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Learn how to bake this super soft and fluffy Japanese-style pandan cotton souffle cheesecake. The cheesecake has an airy texture like chiffon/sponge cake and soft like a cotton.
After successfully baking this Soft Cotton Souffle Cheesecake, I have more nerve to bake more Japanese-style cheesecake. This round I decided to make the pandan version. My life is not complete without pandan flavor of everything LOL!
You can read in-depth about how to bake cotton souffle cheesecake successfully in this post. So, I won’t repeat the same thing again here. This cheesecake is baked with cream cheese, while the former I made was made with American cheddar chees
Super Soft Pandan Cotton Souffle Cheesecake
Ingredients
Cream cheese batter:
- 60 gr whole milk
- 140 gr cream cheese
- 40 gr butter unsalted
- 50 gr all-purpose flour
- 15 gr cornstarch
- 5 egg yolks from 60-62 gram egg with the shell
- 1 tsp pandan essence
Meringue:
- 5 egg whites from 60-62 gram egg with the shell
- 100 gr granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Please weight ingredients with digital kitchen scale. Precision is required to bake a finicky cake like this
Things to prepare before you start baking:
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Let them come to room temperature while you prepare other things
- Preheat oven at 285 F (140 C). My oven uses bottom heat only. If you have top and bottom heat oven, you can set it to 250 F (120 C). Please note that, the temperature is just for reference, it may or may not work for your oven. You may need to do some adjustments
- We will bake this cake using a water-bath method. You will need to use two pans in this recipe. I use a 8-inch loose-bottom round pan to bake the cake and another 10-inch or large round pan or any size pan you have that can fit in the 8-inch pan for water bath. I double wrap the loose bottom pan with aluminum foil to prevent water from sipping into the pan during baking.
- Fill up the larger pan with some water, about 1-inch high and I put this at the lowest rack, where I will be baking the cake. Let the pan with water preheat together with the oven
- If you don't have a loose-bottom pan, line it with a parchment paper. Line the side of the pan with a parchment paper too, with the paper extending about 1 inch extra above the top of the pan. I find it easier to remove the cake when I line the side with a parchment paper
Prepare the cream cheese batter:
- Put cream cheese, milk, and butter in a heat-proof bowl that can sit on top of a saucepan filled up with water, not touching the bowl. Melt them over low heat. If you crank up the heat to high, the cream cheese will curdle
- Remove from the heat and let it cools down a little bit
- Add egg yolks and pandan essence and whisk to combine. Then sift in all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Whisk to combine again. The batter will be medium-thick and flowy
Prepare the meringue:
- Start whipping the meringue at medium speed (speed 4 on KA) until foamy. Add the lemon juice (or any acid you use) and beat for another minute
- Gradually add 1/3 of sugar and let it beat for another minute before adding another 1/3 until you run out.
- Increase the speed to 6 and whip until the mixture form a soft peak, meaning when you lift it up, it will bend because it is soft.
- Lower the speed to 4 and whip the meringue until it forms a medium stiff peak. When you lift the meringue up it will hold its shape but with slight bent on the tip. Stop beating
Combine meringue with cream cheese batter:
- Fold 1/3 of meringue into the batter using a whisk. Swipe down like a "J" motion and then fold over. You can be a bit more vigorous with this first round of folding to combine the batter and the meringue. Continue with the next 1/3 using the same "J" motion but be gentle and don't take too long to combine either. Continue with the last 1/3. Then switch to using a spatula with the same "J" motion and scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is folded in evenly. Sometimes some batter got stuck at the bottom of the bowl
- You shouldn't see anymore white meringue and the combined batter is silky smooth, light, airy, and tripled in size.
