueberries in the centre.
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63 Comments | Add your own
How GORGEOUS and delicious does this look!! I’m sure I could eat at LEAST 3 slices
Love the addition of the blueberry middle.
I get into my “can’t stop eating!” mode with cake balls — they’re just so conveniently bite-sized! Dangerous!
That looks incredible Lorraine!! Definitely my kind of dessert – I like not too sweet with a soft texture
I’d say Japanese cheesecakes are my addiction food. I used to live there for a few years myself…and gosh, I could live in the bottom floor of a department store. I love the little cakes that you can buy.
What a gorgeous treat! It must be heavenly!
Cheers,
Rosa
My addiction you already know – cookbooks! But this cheesecake could give it a good run for its money!
what an interesting cheesecake! Looks so nice and light I surely prefer this to the American cheesecake
Ps. wish I could send you a Betty Boop cake for your birthday, pity you re so far away
Looks beautiful and very moist! I love Japanese interpretations of dishes – a whole new perspective!
I’ve never heard of either of those cheesecakes (not surprising for me). They sound delightful and would love, just a sliver.
~ingrid
I made this recently too but i forgot to line the pan and the whole cake split into half when I turned it out. Your look gorgeous with the blueberry layer!
Gorgeous Cake! I love Japanese soft Cheesecake Plus my favourite Fruit Blueberries. It will be heaven. Thanks for sharing. Will certainly do it on weekend.
What an absolutely beautiful cake. mmmmwonder if I could make it????
mmmmmmmmmmm….
There are dozens of foods I can’t stop eating once I start. Hard to be specific – I’m such a glutton!
Wow that does look lovely. There are so many foods that I feel are definitely worthy of more than one piece or slice- too hard to choose!!
I’m not a cake person, but this looks really good.
Oh that looks absolutely divine!
I might have to have a go at making that some day.
My addiction food would have to be dark chocolate brownies with walnuts.
Homemade brownies straight out of the oven…yum!
Cheesecakes are normally so dense and rich. This looks so beautiful and light. I will definately make this to impress at a Christmas Lunch.
omg this looks heavenly! love that whipped blueberry cream in the centre of the cheesecake. yummmmmmm~~~~ u’re such a talent! thanks for sharing
The croquembouche is something I can’t stop at one piece… or two…
This looks like a gorgeous cake!!
Gee, I’m always heading to Savoy at Chinatown or Burwood for my fix of Jap cheesecake (which is really a very good Taiwanese copy), so I’ll definitely be giving this a go in my kitchen! The boy will go mad for it… =)
This cake looks as though cupids could frolic on it, it’s so light and pillowy. I do have a classic cheesecake that I make, but I’m persuaded to give this one a try (though you make it look too easy).
This is such a lovely cheesecake, Lorraine! I would love to try it since I’m a huge fan of cheesecake, but I usually feel like it’s too heavy for me to eat more than a few spoonfuls. This on the other hand, as you say, would be dangerous!
Oh golly, that looks dangerous! I love cheesecake. Baked vanilla ones, uncooked strawberry ones – you name it, I’ll make it! Another reason I’m going to have to move to elasticated trousers soon..
This cake looks so beautiful! Will definitely attempt this one in the future. I’ve never tried Japanese cheesecake but my interest has been piqued.
I have no self control at the beginning of summer with all the beautiful fruits suddenly available. If I buy a bag of cherries, I will eat them all within 24 hours, regardless of stomach pains. Same goes for Frosty Fruits at any time of year. I buy a box and 2 days later they’re all gone! I tell myself it’s ok as surely they must count towards both my fruit and water intake for the day
I love this kind of cheesecake, and the blueberry bit in the middle is GENIUS. I have a theory that blueberries go with everything, and it sounds delicious here.
Love your creative addition of blueberry cheese layer!
This looks devine!!! Never heard of a rare cheese cheesecake before, but I want to try this – yum!
I want it all. Preferably asap. I think I stared at that first photo for 5 minutes. Love this.
Lorraine, hats-off to you for making this. Momengoshi – cotton-puff – cheesecakes are just divine.
Awww looks great!! I know exactly what you mean by a cross between a cheesecake and a sponge cake
Oh I used to be addicted to Japanese Cheese MushiPan, the moist and soft steamed cheese sponge cake is dangerously addictive… brrr.
OOH I am definitely going to try and bake this
BAKED CHEESECAKE is my absolute fave!
Dear NQN,
Love your beautiful blog!
Could you possibly tell me,
if there is a conversion table
for your specific recipes?
I need American measurements,
cups and spoons. Thank you so
much, I am dying to make this
spectacular cheesecake!
