Lemon Cheesecake with Lemon Curd
This dessert was inspired by a bag of lemons. I had picked them up with no real plan. I wanted a dessert for a dinner and decided to use them to make a cheesecake. I wanted to really amp up the lemon flavor, so besides the lemon juice and zest in the cheesecake, I added a layer of lemon curd on the top.
It worked out even better than I thought. Lots of lemon flavor in a creamy cheesecake. The lemon curd brought even more lemon to the party. Just wonderful.
So here is the recipe. I used a 9×9 inch glass pan to bake the cheesecake- rather than the normal spring form pan. It worked out really nicely. Kind of made me think about lemon bars, too.
Lemon Cheesecake with Lemon Curd
Crust:
1½ c. graham cracker crumbs
3 T. sugar
4 T. melted butter
Filling:
2 (8oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ c. sugar
2 T. flour
2 eggs
3 T. lemon juice
2 t. grated lemon peel
Lemon Curd: recipe below
Heat oven to 350-degrees. Grease a 9×9-inch baking pan- I used a glass pan. In medium bowl, combine crumbs and sugar, then add melted butter. Toss to distribute butter evenly. Press into bottom of prepared pan and bake 10 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar and flour until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in juice and peel. Pour over crust and bake for 30 minutes, or until set. Cool then top with lemon curd. Chill well before cutting. Store covered in fridge. Serves 8-10.
Lemon Curd
Lemon Curd
1/2 c. lemon juice
zest from one good sized lemon- you should have 2-3 teaspoons
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
6 T. unsalted butter- cut into little cubes
In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Whisk the mixture until the eggs are well blended. Cook over medium low heat, whisking often, until the mixture thickens. This will take 5-7 minutes. Whisk more often as mixtures warms and starts to thicken. Better to heat over lower heat and take longer than cook over too high a heat. You don’t want the eggs to scramble. Once the mixture is thickened , transfer to a bowl or jar. Cover the surface with a piece of plastic wrap to keep the surface from developing a skin- like any pudding will do. Chill until ready to use. Makes about 2 cups. Will keep in fridge a week or two.
Note: For using with this cheesecake, just make the lemon curd while the cheesecake is baking. Pour over the cheesecake while the curd is still a little warm, to make it easier to spread.
Lemon Tea Cake
This is one of my favorite cakes of all time. It is a simple cake, enhanced with the flavor of lemon juice and lemon zest. Once out of the oven, you poke the hot cake with a large fork or a skewer, and pour a lemon syrup over it.
Moist, tangy and fragrant, it is a perfect addition to afternoon tea.
Great all on its own, this cake is also wonderful served with fresh berries and whipped cream for a Spring dessert. On a hot day, I have been known to top it with a scoop of ice cream.
Before you ask, the measurements are correct- only 3/4 cup of flour. No leaveners like baking powder or baking soda, either. The cake does not rise a whole bunch, but the texture is still very nice. The denseness of the cake helps it to stand up to the lemon syrup.
I hope you will give it a try.
Lemon Tea Cake
2 lemons
3 T. sugar for topping
½ c. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. flour
6 T. milk or half and half
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- inch loaf pan and line with wax or parchment paper. Grate the lemon rinds and set aside. Combine the juice of 1 of the lemons with the 3 tablespoons of sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Set aside.
Cream together the butter with the rest of the sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time until well mixed. Stir in the flour and lemon peel and beat well. Add the milk and beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at least an hour. The cake should spring back when touched lightly. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven pierce it all over with a long-tined fork or a skewer. Pour over the reserved lemon juice mixture. Cool cake in pan before serving. Cake will be moist and tangy.
Lemonade Biscuits
Lemonade Biscuits
I know it sounds odd but these are some of the lightest biscuits I ever made- and easy, too. They aren’t sweet, as you might imagine, but do have a slight lemon flavor. Great with almost any savory dish I could see using these as the base for strawberry shortcake, too.
Lemonade Biscuits
3 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. prepared lemonade
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add cream and lemonade and stir gently until dough just holds together. Using flour on a board, gently knead the dough using gentle pressure until it just holds together. Dough will be sticky. Press or roll out about 1/2 inch thick and cut out with 2 inch biscuit cutter. Re-roll scraps. You should get 20-24 biscuits. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom and light brown on the top. Cool on wire rack.
Homemade Lemonade Mix
Homemade Lemonade Concentrate
Lemonade will always be a favorite summertime drink for me. I make it plain or sometimes with berries added. I like the convenience of those frozen lemonade concentrates but I prefer using fresh squeezed lemon juice. I started making my own concentrate a few years ago when I got a whole case of lemons from a friend. I juiced the lemons and froze much of the juice just plain. There was still a lot of juice. I decided I might as well try to make some lemonade concentrate, too. I went to the store and read the ingredients on several brands of frozen lemonade concentrate. High fructose corn syrup and concentrated lemon juice. Well I decided that wasn’t going to work for me so I did something radical. I stirred some sugar together with lemon juice until the sugar dissolved. There didn’t seem to be much point in adding water- that would defeat the purpose of it being a concentrate. Then I just froze the juice/sugar mixture.
Sometimes I freeze a whole batch together either in a plastic container or in a Ziploc bag. I also froze some of this lemonade mix in ice cube trays. That way once frozen I could pop the cubes into bags and just take out what I needed at the time. I’ll often add some lemon zest, too. Don’t toss all that zest, either. If you are going to be juicing a lot of lemon just for the juice, zest them first- and freeze or dry the zest for later use.
Well here is the recipe for my lemonade concentrate.
Homemade Lemonade Concentrate
1 1/3 c. lemon juice- fresh or bottled
1 c. sugar*
lemon zest, optional
Combine ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved. Freeze until ready to use. Makes a little over 1 1/2 cups. To use: combine three parts water to one part concentrate.
* You can use honey instead of sugar- but only use 1/2 c. honey as it is much sweeter than sugar.
Lemon Tea Cake
Lemon Tea Cake
This is one of my favorite cakes of all time. It is a simple cake enhanced with lemon zest. Once out of the oven you poke the hot cake with a large fork or a skewer and pour a lemon syrup over it. Moist, tangy and fragrant it is a great addition to afternoon tea. Great all on its own this cake is also wonderful served with fresh berries and whipped cream for a light dessert.
Lemon Tea Cake
2 lemons
3 T. sugar for topping
½ c. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. flour
6 T. milk or half and half
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- inch loaf pan and line with wax or parchment paper. Grate the lemon rinds and set aside. Combine the juice of 1 of the lemons with the 3 tablespoons of sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Set aside.
Cream together the butter with the rest of the sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time until well mixed. Stir in the flour and lemon peel and beat well. Add the milk and beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at least an hour. The cake should spring back when touched lightly. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven pierce it all over with a long tined fork or a skewer. Pour over the reserved lemon juice mixture. Cool cake in pan before serving. Cake will be moist and tangy.