- Use a skewer or chopstick to go round and round the batter to pop any air bubbles inside the batter. Then tap the pan on the countertop 2-3 times to pop more air bubbles
Bake the cake:
- Gently put this pan inside the larger pan that is preheated in the oven. The water inside of the pan should be simmering as it has been preheated. Close the door and set timer to 20 minutes
- Increase temperature to 330 F (170 C). For top and bottom heat oven adjust to 300 F (150 C). Set the timer to 15 minutes. You don't need to wait until it reaches the newly set temperature to start the timer. I kept monitoring its progress during this 15 minutes. This is the time where the cake starts to rise. If you start seeing some cracks are about to form, the oven is too hot. Open the oven door for about 10 seconds to release some pressure and close it back. If during that 15 minutes the cake still has a smooth top, then there's no need to open the oven door
- Lower temperature to 250 F (120 C). For top and bottom heat oven adjust to 100 C. Open the oven door for 10 seconds and then gently close it back and set the timer to 60 minutes. You may not need 60 minutes. You can start checking at around 40 minutes. It's normal to see the cake rise pretty high in the oven and then slowly shrink down a bit
- Increase temperature to 300 F (150 C) for conventional oven, 280 F (140 C) and bake for another 10 minutes. This part is to brown the top of the cake. If yours is already brown, you can skip this part. Mine was still pretty pale at the end of the 50 minutes of baking. So I need a total of about 100 minutes to bake this cake. It could be different with your oven
Cool down the cake:
- Turn off the oven and open the door for 10 seconds and then close it back and let the cake cools in the oven for 10 minutes
- Remove from the oven and let it sits on the counter for another 10 minutes.
- I started to unmould the cake by pushing up the cake (I use a loose-bottom pan).
- If you use a regular pan, trim off the excess paper on top and then invert the cake upside down on a cooling rack or a plate.
- Peel off the parchment paper at the bottom and the side.
- Flip the cake back onto a serving platter and let it cool down completely
- There will be a small amount of shrinkage, about 1/2 inch, in my case, if the cake is perfectly baked. When you gently pat the cake on the side while it's still warm, the cake will jiggle. Once it cools down completely and set, it won't jiggle anymore and it is normal
To serve the cake:
- Let the cools down completely before cutting. The cake is fluffy at room temperature but the aroma of cheese is not as noticeable. If you chill the cake for at least 4 hours, you will notice that the aroma and taste of the cream cheese are more intense
How to store the cake:
- This cake cannot be stored at room temperature because it contains dairy product. You can store the cake in the fridge for about 3-4 days in an air-tight container. The chilled cheesecake will be a bit denser compared to when it is at room temperature but the flavor is actually much better IMHO. You can leave the cake at room temperature before serving and it will be fluffy again
Marv’s Recipe Notes
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
Recommended products:
It is not an easy cake to bake I have to admit. I have to babysit this cake from start to finish LOL! But, the sense of satisfaction when you are done doing it is there! It’s probably one of the most difficult cakes I’ve baked so far! But the airiness of the cheesecake is unlike others for real!
Did you make this pandan cotton souffle cheesecake recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
6 comments
I am unable to follow your recipes due to the numerous ads blocking content. The printable recipe lacks the visuals for successfully making the recipe.
It’s extremely annoying to scroll through the detailed instructions – only to receive a new ad hiding the content. Frustrating to use mouse and keybaard to read the recipe online with sticky / dirty fingers.
Sorry you were having trouble viewing the images. I have included the images in the recipe card. I hope that somehow helps!
Just trying the recipe but noticed you didn’t mention how much lemon juice? I was wondering the measurement for that. Thanks!
Sorry I somehow missed that in the recipe. It’s 1 teaspoon lemon juice or any acidy like vinegar or apple cider vinegar will do too.
Hi Marvellina, I would like to try this recipe. What kind of cream cheese do you use? I have convection oven, do you know about the temperature for this oven? Thank you in advance.
I use Philadelphia cream cheese. You can use any brand of your favorite cream cheese. I have detailed out the temperature in the recipe card. You have to adjust the temperature up and down throughout the baking process. This cake is a bit tricky to bake.