We all love a creamy New York-style cheesecake, but there’s something enchanting about those jiggly, fluffy soufflé cheesecakes. This variation hails from Japan and is a lighter, airier dessert, halfway between a sponge cake and a cheesecake. They’re pretty easy to make at home, with just a little attention to detail, and make a great holiday dessert! We especially recommend this dessert if your one task for the family gathering is to bring a dessert since you can focus on creating an impressive one.
On the Ingredients
- Cream cheese is a fresh cheese made from milk and cream. It was first produced around 1873 by William A. Lawrence, a dairyman in Chester, New York. It’s a popular spread, especially on bagels, but it is also used in many fresh and cooked preparations, both savory and sweet. It’s also easy to make at home.
- Eggs are one of the true superfoods of the world. They are highly nutritious and have been a significant part of the human diet since the dawn of our species. In fact, some of the nutrients found in eggs, like choline, are rare in other foods in most modern diets. They’re rich in vitamin A, folate, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), vitamin B12, riboflavin (vitamin B2), phosphorus, selenium, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin B6, calcium, and zinc. Eggs are high in cholesterol but don’t adversely affect blood cholesterol. In fact, they raise DHL, the good cholesterol. (More on the health benefits)
Souffle Cheesecake
Servings
12
servingsPrep time
40
minutesCooking time
1
hour20
minutesResting time
2
hours20
minutesTotal time
4
hours20
minutesWe all love a creamy New York-style cheesecake, but there’s something enchanting about those jiggly, fluffy soufflé cheesecakes. This variation hails from Japan and is a lighter, airier dessert, halfway between a sponge cake and a cheesecake. They’re pretty easy to make at home, with just a little attention to detail, and make a great holiday dessert! We especially recommend this dessert if your one task for the family gathering is to bring a dessert since you can focus on creating an impressive one.
Ingredients
6 eggs
10.6 oz cream cheese
4 tbsp butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar or monkfruit sweetener (separated)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (loosely spoon measured)
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp Bionaturae Apricot Fruit Spread
Directions
- Start by measuring out all the ingredients, so you’re ready when they’re needed. Separate the eggs and put the whites in the fridge until ready to use. The yolks can stay out.
- Follow these steps carefully, so the pan is prepped for easy removal. Lightly grease a 6-inch cake pan. Cut out a round piece of parchment paper that will fit the bottom of the pan, a long strip to fit the side (it should be 30-inches long), and two 2x30-inch strips. Take the two 2x30-inch strips and place them, so they’re making an X shape across the bottom of the greased pan. You want them to hang over the sides because you will use these strips as handles to gently pull the cooked cheesecake up and out of the pan. Put the round piece of parchment and the side piece on top of the handles, so the whole pan interior is covered in parchment. Lightly grease the parchment paper and set the pan aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (the cheesecake will actually bake at 320° F, but heat will be lost when you put the cake in, so start off hotter).
- Set up a double boiler with a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Put the cream cheese, heavy cream, butter, and a 1/4 cup of the sugar (or monkfruit) in the bowl.
- Using a rubber spatula, smoosh down the cream cheese down. Once it starts to soften, use a whisk to stir the mixture into a creamy batter.
- Remove from the heat once there are no lumps and let it cool down for a few minutes.
- Drop the egg yolks into the batter, one at a time, while briskly whisking to prevent the yolk from cooking.
- Once the yolks are incorporated, sift the flour into the batter, stirring until smooth. Using the same sieve, strain the batter into another bowl, ensuring that you will have no lumps in the batter.
- Zest your half lemon into the batter, then juice the lemon (removing any seeds) and stir the lemon juice into the batter.
- Before moving onto the next step, put a large pan that will fit our cake pan inside, into the oven, with 2 inches of water in it.
- Take your egg whites out of the fridge and put them into a clean mixing bowl or a standing mixer. Beat on high until the egg whites are frothy. Add the remaining half cup of sugar (or monkfruit) about a tbsp at a time, beating for a few seconds in-between. Once the sugar is added, beat on high until soft-medium peaks form (when you lift the whisk or beaters out, the whites should cling to the whisk for a few seconds, then flop over).
- Add a quarter of the egg whites to the batter and carefully fold them in. After that, add the rest of the egg whites and gently fold until fully incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the pan all at once, then gently tap the bottom of the pan on your counter to shift any air pockets.
- Place the pan into the water bath in the oven. If your handles are too long and might touch the water, trim them to a few inches over the edge. (Please note that the photo above doesn’t include the handles because the cook couldn’t find the right pan and had to use a springform, which is not recommended!)
- Once the cake is safely in the oven, turn the temperature down to 320° F and cook for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 300° F and cook for another 10 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Do not remove the cheesecake from the oven, as the rapid change in temperature could make it collapse. Instead, turn off the oven and crack the door, leaving the heat to escape slowly for 15-20 minutes. The cake will shrink down to half its height, which is normal.
- Remove the cake from the oven and recruit another set of hands to help you gently lift the cake from the pan using the parchment handles. Set the cheesecake down on a plate and remove the parchment paper from the sides and the handles. The bottom piece can stay.
- Mix the apricot fruit spread with a tbsp of hot water and use a pastry brush to glaze the top of the cheesecake. Leave it to cool for 1-2 hours until room temperature.
