Low Carb Japanese Cheesecake
Low Carb Cheesecake! Cottony soft fluffy Japanese Style Cheesecake, 8 grams of carbs per slice.
Prep Time 1 hour hr
Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Total Time 2 days d
Course Dessert
Cuisine Low Carb
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1-2 sheets graham crackers 'Nilla wafers or cinnamon graham crackers are great too!
Bowl 1
- 19 oz cream cheese
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 cup erythritol or xylitol
- ½ cup Just Like Sugar for Baking
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Bowl 2 - Fats
- 6 egg yolks
- 16 oz sour cream regular, full fat only
Bowl 3 - Copper Mixing Bowl
- 6 egg whites
- 3 tbsp sugar These provide most of the carbs, but it also stabilizes the egg white foam
Water Bath
- 1 Roasting Pan Big enough to comfortably contain the springform pan
- 1-2 Liters Hot Water Enough to create water bath - see instructions
Springform Pan
Rub bottom but NOT the sides of a 9" springform pan generously with butter.
Crush 1 or 2 graham cracker sheets in your hands or in food processor until the texture of crushed whole black pepper and then toss in the springform pan until a thin layer has adhered to the butter. When no more will adhere, empty the remaining cracker powder to the trash.
Wrap the exterior of the bottom of the pan in 3 large sheets of aluminum foil, and pinch along the bottom of the pan, to create a waterproof seal.
Prepare roasting pan (or any oven-safe container large enough to contain the springform pan) by filling with 1-2 inches of hot water. This is your water bath, so make sure it won't overflow when you put the springform pan into it.
Bowl 1 - Large
Cream together cream cheese with sifted flour, erythritol and "Just Like Sugar".
Use Mixer on Slow Speed
Add vanilla extract, all while continuing to cream until smooth.
Bowl 3 - Copper Mixing Bowl
Clean the beaters and the bowl thoroughly before using. Even a tiny amount of fat from bowl 1 or detergent residue will ruin the foam.
I use a copper mixing bowl to stabilize the foam, but if you don't have one, you can also use cream of tartar (⅛ tsp per egg white). Lemon juice also works.Beat egg whites. Start mixer on low to avoid splashes, advance to high speed as soon as possible.
Once the foam has started to form (at the stage of very soft peaks), SLOWLY start adding sugar to egg whites while continuing to beat on high until all sugar has been added. Only add a little sugar at a time.
Adding the sugar too early or too fast will prevent the foam from forming.
Continue to beat on high until firm/stiff peaks form.
You know they're stiff when they hold their shape after the beater is turned off, even if you tap the beater gently on the counter.
Combine
Fold (do not stir or beat) ⅕ (roughly) of egg whites from Bowl 3 rapidly into Bowl 1
Gently but swiftly fold in the remaining egg whites from Bowl 3 into Bowl 1.
Continue folding briefly until mostly combined. Do not combine until smooth or uniform - allow some lumpiness and streaking to remain.
Pour the batter from Bowl 1 into springform pan until it's a little more than ⅔ full.
The batter will expand while baking and if you put too much, it will overflow.
Bake
Place the springform pan into the water bath, and then bake at 300° for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Do not open the oven.
Turn off oven but DO NOT remove the cake (do not open the oven door). Allow to sit in the cooling oven for 2 hours.
Crack open oven door and allow to cool for 1 hour.
Cover and Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Slice into 8 slices, garnish with mint, whipped cream and/or fruit.
- Erythritol and "Just Like Sugar" are my recommended low-carb sweeteners. I've written a post about why.
- "Just Like Sugar for Baking" is the same as the "table" product, just ground more finely so it incorporates better into batter.
- Foaming the egg whites is the key to the cake's final texture - I've compiled a post detailing the process.
- The foamed egg whites lose volume over time and with agitation. Fold them into the batter quickly to avoid loss of volume, but not so quickly that you destroy the foam yourself by being overly aggressive. See a video here - the key is combining gentleness with swiftness. Check out these folding tips and tricks to get the method nailed down.