August 17, 2018
Lemon Drizzle Cheesecake!
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A lemon drizzle soaked lemon sponge with a no-bake lemon cheesecake topping… a lemon drizzle cheesecake!
Lemon drizzle cheesecake
I’m all about anything cheesecake, because yum. I’m also all about anything lemon as I adore it. It’s fresher, lighter, and really quite summery in comparison to chocolate for example. I’m not saying I prefer it to chocolate as that would be wildly inaccurate… I love both. However, each brings very different things to the table.
Why can’t you merge all things that I utterly love and adore into one giant dessert of a lemon drizzle cheesecake?! Well, it’s now happened – and I am utterly in love. Hello summer in a dessert!
A cake cheesecake?!
You can easily morph the flavours of citrus and chocolate together in different ways, and have great successes like orange, and milk chocolate… or lemon, and white chocolate, but I wouldn’t say all combinations work. However, after having so many chocolate recipes posted recently, I thought I would stick another lemon one out there but go for a bit of a marriage recipe, like my carrot cake cheesecake.
Everyone was completely and utterly astounded by my carrot cake cheesecake when I posted it way back when, and I thought it was high time for another similar one. I can’t take credit for inventing this one either as it has been done before, but I knew I wanted to take a stab at it. When making a cake/cheesecake crossover, you need a cake that can withstand going in the fridge and not drying out, just like the carrot cake.
Lemon drizzle
The only real option is something that takes a drizzle, such as a lemon drizzle cake. I guess you could do it with other drizzle recipes as well, but I would definitely say lemon is the most popular and a classic in itself, so it seemed natural. My lemon cheesecakes, and my lemon meringue cheesecake are both extremely lemonny cheesecakes, but they both have the classic biscuit base. If you’re going to call this a lemon drizzle cake, it requires a truly classic lemon drizzle sponge.
I used a basic cake recipe, like a victoria sponge recipe which has equal butter, sugar, flour and eggs, but then with lemon put in. It’s a bit smaller than my usual sponges as I didn’t want too much, but you want enough for it to be a cake still and a decent enough base for a cheesecake. I used the same sort of soak that I used in my lemon & lime drizzle cake, and just doused the cake with it once it had come out of the oven.
It does seem a bit unnatural to be using SO much lemon in one recipe, but roll with me. This drizzle makes sure that the cake doesn’t dry out when it’s been in the fridge for a couple of days, and will keep it delicious. If you put too much on, it can make it really quite soggy though. Topping it with an easy no-bake lemon cheesecake made the most sense, as its so incredibly easy to do.
Cheesecake
- Cream cheese – please use FULL-FAT soft cheese to make a cheesecake! Please… please! It really is so important to have a full-fat base to get the best set.
- Double cream – in the UK, our double cream is 47% fat content, which is perfect for cheesecakes. If you are elsewhere it may be called heavy cream, which is often about 35% – so as it’s less, it may be best to whip the cream separately and then fold through.
- Icing sugar – I always use icing sugar because sometimes if you don’t whisk in other cream enough it can leave a grainy texture, but if you need to use caster sugar you can, just beware.
- Lemon – I use fresh lemons when I make this lemon drizzle cheesecake because I want the lemon juice and the lemon zest, but lemon extract is a good alternative for it if you want for the cheesecake. 1-2tsps of lemon extract would work well!
Whip together the cream cheese, and icing sugar.. add in the double cream and lemon, and whip till thick. Smother the cooled sponge with the cheesecake, leave to set, and huzzah. Luckily the lemon helps the no-bake side of things set, so thats a bonus. I then put on a form of decoration as I can’t serve a cheesecake plain (And it looks better for the photos), but all the decoration is completely optional.
Tips & Tricks
If you don’t want to use a sponge, you can just make a lemon cheesecake by using 300g of digestives blitzed with 150g of melted unsalted butter, but then thats not a lemon drizzle cheesecake which is why you’re here. Honestly, recipes that involve two delicious things are my faaaavourite, and this is definitely one of them. Enjoy! X
Lemon Drizzle Cheesecake!
Ingredients
For the Cake!
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 150 g caster sugar
- 150 g self raising flour
- 3 medium eggs
- Zest of 2 lemons
For the Drizzle!
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 70 g caster sugar
For the Cheesecake!
