Lemon drizzle cheesecake

Lemon drizzle cheesecake

This zesty lemon cheesecake recipe has a lemon drizzle cake base, combining two of our favourite desserts

Two classic recipes (lemon drizzle cake and cheesecake) come together to make this delicious dessert. Leave 6 hours for this to chill in the fridge.

Ingredients

FOR THE SPONGE

100 g (3 ½oz) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
100 g (3 ½oz) self-raising flour
2 medium eggs
125 g (4oz) caster sugar

FOR THE CHEESECAKE

500 g (1lb 2oz) cream cheese
125 g (4oz) icing sugar
40 g (1 ½oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
300 ml (10 fl oz (½ pint)) double cream
100 g (3 ½oz) lemon curd
Pared zest of 1 lemon, to decorate
Pearl sugar, to decorate (optional)

Directions

Make the cake. Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan) mark 3. Lightly grease the base and sides of a 20.5cm (8in) round springform tin. Line the base of the tin with parchment.
Put the zest and 2tbsp juice in a mixing bowl with the butter, flour, eggs, and 100g (31/2oz) caster sugar. Whisk together with an electric hand whisk briefly until the mixture is smooth and combined (don’t over whisk). Tip the mixture into the tin and spread to level. Bake for 25-30min until the cake is golden, risen and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Put the remaining lemon juice and remaining caster sugar in a small pan. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Carefully poke holes into the top of the sponge with a cocktail stick or skewer and pour the hot syrup over the cake. Allow cooling completely in the tin.
Unclip and remove the cake from the tin. Clean tin. Turn base of tin over so it’s flat-side up. Take a 30.5cm (12in) sheet of baking parchment and lay it over the base of the tin. Carefully clip the paper-covered base back into the tin so the paper is tightly stretched over the base and any overhang is trapped between base and sides of the tin, then line sides of the tin with another piece of baking parchment. Peel and discard parchment from the bottom of the cake, then place it into the prepared tin, flat side down.
Make the cheesecake. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, melted butter, lemon zest and half the juice together with an electric handwhisk until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then gently fold it into the cream cheese bowl until combined. Tip the cheesecake mixture into the tin and spread to make an even layer. Chill in the fridge for at least 6hr or overnight.
When ready to serve, beat the remaining lemon juice with the lemon curd. Unclip cheesecake from tin and slide on to a serving plate or cake stand. Peel off the parchment around the sides. Drizzle some of the lemon curd sauce over the cheesecake to decorate and sprinkle over the lemon zest and pearl sugar, if using. Serve in slices with a drizzle of extra sauce.