Baking Recipes,  Cheesecakes

My favorite Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake, so far anyway

This Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake gives you a creamy experience of sweet-tart-lemony-salty, making it utterly unforgettable!


I’ve been seeing a lot of blueberries on social media lately, so I figured, before blueberry season comes to a close I should share this little gem I’ve been keeping in my backlog folder all this time. I’ve been waiting and waiting for the perfect opportunity to share it, and sometimes you wait until you simply forget. But now feels like THE time, because this Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake is one of those things that is worth the deliberate purchase of fresh blueberries before they’re gone.

I know blueberries aren’t the cheapest fruit so I’m picky where I use them too. I mean, sure using them on classic no-fail blueberry recipes like Blueberry Muffins, Blueberry Pancakes, and Blueberry Crumble works too, but I STRONGLY suggest using them here. This recipe is like the leveled up relative of a normal Blueberry Cheesecake. It’s SO GOOD. I literally have so many OMGs written all over the margins of my recipe print-out. 

You might think, but doesn’t Blueberry Cheesecake use canned blueberry topping? Well, yes and no. This Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake has juicy fresh blueberries inside, in the cheesecake itself, which is why it’s extra special. As for the topping, you have the option to use canned or cook your own fresh blueberry topping. (Or omit it entirely if you want!) But the topping is not the best part about this cheesecake. It’s the body— the beautifully lemon-y cheesecake with pops of blueberry surprise inside.

This is one of my favorite cheesecakes. Bold words, but it’s the truth! At a time when Basque Cheesecake is ruling our feeds, this Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake is my breath of fresh air.

Speaking of Basque Cheesecake, this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake also uses quite a good amount of cream cheese and eggs. The inevitable use of a ton of ingredients that’s not exactly “good for you” is the reality of a great cheesecake. Whether that’s unfortunate or not, I’ll let you be the judge lol.

I personally find this cheesecake hard to resist despite knowing what’s in it, and funnily enough, every time I convince myself to take another bite, my excuse is that it has fruits inside. And I’m speaking from the point of view of a person who normally has pretty good self-control when it comes to desserts. I can’t explain what draws me to this cheesecake so much. It’s probably the way the cream cheese tang and lemon tang work so perfectly together, my resolve is weakened!

I forgot to talk about the texture of the cheesecake. It’s also amazingly smooth. It was a pleasure running my fork through the slice! I was also really happy I didn’t get any cracks on the surface of my cheesecake. Technically, a crack here and there won’t really hurt the flavor of this fantastic Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake, but I’m such a perfectionist lol. I ended up covering it with blueberry topping anyway! (Not over the top at all!)

 

Recipe notes

To start, we’re going to make the crust for this Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake. You want to use a springform pan for easier unmolding. Wrap the bottom and sides of the pan with layers of aluminum foil, making sure absolutely no water can penetrate through. This is because we will be baking this in a water bath. The last thing you want is a wet graham cracker crust when you have such a gorgeous cheesecake!

Mix together your crust ingredients and press firmly on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. I like it when my cheesecake crust reaches up the side of my cheesecake, but feel free to just keep it to the bottom if that’s what you like. You can also use chocolate cookie crumbs if you like, but graham cracker crumbs will complement this cheesecake better in my opinion. 

We want to bake this crust for 10 minutes in a preheated 325°F (165°C) oven just to make it firm up. Set aside to cool once done, then lower oven temp to 300°F (150°C).

Moving on to the cheesecake body, you can do this by hand or by machine. You want to make sure to use 3 bars of cream cheese that’s been softened at room temperature to make everything easier. Yes, 3 bars, mixed with the sugar and flour until well-combined. Make sure to mix at low speed to keep from aerating the mixture too much. We don’t want a lot of air bubbles in the batter to avoid cracks on the cheesecake. 

Always scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl down with a spatula before adding the next batch of ingredients. This time, the sour ingredients go in: lemon juice, lemon zest, and sour cream. Mix well. I find that cheesecakes that have sour cream are often more balanced in flavor and texture.

