My first dessert post! And this is actually my first cheesecake ever too! Call it beginner's luck or maybe I do have a hand at baking ;) but this cheesecake turned out **AMAZING**!!! It's exactly what I was looking for in flavor profile and texture - perfectly rich and creamy.
I'm obsessed with all things lemon (cue my last post) , whether it be in savory food, my bath products or dessert, especially dessert!! I also love all things with rose, once again - in my beauty products, dessert and even tea. I thought these two flavors would make a great marriage and I was right! Just in time and perfect for spring/summer. The flavors are fresh, bright, and floral but not too perfumey.
I used to live in north Jersey and my husband introduced me to North Arlington Diner's cheesecake. Apparently their pastry chef used to work at the all famous Junior's Cheesecake in New York and had recreated the same cheesecake. Let me tell you - OH.MY.GOD. - BEST cheesecake EVER!!! Soo perfectly rich and creamy with a soft, sponge cake crust instead of graham cracker, trust me when I say the texture is much better than a graham cracker crust. Forget the graham cracker crust forever - a cake crust is where it's at! I've had it from both places and they taste the exact same. If you're ever in the area, you MUST have some!!
So when trying to come up with this recipe, I obviously wanted the same type of texture I had back in NJ. I didn't want a dry, dense cake that crumbles. I tried to look up copycat recipes of Junior's cheesecake which I obviously failed to find since it is a family secret recipe! Also, I've only had their plain cheesecake. After looking up multiple recipes of all different types of cheesecake - I came up with this concoction, mixed it up, did a hail Mary and threw it in the oven! The worst part was waiting almost a whole day to taste test it since it has to be refrigerated overnight. Luckily, it turned out to be all that I dreamed of and more!
All the recipes I researched called for a stand mixer which I do not have (I live in a one BR apt and we are limited on space so I make do with what I have!), so I used a hand held cake mixer and it worked just fine. You don't want to over-mix the batter anyway so it's perfect that you have to pause in between and not leave the mixer constantly running. Over-beating or over-mixing it will cause air to build up which will make it rise while baking like a soufflé but will then fall when cooling. However, if you do have a stand mixer then use the paddle attachment.
Anywaaaay, I literally just finished my first piece and was like I've gotta go post this now! So here we are, I hope you guys make this and enjoy it! I'm not a baking connoisseur at all so if I can do it, I know that any of you can too!
Lemon Rose Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Filling:
4 packs - 8 oz full fat cream cheese @ room temperature (I like Philadelphia)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 tbsp rose water1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon zest
Glaze:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp crushed rose buds (optional, for decoration)
Base:
1/2 Sara Lee All Butter pound cake, thawed & crumbled
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place crumbled pound cake into a 9" springform pan and press down to smooth out evenly. You can use the bottom of a cup to do this. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes and set aside. Leave oven on.
2. In your stand mixer (if you have one) or a large mixing bowl, on the lowest speed setting, beat one pack of cream cheese, 1/3 cup of sugar, and the cornstarch until creamy, for about 3 minutes while scraping down the sides. Blend in the remaining cream cheese, one pack at a time just until each one is smooth and blended, while scraping down the bowl. Make sure you don't over-beat it.
3. Next, increase the mixer speed to medium and add in the remaining sugar, lemon juice, rose water, and vanilla extract. Then blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating it well after each. Now beat in the cream just until it's blended. Lastly, fold in the lemon zest with a spatula but be careful not to over mix, fold it in gently. The filling should be light and creamy.
4. Pour the filling into the springform pan over the pound cake crust. Run a spoon or spatula smoothly through it to remove any bubbles. Place the cake pan in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes about 1 inch up the side of the springform. Bake until the edge is light golden brown, the top is light gold, and the center barely jiggles, about 75 minutes. If the cake still feels soft around the edge, let it bake for 10 minutes more. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 2 hours (just walk away—don't move it). Then, leave the cake in the pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until completely cold, preferably overnight or for at least 6 hours.
5. After the cake has chilled overnight (or at least 6 hours), it's time to glaze it. Add all the ingredients listed under "Glaze" into a small sauce pan, whisk and bring to a very light boil and remove from heat. It will have started to thicken/gelatinize. Mix in rose buds and pour over cheesecake. Smooth the glaze out evenly with a spatula or back of a spoon. Place cake back into refrigerator for about another hour or two. Cake is now ready for serving!
Serving instructions: Use a straight blade knife (not serrated) to cut clean slices, wiping the knife clean in between each slice to get it done neatly.
I hope you guys enjoy this! Thanks for visiting my site and please tag me - @thecurriedcook when recreating my recipes!
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