- 500 g full-fat cream cheese
- 300 ml double cream
- 75 g icing sugar
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Zest of 2 lemons
For the Decoration!
- 150 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- Lemon slices
- Sprinkles
- 75 g white chocolate
- Yellow food colouring
Instructions
For the Cake!
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line a DEEP 8" Tin with parchment paper.
- Beat together your butter, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the flour, eggs, and lemon and beat again until combined.
- Pour into the tin, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
For the Drizzle!
- Mix together the lemon juice and caster sugar in a bowl.
- Once the cake is baked, leave it for five minutes, and then drizzle the drizzle over the cake. You can pierces the cake a few times with a fork to make soaking in easier.
- Pour it on by using spoons, and spread it evenly over everywhere.
- Leave the cake to cool fully.
For the Cheesecake!
- Beat the cream cheese with the icing sugar until smooth.
- Pour in the double cream, and the lemon, and beat again until really thick. I use the whisk attachment to make this easier and thicker.
- Spread the cheesecake mix over the cooled sponge, and leave it to set in the fridge for 5-6 hours, or overnight.
For the Decoration!
- Melt your white chocolate, and mix with the yellow food colouring. Drizzle over the cheesecake!
- Whip together the double cream and icing sugar, and pipe on using your favourite piping tip.
- Decorate with lemons, and sprinkles.. or whatever you like!
Notes
- This cheesecake will last in the fridge for 3 days, best the earlier you eat it however.
- You can use lemon extract instead if you wish, but you'd need actual lemon juice for the drizzle.
- I used a DEEP 8" tin for this, to fit the cheesecake and cake in one. I have a deep springform on, but the usual springform tin is a bit shallow for this so you probably wont fit all the cheesecake in.
- Inspired by various recipes on here, and the Good Housekeeping recipe!
ENJOY!
Find my other Cheesecake & Lemon Recipes on my Recipes Page!
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J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Hi there , would this work if I made a plain sponge and the apple crumble cheesecake ???
Hi Jane
Would it be possible to add Limoncello to this recipe? And it so when would you add it? Or could I do the base of this cheesecake and the cheesecake bit using your limoncello recipe
Thanks so much
Hiya! I would recommend just using the limoncello recipe on top! Hope this helps! x
Can this be frozen ?
Absolutely, you can freeze this for up to 3 months! x
Can you freeze this cheesecake and will it taste as nice once defrosted? Thanks
I’ve made this before and it was such a hit that it’s been requested for a birthday again this year! Super delicious, moist, full of flavour – I could eat the whole thing to myself!!! I was just wondering if Extra Thick Double Cream would work the same as whipped double cream? Feels like a silly question but just wanted to check so I don’t spoil it!
Hey!! Ahh I am so glad you love it! It would but you may still have to whip it xx
Hi Jane
My 8” tin is 2.75” deep. Is this deep enough? X
Hey! I would follow the recipe as it is and if you have any left over cheesecake mix you could serve it into glasses xx
Hi Jane
My 8” tin is 2.75” deep… Will this not be deep enough?
Hi Jane
Are the lemon slices you used for decoration fresh lemons?
Yes xx
Oh.my.word!
A friend of mine asked me to make this for her. It’s not usually something I would think to make as I’m not a huge lemon fan. I had some mix that wouldn’t fit in the tin so I made some mini versions of the sponge base and made a mini one to try myself and just a couple of days later I’ve made a whole one for me and my family. Not bad for someone who is usually more of a chocolate lover!
My friends said it kept tasting better the longer they had it, after a couple of days the sponge had really soaked in lemon.
A handy tip I’d say to others is to take the sponge off the base of the tin, wash the tin then put it back in when you add the cheesecake topping as it comes off easier when it’s all laden on top!
Thank you for another great recipe, I think I’m slowly getting through all of them!
I am making this cheese cake. Every time I melt the chocolate and then add the colour it goes hard and won’t melt again can anyone help pls
Hiya! Unfortunately you need to use an oil based colouring to colour chocolate and prevent it from seizing. Hope this helps! x
Hi do you think something along these lines would work with a red velvet cake as the base? And vanilla cheesecake topping? Or do you think it would dry out in the fridge? Thanks xx
You could get away with it as often red velvet sponge needs to be in the fridge due to cream cheese toppings!
