Fluffy Ube Banana Cheesecake

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.

If you’ve never had a Japanese cheesecake, this one might throw you off at first, in the best way. It’s way lighter than the dense western-style cheesecakes you’re used to, closer to a cake texture with a really subtle sweetness. Now turn it purple with ube extract, hide caramelized bananas underneath, and cook it all in a rice cooker 🤯 You flip it onto a plate at the end and that glossy banana layer lands right on top of the fluffiest purple cheesecake. It’s a total showstopper and I promise it’s way easier than it looks!

Get Recipe Ingredients

View this reel on Instagram

What Makes This Ube Banana Cheesecake So Good

Japanese cheesecake is a completely different animal from the New York kind. It’s lighter, springier, more like an airy sponge with just a whisper of tang, and it never gets cloying. Tint that with ube for the color and a mellow, vanilla-nutty flavor, then stack it over bananas that have cooked down into a jammy caramel layer. Cool and pillowy against warm and sticky. SO good!

Plus, the rice cooker does everything. Your actual job here is whip, fold, pour, and then walk away for 70 minutes! This is the same base as my ube cheesecake in a rice cooker, and all I’ve really done is add a banana layer to the bottom of the pot, which is the kind of upgrade I love because it costs you nothing.

Does Ube Go With Banana?

They’re a natural match. Ube (purple yam) is mild and sweet with a coconut-vanilla edge, so it plays right off the warm caramelized flavor of cooked banana instead of competing with it. The banana gives you that jammy top layer while the ube keeps the cheesecake itself light and almost floral. If you’ve never cooked with it and want the full rundown on what it actually tastes like, Taste of Home has a good breakdown. I already lean on this exact pairing in my Korean banana milk, where ube extract and a ripe banana go into the same glass.

Tips for the Best Ube Banana Cheesecake

1. Whip the whites to stiff peaks

This is where all the fluff comes from, so don’t rush it. Whip your two egg whites until they hold stiff, glossy peaks, adding the sugar in three goes so the meringue stays stable. Then FOLD them in, don’t stir, in three parts. Fold gently and you keep the air, and that air is the entire reason Japanese cheesecake has that cotton-soft body.

That same folding logic shows up in my Fluffy Ube Chocolate Chip Cloud Bread, where whipped egg whites and ube extract bake into a gluten-free, marshmallowy cloud packed with melty chocolate chips.

2. Caramelize the bananas right in the pot

Brush the rice cooker pot with melted butter, sprinkle that tablespoon of sugar across the bottom, and lay the banana halves flat side down before any batter goes near it. As it cooks, the sugar and banana melt together into a caramel layer. Line them up neatly too, because this is the face of the cake and you’ll see every gap!

3. Commit to the flip

When it’s done, grab oven mitts, put a plate upside down over the pot, hold both sides, and turn it over in one confident motion. Hesitating is how you end up with half a cheesecake on the counter. It comes out clean, and honestly that moment is the best part of making this!

Storage and Leftovers

Keep it covered in the fridge and eat it within 3 days. It’s actually great cold, and I’d argue the texture firms up into something even nicer on day two, so leftovers aren’t a consolation prize here at all!

Dust the powdered sugar on right before you serve it rather than ahead of time, because it dissolves into the banana layer if it sits. I wouldn’t freeze this one, since the caramelized banana goes watery when it thaws.

Equipment

• Rice cooker
• Hand mixer
• Mixing bowls
• Basting brush

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 egg yolks (reserve the whites)
• 3/4 cup pancake mix (I use Krusteaz)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon ube extract
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 bananas, halved lengthwise
• Powdered sugar, to taste

Substitutions and Swaps

• The bananas. Slightly underripe ones actually hold their shape better through 70 minutes of cooking, so don’t reach for the spotty ones you’d use in banana bread. Pineapple rings or halved peaches caramelize the same way if you want a different fruit on top.
• The ube extract. This is doing the color and the flavor, so there’s no real substitute for it. Ube halaya (the jam) tastes wonderful but it’s thick and sweet, and stirring it in will weigh the batter down and cost you some of that lift.
• The pancake mix. It’s a shortcut that brings flour, leavening and a little sugar in one scoop, which is exactly why I use it. If you want to build it yourself, cake flour with a teaspoon of baking powder gets you close, though you’ll want to taste and adjust the sweetness.
• The heavy cream. Whole milk works and gives you a slightly lighter, less rich cake. I’d keep the cream if you have it, because the richness is what balances all that air.
• The rice cooker. This recipe is built around it, and the gentle even heat is why there’s no water bath and no cracked top. You can bake a Japanese cheesecake in an oven, but that’s a different technique with a water bath, so I wouldn’t just move this batter into a cake pan and hope.

Instructions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg yolks and pancake mix with a hand mixer until smooth.
2. Add the heavy cream in two parts, whisking well between each. Add the ube extract and whisk until the batter is a solid purple all the way through.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with your hand mixer until you get stiff peaks, adding the granulated sugar in three parts and whisking well between each.
4. Gently fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture in three parts, until it’s fully incorporated.
5. Melt the butter and brush it around the inside of your rice cooker pot. Sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar across the bottom, then lay the banana halves flat side down.
6. Pour the cheesecake batter over the bananas and cook on the regular setting for 70 minutes.
7. Use oven mitts to lift out the pot. Put a plate upside down on top, hold both sides, and flip it over quickly so the cheesecake lands on the plate.
8. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

The rice cooker is doing almost all of the work here, which is the part that still feels like getting away with something. You flip it out at the end and it looks like it came from a bakery, when really you pressed a button and waited.

It’s a showstopper for a birthday or anything you need to carry somewhere, and it is much easier than it looks. 🙌

If you make this, leave a star rating on the recipe card and tell me in the comments how your flip went. It really helps other people find the recipe, and I want to see those banana tops!

Print