Do you have one of those simple, easy, foolproof desserts that you take with you whenever you visit family and friends? Well this baked lemon cheesecake is my stand by treat.  And this is what I should have made in the first instance last weekend instead of the mascarpone and berry tart blunder that ended up all over the kitchen floor in a pool of berry sludge!

The only complaint I have about this cheesecake is that once you remove it from the oven and allow it to cool in generally splits. The way I get around this annoying attribute is to cover the cheesecake with lemon curd, sour cherries or chocolate ganache.

I have made many variations of this cheesecake over the years and all of them have been good. Actually better than good, they've been down right sensational!  I've made lemon cheesecake with chocolate ganache, Cointreau cheesecake with chocolate ganache, Amaretto and chocolate cheesecake with ganache and vanilla bean cheesecake with sour cherries. As long as you have a good, trustworthy basic recipe like this one the variations are limitless.




Baked Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the base

120g plain sweet biscuits

¾ cup of almond meal

100g of unsalted butter, cubed

 
For the filling

500g cream cheese

100g fresh ricotta

1 cup caster sugar

6 organic eggs

Zest & juice of a lemon

½ cup of sour cream
 
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/302F/Gas 2.

2. Place almond meal, butter and biscuits in the Magi mix or food processor and process for 20 seconds or until mixture resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Press the mixture evenly over the base of a round 22cm (9inch) springform tin and pop it in the freezer to chill while you make the filling.

3. Place the cream cheese, ricotta, sugar, eggs, sour cream and lemon juice in the Magi mix or food processor and process until well combined. Pour the topping over the chilled biscuit base and bake for an hour or until the cheesecake is firm to touch.

4. Allow the cheesecake to cool completely before covering it with lemon curd.



 
Lemon Curd

Ingredients

2 organic eggs

100g unsalted butter

1 cup raw caster sugar

Juice of a lemon
 
Method

1. Whisk the eggs together in a bowl with the sugar and lemon juice. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water or bain-marie and stir continuously until it thickens.

2. Remove the bowl from the heat and allow to cool completely before spreading it over the top of the cheesecake.