Japanese Cheesecake (from Slovenia)

Preparation Time: 87 minutes
Cooking Time: 48 minutes
Difficulty: 3
Spiciness: 0
Number of Servings: 12

Japanese cheesecake or Japanese soufflé cheesecake is a light and fluffy cake that melts in your mouth.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (top/bottom heat). Grease the bottom and sides of a round baking pan (28 cm in diameter) with butter, then place baking paper on the bottom of the pan.
Over a water bath, smoothly mix the cream cheese. Gradually add the egg yolks while mixing. Add 140 g of sugar and mix well again.
Heat the milk and butter until the butter melts. Cool to lukewarm and mix into the cream cheese and egg yolk mixture. Add salt, lemon juice, and zest, and mix. Heat the mixture over the water bath to 50°C, then remove from heat and sift in the starch and flour. Mix gently to obtain a smooth mixture without lumps.
In a mixer, lightly beat the egg whites and add cream of tartar. Then beat on high speed and gradually add 140 g of sugar. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually and gently fold 2/3 of the beaten egg whites into the cheese mixture. Pour the resulting mixture into the remaining egg whites (1/3) and very gently fold everything together.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan and gently tap it to remove air bubbles. Bake the cheesecake in a water bath, which should reach halfway up the pan, at 200°C for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 140°C and bake for an additional 80 minutes. Do not open the oven during baking!
Once the cheesecake is baked, turn off the oven and let it sit in the closed oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the water bath and let the cheesecake cool in the oven with the door slightly open for an additional 30 minutes.