Recently, we had a friend over who shares my love for lemon desserts. There’s just something about them:

The way that the slight tang of the lemon counteracts any excess of sweetness and balances it out just perfectly.

Lemon cheesecake, lemon bread, lemon bars, lemon cake, anything with lemon curd on top, the list goes on and on. They’re all perfect and they’re all my favorites.

I had also been looking for a new go-to cheesecake recipe. My current one was good, but it wasn’t impressively good.

It had come out dry on more than one occasion and I knew there had to be a better recipe out there.

This one was the winner!

It’s light and fluffy, and has that beautiful texture similar to no bake cheesecake, but with the flavor complexity of a traditional oven-baked cheesecake.

It’s one of those desserts that doesn’t weigh you down after a full meal, making you regret the calories.

Has anyone been there before? That dessert that you took one bite of and instantly realized it wasn’t going to be worth eating?

This is NOT that dessert.

This particular recipe that I am sharing is a two-fer. A perfect cheesecake recipe that could absolutely be eaten plain, or topped with other ingredients, plus a great recipe for lemon curd.

If you have never had lemon curd before, I promise that it’s way better than the name. The name is almost cringe worthy.

The finished product, however, is delicious, if you like lemon – and can be used in multiple fashions: on cakes, as a fruit dip, on ladyfingers, so many different ways to incorporate this.

My dessert of choice to incorporate it this time just happened to be on top of a cheesecake.

If you’re still looking for an Easter dessert recipe, here’s a great option!

As always, thanks for reading, happy baking, and Happy Easter from hbk!

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

1 C. crushed graham cracker

5 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1/3 C. melted butter

Filling

3 8 oz. blocks cream cheese, at room temperature

1 ¢ C. granulated sugar

4 eggs separated

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. For the crust, stir together all ingredients until you have slightly larger crumbs. Pour into spring form pan, pressing against the sides and bottom. I used the bottom of a glass to do this.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, 4 egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix together until smooth and creamy.

4. Using another bowl, beat 4 egg whites until stiff and creamy. Fold egg whites into cream cheese mixture.

5. Pour into crust in spring form pan. Bake for 35 minutes.

6. After baking, turn off oven, and leave the cheesecake in for an hour.

7. Remove from oven, and place directly in the freezer. If serving same day, cheesecake will need at least 1 hour in the freezer to firm up.

Before serving, place in fridge for 30-45 minutes.

LEMON CURD INGREDIENTS

3 eggs, lightly whisked

1 C. granulated sugar

å C. lemon juice, 4-5 large lemons

¢ C. butter, cubed

Pinch of salt

Zest of two lemons

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Zest the two lemons, set aside.

2. Juice lemons, removing excess pulp and seeds.

3. In a medium sized saucepan, whisk eggs, sugar, salt, and lemon juice until well combined.

4. Add in lemon zest and butter, turn heat on medium and continue stirring until mixture is thick enough to leave a coating on the back of your spoon.

5. Optional – for smooth lemon curd, you can use an immersion blender for 1-2 minutes.

6. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the saucepan, before transferring to a glass jar or bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Enjoy!

Katy Wise is a Fredonia resident.