Sunday’s Lemon Cheesecake
On Sundays when I was young, Mum would make a roast dinner for lunch. Dessert was often lemon cheesecake. She would hand me, my brother, or one of my sisters a bag of digestive biscuits and a rolling pin and we would get down on our hands and knees on the kitchen floor and bash them to bits, which my mum would then use to make the crust. The filling was a mixture of cream cheese, whipped cream, and a block of lemon jelly, a packaged, premade Jell-O-like product that doesn’t seem to be easily found in the US. At that time, I thought it the height of sophistication. I’ve tried to make my recipe taste just like Mum’s.
Makes 12 servings
- 3 cups (270 grams/24 cookies) graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup (2 sticks/225 grams) butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
- 4 teaspoons water
- 3 cups (24 ounces/675 grams) cream cheese
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) sugar
- Grated zest and juice of 3 lemons, plus a couple of lemon slices for decorating, if desired
- 1½ cups (355 milliliters) heavy cream
- Whipped cream, for decorating (optional)
1 In a medium bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs and butter. Press the mixture firmly over the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.
2 Put the gelatin in a small bowl. While whisking, pour in the water and mix until smooth. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to soften (or “bloom”). It will look spongy when it’s ready.
3 Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth.
4 Pour in the cream and whip for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture has thickened.
5 Heat the gelatin in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds, until it is in liquid form. Set aside to cool slightly. Swiftly incorporate the cooled gelatin into the cream cheese mixture (you’ll want to do this quickly so the gelatin doesn’t set before it’s incorporated).
6 Pour the filling over the prepared crust and smooth with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to set.
7 If you’d like, decorate the cheesecake by piping rosettes of whipped cream on top and placing a few thin slices of lemon in the center. Store the cheesecake in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.
Note
If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a zip-top plastic bag to pipe the whipped cream instead. Transfer the whipped cream to the bag and cut the tip off one corner for piping.
