Cheesecakes
Creamy Lemon Cheesecake
This is a simple lemon cheesecake with a whipped cream topping.
So many of you have requested a baked cheesecake, that I really wanted to make one and share.
This is my go-to lemon cheesecake which always garners lots of praise and deep sighs as you take a bite into it. Cheesecakes are actually not that difficult to make, save for the fact that it can sometimes crack in the middle.
The cracking does not affect the taste, just the appearance. If you prefer it not to crack, I suggest baking it in a water bath. Otherwise, just top with whipped cream. Nobody will even know 🙂
Just follow the detailed steps in the recipe and you cannot go wrong!
The recipe
Creamy Lemon Cheesecake
adventureswithsugar.com/creamy-lemon-cheesecake/
Method
Method: cheesecake crust
- Preheat the oven and prepare the tin: Preheat your oven to 180˚ Celsius. Grease and line the bottom of a 23cm springform pan with baking paper. Wrap the outside of the tin with foil as the cheesecake will be baked in a water bath.
- Crush the biscuits: Place the biscuits in a large Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- Add the sugar: Then add the sugar and give it a shake to mix it all in.
- Add the butter: Lastly, pour in the melted butter and shake to combine – no dishes!
- Press into the tin: Tip the mixture into your tin and press it down firmly and evenly. Use the base of a flat-bottomed glass if you want to level it out.
- Bake the base: Bake the base for around 10 minutes until just firm and set. Then set aside to cool as you make the filling.
Method: lemon cheesecake
- Lower the oven: Reduce the oven to 160˚ Celsius, and move the oven rack from the middle of the oven to the last rack. I find that baking the cheesecake on a lower shelf helps stop it from cracking.
- Boil water for the water bath: Put a full kettle of water on to boil, for the water bath. (This step is not essential. I found that it does not affect the texture of the cheesecake but prevents it from cracking).
- Beat the cream cheese: Add the cream cheese to your mixer and beat until smooth. It is important not to overbeat.
- Add the sugar: Then add in the sugar and continue to beat.
- Add the vanilla and sour cream: Add in the vanilla and sour cream. Again, the aim here is to just incorporate; you do not want to incorporate more air in the batter (like you would do for cake).
- Add the eggs: Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in. If you overbeat the eggs, the cheesecake will soufflé – rising initially, but will then collapse.
- Add the cream: Follow this with the whipping cream.
- Add the lemon: Finally, follow this with the lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Fill the tin and set up the water bath: Pour the filling into the tin with the crust. Place the cake tin in a large roasting pan and fill with boiling water until the water comes up halfway. (Again, the water bath is not essential, but will help with a crack-free cheesecake).
- Bake: Bake in the oven for around 65 – 75 minutes. It may sometimes need a bit longer, but begin monitoring it from 60 minutes. If the cheesecake is getting too brown on the top, just place a piece of foil over it.
- Check for doneness: The cheesecake is cooked when you knock the side of the tin with a wooden spoon. The centre should still jiggle a bit but the sides will be set. The filling should not slosh around in the tin and feel liquid.
- Cool in the oven: Once the cheesecake is set, turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar to let the cheesecake reduce gradually in temperature.
- Cool and chill: After an hour, remove it and let it cool to room temperature, before setting in the fridge to chill overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
- Turn out and decorate: Release the cheesecake from the springform pan and top with whipped cream and decorate as you please. Swirling some lemon curd through the whipped cream is always nice.
Method: whipped cream
- Whip the cream: Whip the cream until soft waves form.
- Add the icing sugar: Then sift in the icing sugar.
- Whip to stiff peaks: Continue to whip until stiff peaks form, being careful not to overwhip.
- Top the cheesecake: Spread the whipped cream over the top of the cooled cheesecake and decorate with fresh fruit, serve with a coulis, or just enjoy as is 🙂
How do I prevent my cheesecake from cracking?
Before I provide some tips on how to get a crack-free cheesecake, let me say that there have been times when I have done all of the steps and still had a little crack or two – that's baking I guess! Nothing a little whipped cream, as a topping, cannot solve, however.
Room temperature ingredients
A cheesecake is not like a normal cake, where you want to beat butter and sugar, for example, to get in as much air as possible. Too much air can cause your cheesecake to rise too quickly and then collapse. You therefore want all ingredients, especially the cream cheese, to be easy enough to beat, without having to risk overmixing the batter.
Do not overmix ingredients
This bears repeating. The aim is to ensure everything is well mixed, but you do not benefit from incorporating more air into the mixture. Also, the batter is quite liquid, but sets up in the oven, so do not think you need to continue beating it so that it thickens up.
Bake on a lower heat
Baking the cheesecake on a lower heat will ensure a more gradual set and not "shock" the batter in terms of changes in temperature. I find using an oven thermometer is useful to ensure your oven is at the correct temperature.
Bake on a lower shelf
I usually bake all my cakes in the middle shelf, but have found that moving the rack to the bottom shelf allows for a slower, better bake of the cheesecake. You need to have a good sense of your oven, and this is not a crucial step.
Do not overbake
You want the edges of the cheesecake to be set, but the centre still wobbly; overbaking can result in cracks.
Cooling in the oven once baked
Once the cheesecake is baked, you want to let it cool in a switched off oven with the door slightly ajar. This helps to ensure that the cheesecake does not go from too warm to too cool a temperature, quickly.
Bake in a water bath
I have had varying success with this. I do this as an extra precaution, but you want to ensure that your tin does not leak or you will end up with a soggy crust.
Be patient
The batter comes together super quickly, but the cheesecake does take a while to bake, then cool in a switched off oven, then cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge – it's worth it, I promise!
What to do if your cheesecake does crack?
Well, one of the obvious answers is to do nothing. A cracked cheesecake does not taste bad; it may just not look as showstopping as you would want it to. No matter how good something looks, it is taste that is most important, however!
Alternatively, add some whipped cream, which is described in the recipe above. You could also pile the cheesecake high with fresh fruit. Adding some fresh lemon curd, granadilla pulp or berry coulis is also another way to disguise ugly cracks.
The recipes which promise perfect cheesecakes every time are a lie, in my honest opinion. We have all experienced cracked cheesecakes at some point. We learn to roll with the punches and improvise 😉
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