A lemon and blueberry cheesecake from above, ringed with edible flowers and blueberries on a teal stand

Cheesecakes

Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake

A wonderful spin on my lemon cheesecake, with some blueberry compote swirled through the batter.

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A whole lemon and blueberry cheesecake on a teal ceramic stand, with roses and blueberries behind The side of the lemon and blueberry cheesecake, showing the blueberry swirl beneath the piped cream

My creamy lemon cheesecake is a firm favourite in our home. It has a rich, buttery base with a velvety smooth filling. It has just the right amount of tartness thanks to the addition of lemon juice.

This delicious lemon and blueberry cheesecake is based on that; in fact, it is the same recipe with some blueberry compote swirled through the batter. It produces a beautiful stained design in the batter, and also imparts a wonderful flavour.

I have detailed steps on how to prevent your cheesecake from cracking on my previous post for my creamy lemon cheesecake. This is purely an aesthetic issue and does not affect the taste of the cheesecake at all. What is more, I always add some whipping cream on the top to add some lightness, so it camouflages some imperfections anyway 🙂

The recipe

Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake

adventureswithsugar.com/lemon-and-blueberry-cheesecake/

Method

Method: blueberry compote

  1. Make ahead: This can be made in advance and stored in the fridge.
  2. Make the compote: Place the blueberries, caster sugar and lemon juice on medium heat, until the sugar has dissolved, the blueberries start to soften and the colour begins to run and all the ingredients come together. Place in the freezer to cool whilst you make the cheesecake.

Method: cheesecake crust

  1. 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.
  2. Crush the biscuits: Place the biscuits in a large Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin.
  3. Add the butter: Pour in the melted butter and shake to combine – no dishes!
  4. 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.
  5. 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

  1. 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 prevent it from cracking.
  2. 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).
  3. Beat the cream cheese: Add the cream cheese to your mixer and beat until smooth. It is important not to overbeat.
  4. Add the sugar: Then add in the sugar and continue to beat.
  5. 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).
  6. 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.
  7. Add the cream: Follow this with the whipping cream.
  8. Add the lemon: Finally, follow this with the lemon zest and lemon juice.
  9. Layer with compote and set up the water bath: Pour half of the filling into the tin with the crust. Then swirl half of the blueberry compote into the batter. Then add the remaining cheesecake batter and finally the second half of the blueberry compote. 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).
  10. Bake: Bake in the oven for around 65 – 75min. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. Cool and chill: After an hour remove, and let cool to room temperature, before setting in the fridge to chill overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
  14. 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

  1. Whip the cream: Whip the cream until soft waves form.
  2. Add the icing sugar: Then sift in the icing sugar.
  3. Whip to stiff peaks: Continue to whip until stiff peaks form, being careful not to overwhip.
  4. 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.
A slice of lemon and blueberry cheesecake on a gold plate in front of the cut cake The lemon and blueberry cheesecake from above on its teal stand, crowned with pansies and blueberries

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com

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