Gretchen
looks so good Lorraine i think i could devour it all in 5 minutes )if it it as light as u claim hehe)
Oh Dear God that looks amazing! Love the colors also!
I like those fluffy Japanese cheesecake too! Very dangerous indeed. Too easy to just finish the whole thing off without noticing
My addiction food is actually cheese though. Cheese with crackers
I won’t really crave for them if I don’t see them, but once I start, it’ll take quite some effort to stop.
OMG – this looks divine!!
That looks amazing! My favourite is Polish cheesecake though, a thousand angels descended when I took my first bite.
The soft cotton cheesecakes sound amazing, and not like normal cheesecake at all. It would be lovely with the soft cheesecake filling too. Did you find enough eaters for 3 cakes?
I have never heard of Japanese cheesecake but this looks like serious addiction food. Funnily enough (given my cupcake obsession!) my addiction is to all things pasta but especially spaghetti with zucchini and prawns (drool drool drool).
oh my goodness, i have to try this at home…
Oh I LOVE Japanese cheesecakes and I’ve always wanted to know how to make them myself. I agree that because it’s so soft and light you could just eat the whole thing without feeling full or too guilty hehe. Thanks for the recipe
My can’t stop eating addiction is cookies – one in the morning, then one or two later in the day and then after dinner my sweet tooth really kicks in to high gear!
Such a interesting texture to this cake. I’d really like to try to inhale it! Can you bring it for Thanksgiving? xoxo Mum
Wow, this looks and sounds soooo good. Just opened the page at work and immediately a bunch of hungry colleagues congregated around me!
What a gorgeous looking cake!
oh my that looks soo YUM!! will be trying that one for sure!!
KFC!
Very pretty Lorraine! I love unbaked cheesecakes, always find the baked ones too “rich”. This version looks ideal. I can’t leave homemade cookies/biscuits alone, especially vanilla snaps or Italian almond biscuits…I always double the recipe:)
Delicios!
Mmmm, that looks divine. Do you fancy couriering one up to Brisbane?
My ‘I can’t stop eating it’ food is Tres Leches Cake, topped with summer berries. The tart berries balance out the moist sweet cake perfectly, and although not manadatory, I recommend a dollop of vanilla icecream on top.
haha your comment about department store ladies had me laughing because i work in a cafe in a department store and amongst each other we have things like ‘bizarre request of the day’ and ‘weirdo customer scales’.
one of the weirder requests recently was this lady who ordered a sandwich and basically had us toast a sliver of it while she had the rest of it put away in a take away bag…
don’t know if u know of the ichiban boshi cheesecake that is sold in singapore.. i wld buy a box, hide it in the depths of my fridge!!! and still! someone wld have found it that night! sometimes, they even finish the whole cake and throw away the box to destroy all evidence and make u forget that u ever had it in the fridge! ohhh.. yumm..
Hey darling.. I had to move my blog as I was dealing with some bullies.. here is the new site.
I hope this posts.. I’m in flight… anyhoo.. gosh, you know I wish I could find fresh berries of any kind this time of year in japan = ( Everything sounds so divine, looks delish.
What a fantastic idea, so innovative! I’m afraid I’m not a great fan of Japanese cheesecakes, my preference is for the heavy, baked NY ones or the Italian ricotta cheesecakes. One thing that I cannot stop eating is any type of cheese with a crusty sourdough!
two things i love are blueberries and layers. oh, and cake. so this is awesome. thanks, lorraine.
there’s just something different about Japanese cheesecake, their textures are out-of-this-world-so-soft haha one slice is simply not enough
That is some beautifully sliced cake there. I know how hard it is to get clean slices (especially with fillings like bluberry!)
ps: I have hundreds of addiction foods. Really. #1 is Salted Caramels.
Do ya’ll have Thanksgiving? If you do, happy Thanksgiving! If you don’t, happy Thursday!
That looks beautiful. Light and not too sweet. I have never had a Japanese cheesecake- never even heard of it.
My favorite is an old nursery recipe: floating island.
sooooooo pretttyyy!!! very impressive!!! a perfect example of rich food that speaks to the soul. a beautiful creation L!
That looks gorgeously sinful. I love the way teh top is crinkled
) it makes it look even more delicious! and a blueberry middle?!?. How naughty of you 
)
I will make this once my kitchen is up and running again. I love soft fluffy japanese cheese cake. I can have almost all of it on my own!
Hey Lorraine
Cake looks delicious! How deep does the water bath need to be? 1 inch?
I gave this recipe to my sister and she e-mailed me that she’s tried it 2 days ago. She told me she loves it and sends her regards and thanks from the netherlands.
I made this for a gourmet bbq, turned out fantastically! It’s the strangest thing, it has the most interesting texture and flavour combination. Loves it. Definitely going to make again
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