Recipe: Patti Chimkire’s Citrusy Spin on Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Japan’s cotton cheesecake is in another league. Unlike its dense, New York-style cousin or the scorched, rustic Basque variety, this take is exceptionally soft – a delicate souffle-cake hybrid. The secret? Folding fluffy meringue into the cake batter and baking it in a water bath to create a cloud-like finish.

At her Melbourne cake shop, Mali Bakes, pastry chef Patti Chimkire has become renowned for this kind of technical finesse – blending a vintage look and feel with her deep understanding of pastry science.

In her debut cookbook, Mali Bakes, Chimkire shares her take on the hit Japanese cheesecake. Her version offers citrusy notes through a concentrated mandarin reduction and uses a gluten-free base – without sacrificing any of its signature fluffiness.

While the final result looks effortless, Chimkire is honest about the discipline required to make this show stopper. “This cake demands patience and precision to achieve a smooth, crack-free top,” she writes. From the specific “dump-in” method for the meringue to strategically releasing steam during the bake, each step is designed to maintain stability. If you’re willing to follow her lead, you’ll be rewarded with a singular dessert that Chimkire describes as “a hint of sunshine” – a cake so light you’ll want to make and eat it “again and again”.

For more free recipes – from quick dinners to weekend projects – sign up for our Cooking newsletter.

Patti Chimkire’s mandarin cotton cheesecake

Serves 8–10
Preparation time: 50 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

150g egg whites (from about 5 eggs)
100g caster sugar
2g (½ tsp) cream of tartar
80g full-cream milk
60g unsalted butter, cubed
2g (¼ tsp) fine sea salt
1g (¼ tsp) mandarin zest (from about 1 mandarin)
230g full-fat cream cheese
40g plain (all-purpose) gluten-free flour (or use regular plain flour if you don’t have gluten-free flour on hand)
15g cornflour (cornstarch)
80g egg yolks (from about 4 eggs)
30–35g mandarin reduction (below)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mandarin reduction
200g mandarin juice, strained (from about 7 mandarins)

To serve
2 mandarins
200g cream (about 35% fat), chilled
5g (1½ teaspoons) icing (confectioners’) sugar, plus extra for dusting over the cake
1g (small pinch) fine sea salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C and position an oven rack in the lower–middle or second-lowest level of the oven. Grease a round 20cm cake tin and line the bottom and side with baking paper. Have a large, deep roasting tray ready to use as a water bath.

First, make the mandarin reduction. In a small saucepan, bring the mandarin juice to a simmer over medium heat, then gently cook until the liquid reduces to about one-sixth of the original amount. This will take 13–14 minutes, leaving you with 30–35g concentrated liquid. Set aside to cool at room temperature until needed.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the sugar and cream of tartar. Using a cupped hand, firmly stir the egg whites against the side of the bowl until the sugar is fully dissolved – there should be no graininess when you rub a bit between your fingers. This “dump-in” method simplifies the meringue preparation. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, place the bowl in the fridge for about 20 minutes, or in the freezer for about 10 minutes, to chill the mixture.

Fill a large saucepan with 5cm water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium-high heat. Once simmering, lower the heat to maintain a steady simmer.

In a large heatproof bowl, combine the milk, butter, salt and mandarin zest. Place the bowl over the simmering water, ensuring the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Whisk until the butter is fully melted. Add the cream cheese, cover the bowl with a lid, then leave to soften for about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and cornflour. Set aside with a sieve ready.

Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk the cream cheese mixture vigorously until completely smooth. If lumps remain, return the bowl briefly to the heat and whisk again. While still warm, whisk in the egg yolks until fully combined. Sift in the flour mixture, whisking until smooth. Add the mandarin reduction and vanilla, then whisk again until the batter is uniform.

Pass the batter through a fine-meshed strainer into a large mixing bowl.

Attach the chilled bowl of egg white mixture to the stand mixer. Start whipping on low speed, then gradually increase the speed to medium. Whip for about 2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 1–2 minutes, or until soft peaks form. It’s important to whip the egg whites as gradually as possible to avoid large air bubbles, as these can cause your cheesecake to crack.

Gently fold one-third of the meringue into the cheesecake batter using a spatula. Once combined, add the remaining meringue and fold until just incorporated, with no white streaks visible. Be careful not to deflate the mixture – use smooth, confident motions, scooping from the bottom and folding over the surface while rotating the bowl with your other hand. The key is to be gentle but controlled, avoiding extra air bubbles that could cause cracks in the cake during baking.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake tin. Run a skewer through the batter to remove any large air pockets, then gently tap the tin on the counter a few times to release any remaining bubbles. If you see air bubbles on the surface, gently pop them with a skewer.

To set up a water bath, place a wet tea towel in the roasting tray and place the cake tin on top. Pour enough hot water into the roasting tray to come about 1.5cm up the side of the tin. (Don’t add more than this, as too much steam can cause the cake to crack.)

Bake at 170°C for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 130°C and bake for another 15 minutes. Open the oven door for about 5 seconds to release the steam, then gently close the door, reduce the oven temperature to 120°C and continue baking for 1 hour. Set a timer and open the oven door briefly every 15 minutes to release excess steam. Once baked, your cheesecake should have a smooth, lightly golden top. A small crack is nothing to worry about – the cake will shrink slightly as it cools, and any small cracks should disappear.

Once the cheesecake is ready, turn off the oven, and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for 10 minutes with the door slightly ajar – this helps prevent the cheesecake from shrinking too much.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool for another 10 minutes.

Place a plate on top of the cake tin and gently flip the cheesecake over. Carefully remove the cake tin and peel off the baking paper. Place a serving plate on top of the cake and flip the cheesecake back over onto the serving plate.

Finally, add the finishing touches. Use a small sharp knife to slice off the top and bottom of each mandarin, creating two flat surfaces. Stand the fruit upright on a chopping board and cut away the peel and pith by following the curve of the fruit. Hold the mandarin over a bowl to catch any juices, then carefully slice along both sides of each membrane to release the fleshy segments.

Combine the cream, icing sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip at medium speed for 1–2 minutes, until soft peaks form – or whisk by hand if you prefer.

Sift a generous amount of icing sugar over the cake.

Serve the cheesecake warm or chilled, decorating each slice with a dollop of whipped cream and a fresh mandarin segment on top. Store in the fridge for up to two days.

This is an edited extract of Mali Bakes by Patti Chimkire, published by Smith Street Books, AUD$59.99, in stores now.