Over spring break, Lil’ bun and I decided that we would do some recipe testing and this lemon cheesecake was one of the successes we had. As much as we enjoy traditional cheesecakes, we also love the lightness that comes with the Japanese version. This lead to a curiosity that we decided to satisfy by combining the two methods together to create this cheesecake!
This lemon cheesecake is a delicious blend between the traditional cheesecake and the Japanese souffle cheesecake. We took the cookie crust of a cheesecake and topped it with a light cottony cream cheese filling before baking it all in the oven in a steam bath to keep everything light.
On our first trial, we didn’t crush the cookies enough so our crust started to come apart a little bit as we ate it. So on our second try we made sure to put everything through our handy dandy food processor so that the crumbs would be much finer. Although we did end up sprinkling a few crushed cookies on top as a garnish and to add an extra crunchy element to the topping.
The lemon zest in this cake adds a light citrus note that compliments the tartness of the cream cheese filling. Most cheesecake recipes ask you to use sour cream, yogurt or ricotta cheese for the filling. If you don’t have any of those on hand, this is the recipe for you because it eliminates the extra ingredient and replaces it with milk to add liquid and flour to help firm it up.
Most traditional cheesecake recipes ask you to whip the eggs in with the cream cheese whole but this one asks for you to separate them instead. By whipping the egg whites into a meringue before folding it together with the cream cheese batter, the filling stays light.
Lemon Cheesecake
Recipe Type: cake
Serves: one 8″ cake
Not sure what to do with your cookies and creamcheese? Here’s the perfect solution for you! Save them up and make this amazing lemon cheesecake! This cheesecake is a delicious blend between the traditional cheesecake and the Japanese souffle cheesecake. We took the cookie trust of a cheesecake and topped it with a light cottony cream cheese filling before baking it all in the oven in a steam bath to keep everything light.
Ingredients
- 250g cream cheese
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 100mL milk of choice
- 4 eggs separated
- 1 tsp vanilla
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups crushed cookies
- 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275F.
- Prepare the cheesecake base. Mix the crushed cookies and coconut oil together until everything is coated. Press this on the bottom of a greased 8″ cake pan with a removable bottom. Bake the crust in the oven for 10 mins.
- Using a double boiler, incorporate the cream cheese, vegetable oil, honey and milk together in a medium bowl until a smooth batter forms.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Add the yolks into the cream cheese mixture and whisk until combined. Add in the vanilla, lemon zest, corn starch and flour. Stir until combined. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a large bowl to insure that there are no lumps.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy at low speed using an electric mixer. Add sugar and continue to beat the mixture on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the egg white mixture into the cream cheese mixture until a smooth batter forms.
- Pour the batter into the pan with the prepared crust and tap pan lightly to remove air bubbles. Then carefully wrap the entire base of the cake mold with foil. Ensure the foil is securely wrapped around the cake mold or the water will leak into your cake!
- Steam bake the cake by placing the cake pan onto a baking tray filled with cold water before putting it into the oven.
- Bake the cake at 275F for 20 mins before increasing the temperature to 325F and baking for another 40 mins. Bake until the top is golden brown.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10 mins before removing the cake from the pan. When the cheesecake is cool enough to be put in the fridge, wrap it with foil and leave it in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.
- This cake can be served in room temperature or chill in refrigerator before serving.
I love lemon desserts, especially cake! This cheesecake looks so adorable. Interesting how it’s blended with a Japanese souffle cake! When I traveled to Japan last winter, I saw a lot of those souffle cakes in bakeries!