Lemon cheesecake

Both of us love cheesecakes and this year for R’s birthday I made a cheese cake that both of us loved. I have experimented with a few different ingredients and loved the result.

Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients

1. Digestive biscuits – 270g (around 14 McVities Original Digestives)
2. Butter – around 50g
3. Philadelphia original creamcheese – 360g
4. Ricotta cheese – 250g
5. Yogurt – 180g
6. Sugar – 150g
7. Lemon zest – from one lemon
8. Lemon juice – from 1.5 to 2 lemons (to taste)
9. Eggs – 3
10. Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
11. Lemon curd (store brought or homemade – see recipe below) – 100g 
12. Icing sugar – 5g

Equipment

1. Blender or ziplock bag and a rolling pin – to grind the buiscuits
2. Small bowl – to heat the butter
3. Large bowl – to mix, first, the digestives and, after, the cheesecake mix
4. Whisk (manual or electric) – to whisk the cheesecake mix
5. Zester – to zest the lemon
6. Lemon squeezer – to squeeze the juice out of the lemon
7. A silicone spatula – to mix and clean the cheese cake mix
8. 20cm spring form pan – to bake the cheesecake
9. Sieve – to sprinkle the icing sugar

Procedure:

1. Grind the digestive biscuits using the blender or put them in a ziplock bag and bash them with a rolling pin until they are small and crumbly.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
3. In a small bowl heat the butter using a microwave until it is molten – will take only 15 – 20 seconds.
4. Mix the butter and the biscuit crumbs in a big bowl – this mixture will clump together when you press it in your fist. 
5. Pour this mixture in the spring form pan and press to the bottom – to form an even 5mm thick layer.
6. Bake this base in the oven for 10 minutes and take it out.
7. In the meanwhile, add the cream cheese, ricotta cheese and yogurt to the big bowl and whisk everything together.
8. Add the sugar and whisk until it is all mixed together.
9. Add the lemon zest, juice and the vanilla extract and whisk again.
10. Add the eggs one by one and whisk in between until completely combined.
11. Using a silicone spatula mix everything together, making sure to clean the ingredients from the sides of the bowl.
12. Taste the mix to ensure that the tart lemon flavour is coming through. If not, add more lemon juice.
13. Once the taste is to your liking, pour this mix to the spring form pan with the base of the digestive biscuits.
14. Bake in 190°C oven for around 45 minutes – remove the pan and check for a slight jiggle in the center 50 – 70mm of the mix.
15. Once the cake is baked, turn the oven off, leave the cake in the oven to cool with the door cracked open (prop with a spatula) so that the cake cools slowly. This will help to avoid the top from cracking.
16. After an hour, take out and let it cool to room temperature and then move to the fridge and cool for at least 3-4 hours.
17. To serve, whisk the lemon curd with a spoon until soft and not lumpy and spread on top of the cheesecake with a spoon.
18. Sprinkle the top of the cheesecake with icing sugar through a sieve or top with a meringue and cook in a 190°C oven for 10 minutes or the meringue is golden brown (recipe below) or top with fresh fruit and coat with jam glaze (recipe below)

Lemon curd

Ingredients

1. Egg yolks – 2
2. Whole egg – 1
3. Butter – 100g
4. Unwaxed lemons, zested and juiced – 4
5. Sugar – 100g

Equipment

1. Whisk (manual or electric) – to whisk the cheesecake mix
2. Zester – to zest the lemon
3. Lemon squeezer – to squeeze the juice out of the lemon
4. Bowl – for whisking and cooking the curd
5. Pan – large enough for the bowl to sit on
6. Cling film

Procedure

1. Place the pan with 500ml of water to heat.
2. Mix the lemon juice, zest, butter and sugar in the bowl, place over the pan and continuously whisk until smooth.
3. Add the eggs and keep whisking while on heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Or until it is thick enough so that when you pour some on a plate and run a finger through it, it does not flow.
4. Cover the bowl with cling film – with the cling film pushed down to the surface of the lemon curd all the way around. This helps to keep a skin from forming on top of the curd.
5. Use once cool.

Meringue

Ingredients

1. Egg whites – 3
2. Sugar – 40g
3. Lemon juice – 5ml

Equipment

1. Steel or glass bowl – for whisking the whites. No plastic or silicone as they can trap fat from previous uses
2. Steel spatula
3. Whisk (preferably electric)

Procedure

1.  In a steel or glass bowl add the egg whites. Make sure there are no bits of yellow in the whites as any fat will keep the whites from whisking into a meringue.
2. Whisk using the (preferably) electric whisk until the whites form stiff peaks. This should be stiff enough that when the bowl is turned upside down, the meringue does not move.
3. Add the sugar and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. This will turn the meringue nice and glossy. Mix using the steel spatula, making sure the whites from the sides of the bowl are mixed in.
4. Add the lemon juice and whisk. This will help the meringue bake with a stiff outside and a soft inside.
5. Top the cake with this meringue using the steel spatula. Just spoon the meringue on top of the cake and create waves on top using the back of the spoon.
6. Then bake.

Fruit topping

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of varied, seasonal fruit e.g. berries, kiwi.
2. Jam (any flavour) – 30g
3. Water – 30g

Equipment

1. Paring knife – to cut the fruit
2. Pan – to heat the jam and the water
3. Spatula – to mix
4. Pastry brush – to coat the fruits with the mixture

Procedure:

1. Heat the jam and water together in a pan until the mixture comes to a boil.
2. Top the cake with whole or chopped fruit in an attractive layout
3. Brush the jam mixture onto the fruits.