Jiggly Japanese Cheesecake

I’m not on Tiktok, but even I heard about the “viral” jiggly cheesecake.  I don’t always bow to trends, but sometimes my curiosity is  piqued and this is such a time.

I read about jiggly cheesecake and just knew I had to try it.  As I started looking at the recipe, I quickly realized that it was basically  cream cheese-based souffle.  And a souffle I can make.

I was a little skeptical about this one, so I bought some strawberries, thinking I’d need some macerated berries for serving (like an angel food cake).

The cake popped out of the oven and it was spongy and jiggly and swishy, just like I saw online.  Hubs and I were so excited to try it, we completely forgot about the strawberries, because it really didn’t need them.  The cake isn’t overly sweet, but it is very pleasant.

In my photos, there is one small dense area at the bottom.  I never could decide if I had very slightly underbaked cake (it was browning so quickly, I pulled it slightly earlier than anticipated) or if I flipped the cake too aggressively and compacted it slightly.

Whatever the cause, it didn’t affect our enjoyment of the cake in the least.  This was a fun and delicious kitchen experiment!

Jiggly Japanese Cheesecake

Adapted slightly from Spatula Desserts

8 (ounce) block cream cheese

¼ cup butter

¼ cup half and half

¼ cup 2% milk

⅓ cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch of salt

5 eggs, whites and yolk separated

⅓ cup sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Place pan (I used a 9x13 inch cake pan) ⅓ ful of water and place in the oven to heat the water bath.  Line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment.

Place the cream cheese, butter, half & half, and milk in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture is smooth (do not boil).  Remove from heat.

Stir in the flour, cornstarch, and salt, and mix until smooth.

Place the egg yolks into the cream cheese mixture and whisk until combined.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on high speed until foamy.  Slowly add in the sugar as the mixer runs.  Keep beating until soft peaks form, then beat an additional minute.

Gently fold the egg white mixture into the cream cheese mixture a bit at a time, working to maintain the airiness of the egg whites.  Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pan (it will be quite full).  

Very carefully, place the pan into the water bath.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Then, prop the oven door, just a bit, and continue baking for an additional minute.  Finally, close the oven door again and finish baking for another 10-20 minutes.

The cake is done when the top is browned and the cake springs back when pressed.

Remove from oven.  Invert onto a plate to remove from pan, then invert onto a second plate to flip the cake.  Cut immediately and serve warm.