Japanese Souffle Cheesecake - Gluten Free

This is a recipe for a Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake that is gluten-free and low carb. It is almost kind of paleo, but not really. No debates on dairy and paleo, please. I’m not on any one of those special diets, but if you are, this is a good option for you. When I make this cake, I do four at a time. It does not take but a little while longer to make four as compared to making one, and the only additional dirty dishes are the ones that you use for baking.

Fluffy goodness.

I had tried many different versions of these soufflé cakes inspired by my visit to Uncle Tetsu's at the Taipei train station in Taiwan, which are absolutely delicious. However, I am lazy. I don’t really like to measure dry ingredients, and I definitely don’t want to clean up spilled flour or cornstarch. I am clumsy, therefore I tend to spill things. I developed this version to fit my laziness and desire to make things in large batches. There are only three base ingredients to this recipe (super simple) along with optional ingredients depending on what flavors you like. Individuals with gluten-intolerances have tried these with no ill-effects.

You can make these any flavor, even savory. Vanilla, matcha, and almond are my favorite. I also made a black tea flavor by brewing the milk with several tea bags prior to starting the recipe. Make sure to give those tea bags a good squeeze to get all the flavor out. Make whatever flavor makes you happy.

Japanese Souffle Cheesecake - Gluten free, low carb version - makes four 9 inch round cakes 

• 1 cup of milk, any kind of milk work just fine. If you feel like there isn’t enough fat in your life, add a stick of butter to the milk.
• 24 ounces of cream cheese, cubed.
• 18 eggs, separated. Make sure to keep the egg whites completely free of egg yolks. If you have a little bit of egg yolk in there, you will fail.
• 1 teaspoon cream of tarter. Optional, but it'll make your egg white whipping easier.
• 4-5 tablespoons of agave nectar if you are making a sweet version.
• Flavorings you like. I typically use 1 teaspoon of vanilla rum or ½ teaspoon of extract flavorings. For dry flavorings like curry powder, Italian seasoning, or matcha, I use 1-2 tablespoons depending on how bold you like the flavor.

1. In a non-stick pot, heat the cup of milk and add in the cream cheese. Use a whisk to slowly incorporate the cream cheese and milk into a smooth texture. This often takes some time. I’m usually separating the eggs while this happens. Once the milk and cream cheese are completely combined, add in your flavorings and allow to cook for a bit. If you are making a sweet souffle cake, add in your agave nectar (or other sweetener). This is also the time to taste your batter to see if it is the desired sweetness and flavor you had in mind.
2. I’m usually still separating the eggs. Pure egg whites in one bowl and yolks into the other. Make sure those egg whites are super pure, meaning free of yolks or anything else. Fat in the egg whites at this point will doom you. No joke. If the cream cheese mixture is cool enough to not curdle the egg yolks, now is the time to add them (egg yolks only) into the mix. I usually mix in a few at a time.
3. Once you have all the egg whites separated, add in your cream of tarter and using a clean whisk, beat those eggs like there’s no tomorrow. Or if you can use a stand or hand held mixer. I like to use my Kitchenaid mixer. Whisk until the egg whites are stiff peaks.  
4. While the egg whites are whisking away, I prepare my pans and water baths. These can be cooked without a water bath, but they tend to be dry and a bit too crusty. for each pan that you use, line the bottom with parchment paper. I use four 9 inch round pans for a batch this large. Use whatever you have. Many people line the sides of the pan too, but I haven’t had to do that with these recipes. I simply line and spray coat the sides and the bottom of the pan.
5. The egg whites should be done by now. You can incorporate all these cream cheese mixture with the egg whites or you can do half at a time. Or you can do a single cake at a time in a separate bowl. If I’m making more than one flavor of cake at a time, I like to do it in half. Put half of your cream cheese mixture in a bowl along with half of the egg whites. Fold the two together gently. Very gently. If you are a macaron or angel food cake baker, you’re probably a pro at folding egg whites. If you have only mixed things until they were a homogeneous blob, please take care to be gentle with this folding.
6. Divide the batter into the pans evenly and bake in a water bath at 375 for one hour. I let the cakes sit in the oven until completely cool. That’s part of my laziness in not taking them out promptly.
7. Serve warm or chilled. I can put away an entire cake per day.

You can use any flavorings you want. Here's some of my favorites - almond extract, vanilla, rum flavoring, and matcha powder.

