Lemon cheesecake
Chilled lemon cheesecake on a ginger biscuit base
A light, set lemon cheesecake: home-made cottage cheese beaten with sugar, lemon and egg yolks, set with gelatine and lightened with whisked egg whites and cream, on a ginger biscuit base. It's fresh, tangy and fluffy. Note that it uses raw eggs and gelatine, which isn't vegetarian; see the last step for an agar-agar swap. Not suitable for pregnant women, young children or the elderly because of the raw egg.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the biscuit base
For the filling
For decoration
Method
0/11 doneStep 1: Make cottage cheese: set 6 ¼ cups milk with 3 tsp plain yogurt as yogurt, then hang it in muslin until thick (see the cottage cheese recipe). Press it through a sieve; you need about 240 g.
720 minStep 2: Crush 6 ½ oz ginger biscuits into fine crumbs and stir in 3 ⅛ oz butter.
Step 3: Press into the base of an 18 cm loose-bottomed cake tin and chill.
30 minStep 4: Mix the cottage cheese, 6 ½ oz castor sugar, the yolks from 2 eggs and the grated rind and juice of 1 lemon.
Step 5: Dissolve 3 tsp powdered gelatine in ¾ cup hot water, stirring, and add to the cheese mixture. Beat well.
Step 6: Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the cheese mixture.
Step 7: Lastly fold in 4 tbsp double cream. Pour over the biscuit base and chill until set, about 3 hours.
180 minStep 8: To unmould, stand the tin on a tall glass and very carefully press the side of the tin downwards, so it slips off and only the base stays with the cheesecake.
Step 9: Slide the cheesecake off the base onto a serving plate.
Step 10: Decorate with 6 lemon slices around the edge and stars of whipped ¾ cup double cream in the centre.
Step 11: Vegetarian swap: gelatine is not vegetarian. Use 1½ tsp agar-agar powder instead: whisk it into the cold water, boil for 1–2 minutes until dissolved, then beat it quickly into the cheese mixture while still warm.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 390 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does lemon cheesecake take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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