Ashiya's Japanese Jiggly Cheesecake

Does the Amount Of Egg Whites Affect The Fluffiness Of The Jiggly Cheesecake?

Ashiya Deborah El

December 4, 2019

Background information 

For the famous Japanese jiggly cheesecake, the most important part of the cake was egg whites. And cooked in a water bath. Which helps keep the heat insulated. Making sure to slow down the cooking so the milk won't boil, curdle the eggs also prevent cracking at the top of the cheesecake when its rises. What is the science behind cooking with egg white? Well, when you whip the egg whites the action forces the tightly compacted protein located in the egg whites to unfold and loosen up. Egg white proteins contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino acids. so when it’s exposed to air it’s still exposed to water. As air is incorporated into the mixture, the proteins rearrange to form a network around the air bubbles, trapping air within the egg white foam. The types of bonds holding the network of proteins together can be ionic (like between a positive charge and a negative charge) or much stronger (like disulfide bonds that form between two sulfur groups on the egg white proteins).

         

Here's another diagram cartoon that will visually show what happens when you whisk egg whites:

HYPOTHESIS

The less egg whites i use the more denser the cake will be.

PROCEDURE 

The independent variable was the amount of egg whites. All of the rest of the ingredients, cooking time, temperature and method were all kept constant. Amount of egg whites are shown below.

Cake one	Cake two	Cake three
12 large egg whites	7 large egg whites	O large egg whites

1. Set oven to 320 degrees fahrenheit 
2. In a small pot over medium heat, whisk together the butter, cream cheese, and milk until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool. 
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolk until smooth, then slowly drizzle in the cream cheese mixture, stirring until evenly combined.
4. Sift in the flour and cornstarch, whisking to make sure there are no lumps.
5. In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. ( SEE TABLE)
6. Fold about a small amount of the egg whites into the yolk mixture, then repeat with remaining egg whites until batter is evenly combined.
7. Grease the bottom of a round cake pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. 
8. Place the pan into a larger baking dish lined with 2 paper towels at the bottom. The paper towels ensure that the heat is distributed evenly along the bottom of the pan. Fill the larger pan about 1-inch (2-cm) high with hot water.
9. Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 285°F (140°C), and bake for another 55 minutes, until the cake has risen to almost double its original height.
10. Remove from oven, and carefully invert the cake onto your dominant hand and peel off the paper. Be extremely careful, the cake will be hot. You can also invert the cake onto a plate, but this will cause the cake to deflate more.
11. Dust powdered sugar on top of cake.
12. Bon appetit!

DATA /RESULTS 

EGG WHITES	12 LARGE EGGS WHITES	7 LARGE EGG WHITES	O LARGE EGG WHITES
COOKING NOTES	ROSE UP TO THE TOP OF THE PAN	ROSE A LITTLE	STAYED THE SAME EXACT HEIGHT
END RESULT	LIGHT GOLDEN BROWN	CARAMEL GOLDEN BROWN	STAYED EGG yolk YELLOW

ANALYSIS/CONCLUSION 

The end result the original one tasted better the top layer was nice and fluffy and had an egg omelet bottom, which is what the 1st and 2nd one had. the 3rd one was like that all throughout due to me not adding any egg whites made it more dense there was no air bubbles just the egg yolk. Cakes one and 2 look more mouth watering with its golden brown top. If I had to describe a taste for the 3rd cake i would say a sweet omelet  So yes the amount of whipped egg whites into the batter will determine the fullness and jigglyness of the cheese cake.