3-Ingredient Japanese Cheesecake

By Erin McDowell

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 1 hr

Total: 1 hr 20 min

Meet the dessert that everyone’s pinning like crazy: Japanese cheesecake. Unlike anything you’ve tasted before, it’s airy and fluffy but still has the rich, creamy flavor of New York–style cheesecakes. And did we mention you only need three ingredients?

Makes one 9-inch cake.

INGREDIENTS: Cheesecake

• 10 ounces white chocolate
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 7 large eggs, whites and yolks separated

INGREDIENTS: Optional Finishing

• Whipped cream, for serving
• Berries, for serving
• Confectioners’ sugar, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with nonstick spray and then line the bottom and side of the pan with parchment paper. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on the stove to boil.
2. Place the white chocolate and cream cheese in a medium-size heat-safe bowl and fit it over a medium-size pot of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is evenly melted and combined.
3. Remove the mixture from the heat and cool for 10 minutes before stirring in the egg yolks.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until they reach medium peaks, creating a meringue.
5. Add about a quarter of the meringue into the white chocolate mixture and mix vigorously to combine.
6. Add the remaining meringue in three parts, folding the mixture gently to combine.
7. Gently pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the pan in a casserole dish and then transfer the entire thing to the oven. Gently fill the casserole with hot water from the kettle until it comes halfway up the side of the cake pan.
8. Bake until the cake has risen tall and is set, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool completely inside the pan before unmolding. Refrigerate the cooled cake for at least 1 hour before serving, garnished with whipped cream, berries and confectioners’ sugar, as desired.