June 19, 2019
Lemon and Elderflower Cheesecake!
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An easy no-bake lemon and elderflower cheesecake – fresh, summery, and delightful!
Lemon and elderflower
It’s been over a year now since Harry & Meghan got married (if you’re not understanding who this is, think royalty), and therefore a year since they had their lemon & elderflower themed wedding cake!
I realise that lemon & elderflower was a combination long before the cake happened, but there has 100% been a rise in recipes involving the two since – such as my lemon & elderflower cake recipe!
The combination of flavours to me is just wonderful. I obviously love a bit of lemon, as I have countless lemon recipes on my blog such as my lemon cheesecake, and lemon celebration cake, but add elderflower to it?! It becomes the next level.
Elderflower
Elderflower cordial is something that you could easily make at home if you had access to enough elderflower… but I don’t. My parent’s neighbour has a massive elderflower tree which I might’ve pinched some in the past to make some (thanks Jenny!), but otherwise, bottled cordial is dandy.
Elderflower cordial
There are many a brand of elderflower cordial out there, but I tend to use Bottlegreen or Belvoir! Either tastes amazing, and it’s such a refreshing drink with some ice cold water, ice, and a slice of lemon or two!
The problem I wanted to overcome, was not having one flavour too powerful in comparison to the other. Lemon can be quite delicate at the same time as being very overpowering. Elderflower, however, can be very delicate, and sometimes not strong enough.
Setting agent
The easier part of making the lemon & elderflower cake, as that you can get away with adding more liquid in comparison to a cheesecake. I’ve always tried to keep my cheesecakes vegetarian friendly and easier to make (not using gelatine), but there is a fine line!
My gin & tonic cheesecake, for example, needed a setting agent – but this one, I really didn’t want to have it. I went for using much less lemon compared to how much I normally would in a cheesecake, and basically making the difference up with the elderflower cordial.
Simple recipe
The rest of the cheesecake is essentially the same as all of my others – a digestive biscuit base (you can use any dried biscuit here really – graham crackers for my US readers), and then a creamy cheesecake filling.
Full fat ingredients
I’ve said it countless times (pretty much all 70+ cheesecake recipes on here) and I will say it again… FULL FAT CREAM CHEESE is so important. Lower at has a much higher chance of splitting!
Add the full-fat cream cheese to the fattiest liquid cream you have in your country (our double cream is 47%, which is much higher compared to whipping cream at 35%) and some icing sugar and you will have a cheesecake mix.
Handy tools!
I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer to make my cheesecake mix 95% of the time, the rest being my Kitchenaid hand whisk when I’m filming a video, and personally, I find this quite important – you can make it with your arm and a whisk, but you’ll be whipping for ages!
I really hope you all love this deliciously summery and delicate cheesecakes as much as I do! Enjoy! X
Lemon & Elderflower Cheesecake!
Ingredients
Biscuit Base
- 300 g digestives
- 150 g unsalted butter (melted)
Cheesecake Filling
- 600 g full-fat cream cheese
- 75 g icing sugar
- 300 ml double cream
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 100 ml elderflower cordial (Concentrated)
Decoration
- 150 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- Lemon zest
- Biscuit crumbs
Instructions
For the Biscuit Base
- Blitz your biscuits to a fine crumb in a food processor, on a bowl with the end of a rolling pin.
- Add in your melted butter and mix until combined fully.
- Pour into the bottom of an 8"/20cm deep springform tin, and press down firmly.
Cheesecake Filling
- Add your cream cheese and your icing sugar to a large bowl, I use my stand mixer, and whisk until smooth.
- Add in your lemon, and your elderflower, and whisk again - this can make it look a little funny, but stick with it and it'll come together!
- Add in your double cream, and whisk until thick! It can take longer than a normal cheesecake because of the liquid, but it'll come together!
- Once it's really thick, spread the mixture over the base of the cheesecake and leave to set overnight in the fridge.
Decoration
- Once the cheesecake has set, remove it carefully from the tin. I smooth the sides of the cheesecakes with a small sharp knife!
- Whip together your double cream and icing sugar if you wanted whipped cream for decoration, and pipe on to your cheesecake!
- Sprinkle the cheesecake with lemon zest and some biscuit crumbs to make it look nice, and then enjoy!
Notes
- This cheesecake will last for three days in the fridge!
- This cheesecake is naturally a lot softer than others because of the liquid, so you have to make sure to really whisk it up thick to get it to set!
- You can use a vegetarian setting agent or gelatine if you wish, but read the packet instructions for how much you'll need as they are all different! I would add it to the elderflower cordial.
- I used the Bottlegreen cordial this time, but any good quality ones will do!