Here's the cream cheese and milk melding together.

Once the cream cheese and milk is thoroughly mixed and cool enough to not curdle eggs, add in the egg yolks.

Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks.

This is what it looks like after I start folding the egg whites and the cream cheese mixture. This was plain vanilla.

Into the pan and into the oven.

Fresh out of the oven. So light and fluffy. Like cotton heaven.

Making Uncle Tetsu's Japanese Souffle Cheesecakes

Who is Uncle Tetsu? I have no idea, but I do know that his cheesecakes are all the rage in Taiwan. I couldn't find a main website for Uncle Tetsu (just several Facebook pages), but there is a plethora of blog posts and accolades on this mystery baker. When I saw the line at the Taipei train station for fresh cheesecakes was low, I hopped in and bought one. The lines are usually an hour long or so. These cakes sell for $199 NTW, which amounts to about $7.37 USD. That is a STEAL for this cake.

Since there's no Uncle Tetsu in America to my knowledge, I was bound and determined to figure out how to make one of these utterly delicious cakes. Recipe and flavor ideas below. These would make a perfect holiday party dish. You have plenty of time to perfect your version before Turkey Day rolls around.

I gotta hand it to the Japanese. Once again, they have managed to make a something so tasty, it will be hard for me to go back to the dense American style cheesecake.

Here's the store front of the location in the Taipei train station.

In my search for recreating this Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake, I came across many recipes. The ones I tried were fairy simple, with positive results with each try. After testing out a few recipe, I modified the base ingredients to make one really simple and quick. Additionally, I made a few savory cheesecakes as well like the coconut curry. I'll also add a list of additional flavors and tips at the bottom.

Here's a list of recipes that worked well:

• Happy Home Recipe: three ingredient version
• Happy Home Recipe: traditional version
• Wandering Eater Matcha version
• RasaMalaysia traditional cake

Tips:

• Don't skip the water bath. Just do it.
• If you're an experienced macaron baker, you'll know to gentle fold the egg whites. Gentle. Gentle. Gentle. You need the light egg whites to produce a fluffy cotton soft cake.
• I haven't had a problem making soufflés before, but don't do things like slam the oven door or yell at the cake. You'll hurt its feelings.
• If you're making a savory cheesecake soufflé, just leave out the sugar when whipping the egg whites.
• If you're going to make a flavoring that for the cake, add it to mix when you add the egg yolks. For example, I would add curry spices to the mix when I add egg yolks. Try to avoid adding anything to the egg whites if possible. Anything oily will kill off the fluff.
• Use your imagination!
• Sweet cake flavor ideas: lavender, rose, matcha, espresso, Earl Gray and bergamot, peaches, cherries, pineapple, or any other fruits.
• Savory ideas include curry, hatch chile, togarashi, lemon and truffle, or taco spice.

First two recipes I tested.

My coconut curry soufflé.

The cheese flavor of these cakes is subtle. The texture is like soft sponge. And it is just slightly sweet. These are so tasty, I could eat an entire one in a single sitting.

They also come in chocolate.

OMG. Sooooooooooo delicious.

I thought you might want to see a toy cow.

Boozy Desserts in Austin - a reference guide for all you dessert lovers

This blog post is a alphabetical list of boozy desserts available in Austin.  Since the emphasis is on local food, I'm only posting local restaurant items, and not posting national chain items.  This list will be constantly updated and evolving.  I'll post it to twitter when I have updates.  Please feel free to email me if you have changes or additions to the list.

Alamo Drafthouse has Guinness Ice Cream Shakes. 

Amy's Ice Cream has (512) Brewing Pecan Porter Ice Cream.

Austin Cake Ball has some amazing flavors listed here.  My favorite so far is the Red Velvet Bourbon with spicy pecan.  Oh so good! Limited flavors available at select Whole Foods. 

Buenos Aires Cafe has Pionono - A delicious cake soaked in Kalhua liquor and coffee rolled with fresh
strawberries, fresh whipped cream and dulce de leche.

Olivia has Fireman's 4 Ice Cream with beer sauce. 

Sugar Mama's has The Frida,Vegan Margarita, Black and Tan, and a Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie Bar.

Viva Chocolato has truffles made with Tito's Vodka.

Austin Cake Ball

Viva Chocolato!

Buenos Aires Cafe.