Because this is our favorite cheesecake recipe EVER, I made it to celebrate my brother's birthday. I am so lucky to have such a great brother. He has a lovely home, wonderful wife and two handsome sons! The only problem is I only see him a few days out of the year due to the miles between us.
Steve is the official Apple Dumpling maker and I rarely make them myself because he does such a good job, it's hard to do better than him! I really wish I could be closer. I would happily share some of my cheesecake with him in exchange for some of his apple dumplings!
For this recipe, I made my own lemon curd. I love this stuff! The sweet tang is so delicious that I can just eat it by the spoonful! Lemon Curd is very simple with only 4 ingredients - Lemon Juice (and zest), butter, sugar, and eggs!
I love the bright citrus scent of the lemon. It literally makes you feel sunshine! I believe this is the biggest reason citrus (lemons especially) is big in the spring. It invokes the feeling of sunshine, brightness, and life!
When the lemon curd is done I always top it with some plastic wrap to prevent a "skin" forming over top of the curd. Once it has cooled enough, I put it in the refrigerator to get cold. The curd thickens up more as it chills. It is perfect for swirling into this cheesecake!
The crust for this cake is a shortbread type crust and is very thin. I love this because I'm looking for cheesecake when I eat cheesecake, not the crust!
I feel bad my brother isn't here to share this with us....seriously. It makes a lot of cheesecake!
Lemon Curd Swirled Cheesecake
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Ingredients
For the crust
- ⅔ cup flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter , chilled, cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon ice water
- Cooking spray
For the filling
- 24 ounces fat-free cream cheese (3- 8 oz blocks), softened
- 16 ounces ⅓ less fat cream cheese (2-8 oz blocks), softened
- 1¾ cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2½ teaspoons lemon rind , grated
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoons salt
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup Lemon Curd
For the lemon curd
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice about 3 large lemons
- 2 tablespoon butter
Instructions
For the lemon curd
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, egg yolks, and lemon rind using a hand whisk.
- Cook for 3 minutes, until sugar dissolves and mixture is pale yellow. Stir in lemon juice and butter. Cook for 5 minutes or until mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly with a whisk.
- Transfer lemon curd to a large bowl and cover the top of the curd with plastic wrap. Cool completely. Chill lemon curd until ready to use.
To prepare the crust
- Preheat oven to 400°. Place ⅔ cup flour and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add chilled butter; pulse 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.
- With food processor on, slowly pour ice water through food chute, processing just until blended (do not allow dough to form a ball). Transfer shortbread crumbs to 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Firmly press mixture into bottom of pan.
- Place in oven and bake 10 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges. Cool on a wire rack.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325.
To prepare the filling
- In a large bowl, using a electric mixer, beat cream cheese at high speed until smooth. Add sugar, flour, lemon zest, and salt to the cream cheese. Mix until well combined.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time to the cream cheese mixture, beating well after each addition.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into prepared pan. Spoon mounds of chilled lemon curd over top of cheesecake batter. Swirl curd and cheesecake batter using the tip of a knife.
- Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cheesecake is almost set. Remove cheesecake from oven, and cool to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.
TeaLady
I lOVE cheese cake and that ones looks fantastic. I have wanted to use lemon curd in one, but couldn't think of a really good way to do it. Now I know how...
TheGourmetGirl
Two of my all time favorites, lemon and cheese (cake)!
Great recipe thanks for sharing, will have to give it a try in the near future.
JMom
That is one gorgeous looking cake! Happy birthday to your brother Steve 🙂
cindy
I love lemon, I love cheesecake. It looks delish!
RecipeGirl
Wow, does that look like a wonderful cheesecake! I love the lemony swirl 🙂 Happy bday to your little bro!
Tatieva
Oh, ce que ça a l'air délicieux !
J'aime beaucoup la couleur du citron, c'est frais, léger et acidulé, délicieux !
Kisses from France,
Tatieva
Debbie
Little brothers are great! But I feel EXACTLY as you do.... too bad we're so far apart.
Happy day!!
Elyse
Awww, happy bday, Steve!! Steve is lucky to have such a wonderful sister! This cheesecake looks amazing. I'm just loving the swirl of lemon curd. How totally fantastic.
Design Tutorials
Hey Steve Happy Birthday Nice cake peace
Megan
I love lemon, I love cheesecake!
Nuf said? 😉
Katy ~
Steve, happy birthday! Many happy returns!
HoneyB, I LUV cheesecake! YUMMERS!
Chowhound
That cheese cake looks phenomenal! Happy birthday to your brother.
Coleen's Recipes
Happy Birthday to Honeybunches little brother!!
Katie
What a beautiful cheesecake! I am a firm advocate of celebrating birthdays, even if the person whose birthday it is isn't present.
Anonymous
That is a beautiful cheesecake Shelby!
Jam
Delectable Dining
This looks wonderful!
I left an award for you on my blog... I love reading your wonderful recipes!
http://www.delectabledining09.blogspot.com
Angie
That cheesecake looks great. It makes me wish I wasn't allergic to cheesecake.
Anj
That is one seriously beautiful cheesecake. I love the lemon swirls. What a lucky brother.
Tangled Noodle
What a lovely, sweet treat to celebrate your brother's birthday! I can empathize - all of my sisters live near each other on the West Coast while I'm the only one in the Midwest. We visit them once a year (if possible) but we always miss our birthdays with each other. It's the reason we cherish the times we do have together even more!
Pamela
What a sweet sister you are! That cake looks fabulous! I just made this one over Easter and it was so good!! Nice job.