A few days ago, I was invited to dinner at friends' place. Finally, between the daily grind, it doesn't happen to me that often (usually it ends up at a restaurant or bar). So for once, I had the opportunity to bring dessert. As my host's face lit up when I mentioned raspberries, I decided to create this lemon raspberry cheesecake recipe.
Culinary... and graphic reflections
If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen my graphic reflections around this dessert (and if not, feel free to follow me, I share my adventures – culinary or otherwise). I'm quite happy because the result was really very close to what I had imagined both in terms of taste and visual.
The cheesecake cream brings a tangy flavor that is delicately balanced by the fruity and sweet side of raspberries. As it was a sweltering hot day (when we still had sunny days, sniffff), this super fresh recipe had great success. I warmly recommend it to you!
Plus it's super simple, you just need to plan ahead a bit. Indeed, the cheesecake needs to spend at least 2 hours in the fridge to express all its character! For assembly, I used my adjustable 10 cm high ring once again. It was really THE good idea for this recipe, especially since I wanted it super indulgent and thick, so not too wide but quite high.
If you don't have a ring, you can use a springform cake pan (in short, if you don't have a pan that opens or a ring without a bottom, change the recipe, it could go wrong...). Or otherwise, you can get one like this, it's really super practical!
Because I don't know if you've ever tried to unmold a cheesecake, but it's really the trickiest step of the recipe (it's super annoying when your perfect cake coming out of the oven ends up in crumbs on the serving plate because you mishandled the unmolding...). With the ring, we limit the difficulty (but it's always a bit touchy, I won't lie to you.
I also recommend putting parchment paper between the oven tray and the ring. Once your cheesecake is cooked and cooled, you just need to move the whole thing to the serving plate (the parchment will stick to the bottom of the cheesecake, that's normal) then remove the parchment paper first and finally open the ring to release the cake. With this method, the risk of disaster is limited.
For the actual recipe, I recommend using real Philadelphia, it's fattier than Saint Morêt and your cheesecake will hold better. For the biscuit base, I personally used Breton shortbread cookies, but you can opt for any of your favorite cookies (I have a weakness for speculoos even though I don't usually like them, I find they give character to the cheesecake).
For the cheesecake mixture, the only point to watch out for is having a homogeneous consistency, without lumps (for this, mix thoroughly and don't hesitate to use an immersion blender if needed). For the lemon, be careful when grating the zest to only take the green part and not the white (called the pith) inside. This way, you'll avoid any risk of bitterness. I use a microplane grater to do this and it's just THE thing I absolutely recommend having in your kitchen even when you don't cook much.
Assembling the lemon raspberry cheesecake
For the technique, you will first need to melt the butter and add the cookies reduced to powder (for this, put the cookies in a freezer bag and hit them with a rolling pin, it's great for the nerves!). Press the butter/biscuit mixture well into the bottom of the mold and bake for 10 minutes in a hot oven.
Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients: the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs and the zest and juice of lime. When the mixture is well homogeneous, pour the cream over the biscuit base and bake again on low heat but this time for quite a while (between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes depending on your oven). You want to avoid the cheesecake browning.
And after cooking...
Once it's cooked, let it cool for a few minutes and then put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours (if you can make it the night before, that's even better). Arrange the raspberries and mint leaves (or lemongrass if you can find it) at the time of serving to avoid staining the cake. Rather easy (as our American friends would say), right?
Anyway, if you're also looking for a super simple dessert recipe that impresses when you're invited somewhere (or even for a good dessert at home!), I recommend this lemon raspberry cheesecake to you! And if you don't feel like turning on the oven, I recommend this no-bake cheesecake recipe.
