Cheesecake with lemon curd

Baking sweet
Total: 2 hr 25 min. | Active: 25 min.
vegetarian

There are countless cheesecake recipes out there, all purporting to be the best. This version, with its glossy lemon curd, will be love at first bite and will bring a ray of sunshine to your plate. The fresh aroma of lemons will fill the kitchen, creating the perfect atmosphere on a cold winter's day. Cheesecake is a true classic. So it's all the more difficult to do it justice. The flavour of the creamy filling must be perfectly balanced and there should be no compromising on the choice of cream cheese. We believe you should go the whole hog with this recipe so we've used full-fat ingredients. The double cream cheese makes this cake a real winner.

Corinne and Bettina - nom-nom

Ingredients

for 12 pieces

Base
250 g whole-grain biscuits or Petite Beurre
60 g sugar
¼ tsp salt
100 g butter
½ tsp vanilla paste
a little  butter
Filling
1 kg double cream cheese (e.g. Philadelphia)
300 g sugar
2 tbsp Maizena cornflour
300 g crème fraîche
2 tsp vanilla paste
1  organic lemon, use grated zest and 4 tbsp of juice
1  organic orange, use grated zest only
4  eggs
Lemon curd
3  organic lemons, use grated zest and all of the juice
100 g butter
150 g sugar
2  eggs

How it's done

Base

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor or place them in a plastic bag and crush finely using a rolling pin. Transfer the biscuit crumbs to a bowl and mix with the sugar and salt. Melt the butter. Add the vanilla extract and mix with the dry ingredients. Transfer the mixture to a springform pan. Use a spoon or glass to create a firm, smooth base.

Bake for approx. 15 mins. in the centre of an oven preheated to 180°C. Remove, leave to cool. Grease the frame above the biscuit base.

Filling

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl. Using the whisk on a hand mixer, whisk for approx. 3 mins. until light and fluffy. Mix 1-2 tbsp with the cornflour, return to the remaining cream cheese, mix.

Add the sugar and mix for a further 3 mins. Add the crème fraîche, vanilla extract, lemon zest, lemon juice and orange zest, mix. Add the eggs one at a time, beat briefly. Pour the mixture onto the cooled base in the tin, smooth down.

To bake

Approx. 45 mins. in the centre of an oven preheated to 180°C, reduce the heat to 160 °C and bake for a further 30 mins. The cheesecake should be slightly soft in the centre, but not runny.

Switch off the oven, allow the cheesecake to dry for approx. 30 mins. with the oven door half open. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Cover the cheesecake and chill for approx. 6 hrs. or overnight.

Lemon curd

In a pan, melt the butter with the lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the sugar, stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the eggs, heat the mixture over a low heat, stirring constantly until it becomes a little thicker. Pass the lemon curd through a sieve, pour the warm curd over the cheesecake, leave to cool. Allow the cheesecake to set in the fridge.

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