You've probably seen them on your Facebook feeds even before you heard of them. Uncle Tetsu brought Japanese cheesecakes to Australia last year when it landed in Sydney, and now the super light, giant marshmallow-like cakes are coming to Melbourne soon.
The Japanese company has been making these wobbly desserts for close to 30 years. They have become so popular that many stores limit sales to one cake per customer. Uncle Tetsu Melbourne's Facebook page has been teasing followers on the launch of the Melbourne shops, which are due to land at 55 Swanston Street and Melbourne Central. Open dates have not yet been announced, but it looks like they're already testing their kitchen.
If you're unfamiliar with Japanese cheesecakes, they're definitely not like classic cheesecakes with the biscuit crust and creamy top. The Japanese version comes without a base and is closer in texture to a cross between a marshmallow and a fluffy sponge cake. Sounds weird, but it works.
Our Sydney editors say Uncle Tetsu's wobbly cake's taste depends on how you eat it. When it's fresh from the store, "it smells like sugar and eggs in a pancake way and is bronzed on top and creamy-coloured round the sides... The texture is somewhere between a sponge and a cheesecake – feathery-light, but it melts on the tongue like butter thanks to all that fat. It tastes like a really light, fluffy pancake, and isn’t particularly cheesy."
And when it's cold, the cake is "definitely more ‘cheesecakey’. [The] Japanese cheesecake has been made, since the 1980s, with Australian cream cheese... Served cold, the cheesecake is firmer, less eggy in flavour and definitely more cheesy".
We can't wait to get a slice of Uncle Tetsu's pillow-like cakes – watch this space for the launch date of the Melbourne store.