- You don't want to add too much Lemon as it will easily overpower the elderflower - but its up to you!
- I recommend using an 8"/20cm deep springform tin for this recipe!
ENJOY!
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J x
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I need to make this recipe ahead of time…does it freeze well? Thank you!
Made this for my Sister’s birthday as a surprise!
I was a bit nervous about the cheesecake filling having read some of the comments, however I found that it came together really nicely. It made a thick, ‘dolloping’ texture and set well over night – It tasted really lovely too! Thank you Jane for the recipe 😊 xx
Hi if making this with gelatin how many sheets would I need to use in the elderflower cordial ?
Hiya! Follow the packet instructions for the best results! Hope this helps x
Can you use gingernut biscuits instead of digestives, or a mixture of the 2 and if so how much (if at all) should I change the quantity of butter? Thank you!
Hiya! Yes absolutely you can – just use 2/3 of the butter! Hope this helps! x
Hi, love your recipes. I’ve seen Elderflower essence in Waitrose. Can this be used instead of cordial?
Yes absolutely it can! Enjoy! x
Love the delicate summery flavour of this recipe. However I’ve made it twice now and each time the liquid seems to leak out. I leave it overnight in the fridge and come down to a puddle of sticky lemony elderflower and it continues to leak until I’ve eaten it all! It sets well, and I can still taste the flavour when I eat it, am I not mixing it enough though??
Love the flavours and texture of this one. Light and delicate. However I have made this twice and each time I am greeted with a puddle in the fridge after I have left the cheesecake overnight. It seems the elderflower/lemon is leaking out?? I have made it exactly to recipe. Am I not mixing it thick enough? It still sets ok.
I am making this today and I am begging my mum to let me start. I’ve made this once before and it is soooooo delicious and easy (even for me and I’m 11)!
Can you freeze this?
Hello Jane,
Hoping to try this recipe this week and am wondering if you can give me an idea how many ml is the juice of half a lemon? I’m conscious that lemons come in different sizes and I’ve been caught out before by squeezing every last drop out of a lemon for a recipe ( I really don’t like to waste anything!) and it’s been far too much liquid. I can see the liquid content is important so this one will set, so do you have a measurement I could work to?
Thanks!
I usually say it’s 3-4 tbsp worth of juice per lemon! x
I’m not normally a lover of cheesecake. However, I really couldn’t resist the sound of this elderflower and lemon one. Made it this morning and it was so easy to do. I couldn’t resist tasting the creamy mixture before putting it in the tin – absolute heaven! I assembled the creamy topping with the base and put it in the fridge. Checked just now and it’s set beautifully. Can’t wait to share it with my visitors tomorrow. Hope they like it!
Hey! Ahh I am is pleased you enjoyed it and I hope your visitors do too!x
Hi Jane, loving your cheesecake recipes!! They are a big hit with my family. Just made the Lemon & Elderflower and was wondering how many calories are in it? Its so lovely, light & fresh and I’m finding it hard to resist a second slice lol
Love it, really easy and really tasty.
Hi. Would this work with other cordials. Someone has gifted me a bottle of blackberry cordial?
It should do, but some may not come through as strongly in taste xx
Incredible recipe as ever. Everyone I know goes mad for your cheesecakes! Thanks so much for putting the nutrition information on too, I find it super helpful.
I enjoyed making this cheesecake as it was simple to follow and came out well. I didn’t find it difficult to set and achieved a nice texture. I didn’t really get the elderflower flavour coming through much but I used homemade elderflower cordial so that may explain it. I’d recommend giving it a go!
Glad you enjoyed it! It probably will be that it’s homemade – whenever I’ve had homemade elderflower in the past it isn’t as strong in general! x
Hi Jane, do you think the bottle green pomegranate and elderflower cordial work well in this recipe? Also if I leave out the lemon juice would that affect the consistency at all?
Thanks!
It would probably still work, but I’m not sure how strong the flavour would be! Maybe still use 1tsp of lemon juice just incase!
When I made your jaffa cake cheesecake I used mascarpone instead of cream cheese, is it ok to use this in all your other cheesecake recipes? I’m making the chocolate orange one for the charity cake sale at work next week. Thanks.
Yes – mascarpone can sometimes need less whisking, and it is naturally sweeter – but you can use it instead!!
I use the sugar and crumb icing sugar and it tastes devine in the cheese cake. Ive tried the cordial but find it a little sloppy without using gelatine
How interesting – I didn’t have an issue with it setting with the cordial, and I didn’t use gelatine!
Hello Jane,
Is the Sugar&Crumbs elderflower and lemon a good substitute for the cordial?
Kind regards
I have no idea I’m afraid – I’d always think the actual elderflower cordial would be better!