Now add 3 eggs and 3 egg yolks, but do it one at a time. Make sure the first egg is incorporated into the mixture before adding in the next. If you add too many eggs at one time, your cheesecake might end up tasting eggy. 

By the way, I didn’t get any curdling with my mixture because I used room temp eggs. A good rule of thumb is to use room temperature ingredients all throughout so that your batter doesn’t have any weird unwanted reactions caused by changes in temperature. 

At this point, you want to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl one last time to make sure there are no unmixed blobs. And then add the magical blueberries and fold just until they are distributed in the batter. Don’t be stingy here. You want to have more than enough blueberries in that cheesecake body.

Now just pour the batter over your cooled crust, then place the springform pan, wrapped in foil, into another rectangular pan that’s large enough to fit the springform. (I placed aluminum to seal off my baking pan because it wasn’t a roasting pan and there are micro-holes on the corners.)

Add enough warm water to the outside pan to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil. This water bath will help your cheesecake bake gently.

Bake your Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake for 1 hour 15 minutes at 300°F (150°C), low and slow. Once done, the center should be set, but still jiggly. Turn off the oven and leave the door closed with the cheesecake inside for 30 minutes. The cheesecake will continue to cook inside but slowly begin to cool as well.

Now slightly open the oven door but leave the cheesecake inside for another 30 minutes, allowing the cheesecake to continue to cool slowly. This process helps prevent cracking. As you can see, my cheesecake did not crack AT ALL.

Now the cheesecake needs to be refrigerated to set for best texture and eating experience, preferably overnight. I love a cold cheesecake so I almost always let myself wait. Make sure to refrigerate before unmolding and topping with whatever you like, or not. This cheesecake is good even without the blueberry topping, but it’s even better with, in my opinion. I just used canned blueberry topping.

I have run out of adjectives to describe this cake, but if my photos and words haven’t convinced you up until this point, I certainly admire you for having a will of steel in the face of Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake! 

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake

This Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake gives you a creamy experience of sweet-tart-lemony-salty, making it utterly unforgettable!

Makes one 9-inch cake

Ingredients

For the graham crust

  • 2 ¼ cups 302 grams graham cracker crumbs
  • 10 tablespoons 140 grams salted butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons 39 grams sugar

For the lemon blueberry filling

  • 3 bars, 678 grams cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup 210 grams sugar
  • 3 tablespoons 24 grams all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup 173g sour cream
  • 6 tablespoons 90ml lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons lemon zest
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups blueberries
  • Blueberry topping, homemade or canned

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Grease a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan on the bottom and up the sides, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Wrap the outside bottom part of the pan with aluminum foil until about halfway up the sides so water from the water bath doesn’t go in. Prepare a baking pan larger than the springform pan for the water bath.

Make the crust

  • In a small bowl, mix together the crust ingredients until you get something similar to wet sand. Press the mixture into the bottom and at least 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F (150°C).

Make the cheesecake

  • In a large bowl, slowly beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until well combined and smooth. (If using a machine, beat on low speed.) Don’t beat too fast to avoid incorporating too much air into the batter; as this may cause cracks on the cheesecake while baking.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding in the sour cream, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix on low speed until well combined. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, mixing slowly to combine after each addition. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is well mixed.
  • Gently stir the blueberries into the batter to distribute. Pour the cheesecake batter evenly on top of the crust. Place the springform pan inside your prepared large pan, then add enough warm water to the outside pan to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil you’ve wrapped around the springform pan.
  • Bake cheesecake for 1 hour 15 minutes. The center should be set, but still jiggly. Turn off the oven and leave the door closed with the cheesecake inside for 30 minutes. The cheesecake will continue to cook inside but slowly begin to cool as well. Crack open the oven door for another 30 minutes to allow the cheesecake to continue to cool slowly. This process helps prevent cracking.
  • Remove the cheesecake from the oven and discard the aluminum foil. Refrigerate the cheesecake to cool completely. (I always do overnight.)
  • To serve, unmold the cheesecake from the springform pan. Set the cheesecake on a serving plate then top with blueberry topping. Refrigerate cheesecake until ready to serve. Store in an airtight container and eat within 3 to 4 days.

Notes

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