A Tribute to Lemon
Limoncello leads to Lemon Curd and lemon curd leads to Lemon cheesecake(naturally)




I finally decided that I would only join one food blog challenge"club" and that would be Taste & Create. July is my first month and my partner was La Recette Du Jour, which means, "Recipe of the Day". In case you don't know any french. :)

Anyway, Veronica's blog, La Recette Du Jour is one of my new favorite blogs that I will be visiting frequently. When searching for the perfect recipe to try, I came across Limoncello. The minute I saw it, I knew it was the one. My husband and I love lemoncello! I needed to make something to go with the limoncello though. The limoncello recipe called for a whole bunch of lemon zest, so it was suggested to make lemon curd with the the juice from the extra lemons. I found a simple lemon curd recipe from another really great blog, Cookworm so that I could use it in this other perfect recipe I found on my partner's blog, lemon cheesecake. It was fate-A light and airy lemon cheesecake with lemoncello-a simply delightful summer evening dessert.

Here's the 1/2 recipe for Limoncello that I ended up doing
4 lemons, zested
2 cups blueberry vodka, instead of grappa vodka(the blueberry was on sale and I thought it would be an interesting touch)

-Leave lemon zest and vodka together in a well-sealed jar for 8 days(July 15 to July 22) :)

-Then make the syrup by heating together
2 cups water
3 cups & 1 tbs. sugar
Juice of 1 large lemon

Stir until sugar dissolves, let come to a boil, then set aside to cool.
Strain alcohol mixture, combine with the strained syrup, and bottle.
Chill in freezer and serve.


***While letting the lemoncello sit for eight days, I made the
lemon curd

Here's the recipe:
Juice of 4 lemons (3/4 cup)
1 large strip lemon peel
3 eggs and 1 yolk whisked
1/2 cup sugar
5 tbs. butter cut into little pieces

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium-low heat until mixture thickens and starts to bubble a little(5 mins), mixing occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat immediately and press through a sieve. Stir and then store in a container. Chill at least 1-2 hours before serving. I stored mine in the fridge until I was ready to use. I got a few tastes in though-it was really good. I was thinking it would be cool to put the chilled lemon curd in the ice cream maker and see what's happens.

The Lemon Cheesecake:

The bottom crust:


1 1/4 cup shortbread biscuits
1/2 cup butter

The Filling:
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cup cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus the juice of half of it
3/4 cup lemon curd

-Preheat the oven to 350F. Have a large spring-form pan ready

-Put the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with a meat tenderizer or roll with a rolling pin. Don't reduce them to powder leave some biggish lumps, otherwise the base will be too stodgy. Melt the butter, mix with the biscuits, then spread the mixture over the base of the tin, patting it down firmly,
-bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 280 F.

-Meanwhile, put all the cheese in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 30 seconds to make it smooth and light. Beat in the sugar, then the eggs, one by one, followed by the lemon zest and juice.


-Swirl in half the lemon curd

Pour into the tin and bake for about an hour. The filling should be only just set and still a little bit wobbly in the middle. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in it to cool.
-When it's completely cold, unmould it and put it on a plate.
-Spread the rest of the lemon curd over it and decorate
-I drizzled a blueberry coulis over the cake to decorate
Veronica's says: despite all my precautions, the first time I made this the top collapsed into huge crevasses as it cooled. I had some mascarpone in the fridge, so I whisked it to loosen it up and spread a very thin layer over the top of the cake before covering with lemon curd. This worked perfectly as camouflage, even after an hour's journey in the car.

Blueberry Coulis Sauce recipe: Made up by me, Ivy:
3/4 cup blueberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 rounded tbs. powdered sugar
-In food processor blend blueberries
-Then whisk the blended blueberries in a small pot with the rest of the ingredients and boil 3-5 mins.
Take of the heat and whisk in 2 tbs. water
-Put mixture through a sieve
-Whisk in 1 tsp honey if needs sweetener like mine did.

The cheesecake was really good but a little soft in the middle. I have friends over for cheesecake and limoncello and they all loved them both so-it's a keeper. :)

I am glad I made the 1/2 recipe of the lemoncello, I still have a lot left over. I think I may keep the extra and add a shot or two to a glass of a little to a seltzer on ice. Mmmmm!

Merci Veronica of Recette Du Jour, It's been a pleasure!

THE END!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ivy

Good choice! I love that cheesecake, and it's one of my most popular recipes. Yours looks yummy -- the coulis is a great touch.

NB, it is a very soft set, and it's best to refrigerate overnight if you can; it will firm up and be easier to serve.

Enjoy T&C, it's the only blog event I do too, and it's great fun.

Anonymous said...

OMG!! I want to eat the whole thing by myself! You make it look so good!!

I have a major sweet tooth right now and all I keep craving is fruit pied and fruit desserts. My mouth is watering!

Sister-in-law,
Erin

Yogihan said...

I am drooling here at my computer. That looks amazing! Yummm!
Well done, and thanks for sharing the recipe!

Suze said...

oh yum yum yum! to all! I love lemony stuff!!

Vera said...

Homemade lemoncello sounds like a very good idea!

Anonymous said...

This cheesecake looks delicious! I love the swirls on top. :)

OhioMom said...

This looks really yummy, love the blueberry coulis swirled over top.

test it comm said...

That lemon cheesecake looks great!

Emily said...

Oh, that looks so delicious. I want to try making my own Limoncello sometime!

Yogihan said...

Me again, just thought I'd let you know that I've posted some answers to your question. Thanks for that! And I hope you don't mnd, but I've shared the picture of your lemon cheesecake too!

Bonbon Oiseau said...

Lovely recipes--everything is better with lemons! Love your blogs-so glad to have found you via (cannelle-vanille!) I'll be back for sure!

Stef said...

MMMMMMM. I'm glad you signed on for Taste & Create. Maybe I'll get to be your partner some month. It's my favorite blog event!

Gigi said...

The raspberry swirls on top look sensational!

cindy* said...

love lemon cheesecake! and homemade limoncello--amazing!

Lisa said...

Such a summery delicious recipe. Limoncello is so fine! I have been eating limoncello gelato whenever possible this summer. The flavor is so simple and yet interesting. your cheesecake sounds even more-so. Yum!

cookworm said...

Wow, that cheesecake looks scrumptious! I'm not a cheesecake person but would gladly eat a big piece of this one. :) So glad you liked my lemon curd recipe!