Hi Jane
Just wanted to let you know that I managed to save this cheesecake, even after beating it too much. I put a cellophane strip around the inside of the tin and left it to set overnight and it was soft but perfect. Loved this with the sponge base.
I’d like to try it with orange and chocolate. Would the rind and juice quantities be the same? Would you mix sugar with the orange juice for the drizzle, as orange is sweeter?
Thank you so much for any help. My family love your recipes.
I would maybe use the zest of 1 large orange instead of 2 lemons, and same with the juice (as the oranges I buy are huge!). But I would still use the sugar x
Hi Jane
I’ve made a few of your cheesecake ‘s and they’ve all been fabulous. However when making this one, the cheesecake mix is so much more runny than I expected. Kept beating it, thinking it would thicken but it just got worse. Is there anything I can do to save this??
After a while, it won’t be able to thicken if you have over whisked (which sounds it!). It is salvageable, but you’d need a setting agent such as gelatine x
Hi, can I use mascarpone instead of cream cheese?
Yes!!
Made this for my lemon cake loving sisters birthday and she absolutely loved it! Easily got 12 generous slices from it and everyone still comments on how good this was. Cheesecake isn’t too rich which makes it ideal for eating on top of a cake! Beautiful, thank you!
WOW! Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it this week and it went down an absolute storm!
I’m making this for my husbands birthday, i only have 9″ deep tins will it make the cake too thin? I don’t want to go buying one unless i really have to. I love your recipes, they are amazing, i’ve made quite a few now. the toblerone cheesecake is a favourite in our house x
So a 9″ is about 1/3 bigger in volume, so it is a chunk bigger – you can either increase the recipe to fit the new proportions, or just have a thinner one! x
This was a really fun recipe to make! My friend doesn’t like biscuit base so thought this would be a great alternative to her. The sponge was absolutely perfect! However, I think if I made it again I would dial down on the lemon in the cheesecake filling. Was just a little too lemony if that is a thing!
Absolutely love LOVE love this cake! I’ve just made it for the second time! Always turns out so perfect thankfully. Family requested it without the whipped cream on top! So drizzle with Milkybar chocolate and lemon curd. Can’t wait to eat later!!!! Thank you!!!’
Hi Jane!
I’m hoping to make this for this weekend but I’m struggling to find a deep enough tin! Which one did you use and where did you get it from?
Thanks 🙂
Olivia
I believe this was just a cheap tin from Asda?! But something at least 3-4″ deep is best!
Hi Jane,
This recipe looks AMAZING and I’m hoping to make this weekend. Please could you link/recommend what tin you use? I’m really struggling to find a deep springform one online!
Thanks in advance xx
Hi there
Can you please tell me, is this recipe suitable to freeze?
Thank you
Yes absolutely, you can freeze this for up to 3 months! Enjoy! x
Hello, I have just started to make this and ended up putting lemon juice in the cake mix instead of lemon zest, will this make a difference to the end outcome?
Hey! Sometimes the added liquid can make it not rise as much or sink a smidge, but it should be fine!! How did it turn out? x
Thanks so much for this lovely recipe. So nice and light. Came out lovely first time by a novice baker. It was really easy to follow.
Hi Jane, you said a deep 8” tin but how deep would you say? I have a few 8” tins but I don’t think they are deep enough for this and I’d really like to try it. Thanks
Mine are about 4″ deep!
Just made but with the traditional biscuit base added lemon curd on base before putting on cheesecake it was absolutely gorgeous. Have made your caramac cheesecake and Maltesers omg so good.
Just made this for my family and it was 5s all around even my fussy 7yo liked it. I added a little more Icing sugar in the Cheesecake but I think this is just a personal choice there wasn’t anything wrong with it I just prefer mine a little sweeter. Can’t wait to try more recipes.
This is the second recipe I’ve used of yours and I’m loving them. I’m not a cheesecake lover but this is fantastic. I made it into a birthday cake for my daughter as it fitted her requirements. Gor theart topping I made homemade lemon curd but didn’t make it very sweet and the sharpness of the lemon curd worked perfectly with the sweetness of the cheesecake. This went down brilliant with everyone. Will be trying more of your recipes. Thank you.
Yum, yum, yum, definitely THE BEST cheesecake I’ve ever had! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Ahh amazing! Thank you!