Lemon cheesecake

Recipe and cake from my baking extraordinaire friend, N. Things go into a bowl, into a cake tin, and an hour later, there’s something delicious to be had.

This recipe uses a biscuit-base, probably the easiest cheesecake base around. Unless it doesn’t have a base, in which your cheesecake is most likely a fluffy Japanese-style cheesecake. For most of the time, I stood around and took pictures. But the recipe looks straightforward, and forgiving (provided everything is measured out right, and directions are followed correctly).

1 cup crushed plain sweet biscuits (We used Marie.)
80 g butter

250 g cream cheese
3 eggs, separated
65 g white sugar
65 mL double cream
zest of one lemon
3/4 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
20 g melted butter
2 tbsp plain flour

Before you bake cake/ Line and, or, grease a cake tin/

Make the biscuit base first.

Hey you, get smashing/ (But more a rolling motion)/ Smash them biscuits good

1. Crush biscuits. Put the biscuits into a clean bag, and use a rolling pin to crush them. Don’t tie the bag up as shown in the picture, if you smash too hard the biscuits puncture through the bag, and you will have a mess. Keep the bag untied, and keep the crumbs and biscuity bits in the bag.

Microwave beams, go!/ Vibrate, water molecules!/ Warm up my butter

Add butter to mix/ Here comes my favourite part/ Mix it ’round and ’round

2. Melt the 80g butter. Mix the biscuit crumbs and butter in a bowl. Press the base mix into a greased and/or lined cake tin. Use the base of a cup or spoon to press it down if you want a smooth and even biscuit layer.

Put the cake tin with the biscuit base in the fridge. Onwards to the cheesecake filling!

3. Preheat to 160 degrees Celcius. Arrange the racks so the cake tin can sit in the middle, and a baking pan of water can fit in the oven with the cheesecake (on a lower rack).

Magic stuff in bowl/ If I didn’t know better/ Sugar and cream cheese

Handy dandy tool/ My buddy the eggbeater/ Whip that cream cheese good

4. Cream the cream cheese, and half of the sugar first. Then slowly add cream and beat until thick. Add egg yolks, one at a time. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.

Even more butter/ Add some flour to the mix/ Even more beating

5. Stirring/beating more slowly now, add the melted butter and flour. Stir to incorporate.

6. Making sure the egg beaters are clean, and free from any yolk, cream cheese mixture or water, beat the 3 whites (in a big bowl) until they are frothy. (This takes less than a minute.) Then add the other half of the sugar.

One tip for one whites/ No oil, and no water/ Will not get stiff peaks

Egg white is protein/ Whipping makes a protein net/ Capture air bubbles

7.  Beat until stiff peaks form.

Add an egg white cloud/ Aeration comes from egg whites/ For fluffy cheesecake

8. Fold the egg whites into the lemon-cream cheese mixture.

gently mixed batter?/ Now plonk into your cake tin/ No ceremony

The less-tasty cake/ Magical transformation/ Ta-da! Tasty cake

9. Pour into cake tin. Hopefully the biscuit base will be a bit more solid by now. Doesn’t matter if it isn’t, but it helps the base stay together after baking.
10. Bake for an hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. It is very important that a baking tray of water is in the oven with the cheesecake. Otherwise it will dry out.

Baking does wonders/ Magical transformation/ actually science

Cool before serving. Chill if you can.

Just a little slice/ A proper serve for photos/ Larger serve for me