Japanese Matcha Cheesecake
Japanese matcha cheesecake are fluffy airy cakes, kissed with matcha and a gentle sweetness. These are cotton soft, light as air and melt in your mouth.
My Japanese cotton soft cheesecake has an encore today with these fluffy matcha cheesecakes. Unlike American cheesecake, these have an incredibly fluffy crumb, melt in your mouth and are part chiffon, part sponge and completely delicious {hence the “cotton soft” part}. I won’t lie to you. These aren’t the easiest cakes in the world. On my channel, I have entire playlists dedicated for recipes with 2-3 ingredients, fast and easy or no bake ones. You won’t find this one on those. However, what it lacks in agility, it more than compensates with its rich, tender bite that’s truly unlike any other.
Eggs whisked into the submission of soft peaks lends these baby cakes their natural lift. When folded into the pale jade batter, it creates this gorgeous volume that transfers into the finished product, making for a fiercely fluffy crumb. These are light, airy and oh so soft! A quiet infusion of matcha blends to impart a soft green tea cheesecake flavor. That’s precisely the beauty of this recipe. Each element is subtle and works together for a delicate dessert. It has a smooth sweetness while the entire cake itself is finely scented with matcha but it still maintains its original claim as a cheesecake. It just happens to be the softest, most silky and feather light cheesecake you’ve ever had.
The usual suspects for cheesecake are involved in the mix with dairy, eggs, sweetener and citrus {which I truly believe is a definite must have for all cheesecakes}. Where it begins to deviate is through the addition of cake flour, corn starch and the billowy power of beaten egg whites. I chose to use caster sugar here as its fine grain helps to melt much easier. It’s just nice to have around in general since it doesn’t need the aid of heat to mix in to drinks and such. Think of it as the middle man of granulated and powdered sugar. If you don’t feel like going out and purchasing something special, you can certainly DIY by placing regular sugar into a spice/coffee grinder or food processor. The cake flour and cornstarch also helps keep things light.
No one part of this cake is overwhelming. It is light and gentle in nature and if you’ve never treated yourself to such a cake, I highly recommend it. It also reminds me of the Asian bakery style cakes that are slathered in fresh cream and studded in glittering, glazed berries. Which brings me to the point of versatility. I whipped up tiny cakes today but they could certainly be transformed into a full size beauty by doubling up the recipe. You could also drizzle each cake with white chocolate ganache which would be a nice pairing to the matcha. However, it can also shine in the simplicity of a light snow fall of confectioners sugar and served with tea.
- 4 oz room temperature cream cheese
- 2 tb room temperature butter
- 3 tb cream
- Zest of ½ lemon or ¼ orange
- Pinch of salt
- 3 room temperature eggs, separated
- Pinch of cream of tartar {if needed}
- ⅓ c caster sugar
- 3 tb cake flour
- 1.5 tb cornstarch
- ½ tb matcha
- In the first bowl, cream together the cheese, butter, cream, zest and salt. Add in the egg yolks. Set aside.
- In the second bowl, sift together the flour, starch and matcha. It’s important to sift out the lumps.
- Combine the first and second bowl. Take care not to over mix.
- In the last bowl, beat the egg whites. You can add in the cream of tartar, if needed. When they get frothy, add in a bit of caster sugar in at a time. You are seeking soft peaks, meaning that when you lift the beaters, the points softly curl downwards.
- Carefully add the egg whites into the batter. Fold it in carefully as to not deflate all of the air.
- Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes. My paper cups, portioned out to ⅓ cup each yielded 6 cakes.
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What dies tb mean?
Hi, Svetlana. Tb is tablespoon ts is teaspoon =)
Thank you!
This was yummy, but I think the matcha should be increased to 2 tablespoons because I couldn’t taste it.
Hi, Lindsay! It really depends on the grade and quality of your matcha. I did a troubleshoot with a viewer a few months back and it turned out hers was not even true matcha. I often have a ceremonial grade that I use for facials and I’ll just use a bit of that for this and it’s beautiful.
Do I need to adjust cooking time if I make this in a 4″ or 6″ cake pan?
How do I transform it into one cake? I have a 9” spring form pan