Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

So I asked husband dear (HD) what flavor cake would he like on his birthday.

Him: “umm….whatever u like.”
Me: Should I bake a strawberry cake?
Him: Nooooo
Me: Why not?
Him: It’s girlie.
Me 😯 (Dear Strawberry, forgive him for he knows not what he says.) How is it girlie?

Now here is the thing, give me a good, healthy argument any day. It energizes me. HD is polar opposite of me in that. Arguments are a waste of time according to him and rightly so :).

Him: How about a citrus cake?

Because it was his birthday, like a good wife that I am, I let this one go.

Me: Ok :). Citrus cake it is then.

I settled on lemon raspberry cheesecake because it has two of his favorites – Cheesecake and Lemon. This cheesecake is everything it should be.  I went through a lot of recipes online and after numerous trials, finally came up with this version. It’s incredibly delicious, luxurious and every bite is heaven. If you like cheesecakes you will love this.

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But let me give you a fair warning. Even though it tastes amazing, cheesecakes are not for the faint hearted. If you are looking for a healthy cake recipe this is not for you. Keep coming back though because I will post flourless cake recipe, pavlovas and olive oil cake recipes soon.

Cheesecakes are notorious for cracking on the top. There could be two reasons for that. Either you over mixed your mixture or your cake was subjected to extreme temperature variations. Temperature variations can be minimized using Bain-Marie method. It’s just a fancy name for hot water bath. But you can cook it without it too. A cracked surface, for sure, does not affect the taste of this incredible cheesecake one bit and it can be covered with fruits and cream. If your top cracks even after the hot water bath, don’t give up. Keep trying. It’s just a matter of practice and time. 🙂

So there you go Honey, Happy Birthday! Make a wish and take a bite from the biggest slice!!!

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Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 8 generous slices

Ingredients

    For the crust
  • 2 cups graham crackers crumbs
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • 6 1/2 tbsp. melted butter
    • For the filling
  • 2 (12 oz. or 340 grams each) whipped cream cheese (at room temp)
  • 1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream (at room temp)
  • 2 eggs (at room temp)
  • 3 egg yolks (at room temp)
  • 3/4 cup plus 3 tbsp. sugar
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. flour
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp. pure lemon extract
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • pinch of salt
    • For topping
  • 1/2 cup raspberry preserve
  • 40-45 fresh raspberries
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp. sugar
  • lemon zest
  • powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F
  2. Add butter and sugar to the graham crackers and mix thoroughly. The mixture should resemble coarse grain.
  3. Take a 9 inch springform pan. Spread it in the pan evenly and using a measuring cup, press it firmly.
  4. Put it in the central rack of oven and bake for 10 min. Let it cool completely.
  5. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 325F.
  6. For the filling: In a stand mixer or handheld mixer, add cream cheese, sour cream and sugar. Mix thoroughly.
  7. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, flour, lemon extract and salt to the mixture.
  8. Add one egg at a time while mixing the batter in between each addition.
  9. Tap the bowl on the surface to remove any air bubbles from the mixture.
  10. Pour the batter in the pan. Tap again.
  11. If using the Bain-Marie method:Triple wrap the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil to prevent water from entering the pan and making the cake soggy.Take a oven proof dish big enough to fit the cake pan and put it in the central rack of the oven. Put the cake pan in it and then fill the dish with hot water. The water should come up to half the height of the cake pan.
  12. Bake the cake for 1 hour 20 min or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake does not have wet batter on it. It will not come out clean like in the normal cake but will have crumbs on it.
  13. Turn off the oven and keep the oven door ajar for an hour.
  14. After an hour, let the cake cool off completely on the countertop.
  15. Take raspberry preserve and warm it in microwave for 30 sec. Let it cool down to room temperature.
  16. Pour it on the top of the cheesecake and spread it evenly leaving 1 inch on the edges of the cake.
  17. Put fresh raspberries all over the preserve.
  18. Whip the cream using mixer and when it thickens, add sugar to it and whip it. After it forms soft peaks, whip a little more till you feel some resistance while whipping. This will be about 30-40 sec after soft peaks form.
  19. Put it in a pastry bag with star tip and make rosettes all around the cake.
  20. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on raspberries and lemon zest all over.

Notes

1. If you are using whole graham crackers, put them in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. You should be needing about 20 of them. 2. A springform pan is required for baking a cheesecake. It ensures that you can easily take the cheesecake out of the pan. 3. Since I like thick crust, I spread all the crumbs at the bottom of the pan. If you like it thin, you can press some graham crackers along the side of the pan too, making a wall. 4. I have used whipped cream cheese here. It is very fluffy and airy and makes the cake very decadent but you can substitute it with 16 oz. of regular cream cheese. 5. I added eggs last in the batter so that I could taste and adjust the amount of lemon in the filling. Start with 1/8 cup of lemon juice and add more if you prefer. 6. You could add raspberry preserve in the batter also by spoonful and then make swirls with toothpick. 7. My cake took 1 hour and 20 min total but keep an eye on it after 1 hour as all ovens are different.

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9 Comments

  1. This is /” More Than A Cheese Cake”/. The texture was very light, the raspberries were fresh and juicy and the lemon zest took it to the zenith! In short, this is the bajrangi bhaijaan of the cheese cakes. Super hit!

    • morethancurry

      Thank you for liking it Tanya. Do try it and let me know how it turned out.

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