How to make Vanilla Cheesecake with Lemon Zest

Vanilla Cheesecake with Lemon Zest goes hand in hand with Japanese Cheesecake when it comes to their amazing flavour. This particular Vanilla Cheesecake with Lemon Zest is a 5-element version, probably the closest to the classic New York Cheesecake.

The ingredients below make a round cake tin of about 25 centimetres in diameter. Grease the tin with some butter and sprinkle generously with bread crumbs. Let the crumbs cover the butter – this will prevent the cake from sticking to the tin. 

Use a large mixing bowl and add the following ingredients:

• Sweet 12-15 (about 200g) plain digestive biscuits, crush them finely with a wooden mixing spoon with a round ending, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 

• Pungent a pinch of freshly crushed cardamom seeds, a pinch of ginger, 

• Salty a pinch of fine sea salt, 

• Sour 2 tablespoons of lemon juice,

• Bitter a pinch of turmeric,

• Sweet 60g unsalted butter, melter in a small pot. 

Stir the ingredients until blended and press the mixture into the base of the tin. 

Use a large mixing bowl and add 550g cream cheese, 4 egg yolks, 100g caster sugar and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. Beat until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites util stiff and fold them gently into the cream cheese mixture. Pour into the tin and place in the oven preheated to 180℃ for 45 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes. 

In the meantime, increase the temperature to 240℃ and prepare the topping. 

In a small mixing bowl combine:

• Sour 300ml soured cream, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice,

• Bitter finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon, 

• Sweet 3-4 tablespoons of caster sugar, 

• Pungent a pinch of freshly crushed cardamom, 

• Salty a pinch of fine sea salt. 

Pour over the cheesecake and bake for 5 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack until it gets completely cold. Garnish with lemon zest and wild strawberries (optional).