This White Chocolate Lemon Curd Cheesecake feels like you’re eating a refreshing, lemony slice of unctuous cheesecake, topped with an insane lemon pie.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!!!

How does White Chocolate Lemon Curd Cheesecake sound for your birthday?

I know, I know, I’m a few days early, but I wanted to give you a bit of a head start, in case you actually decided that you wanted to make this cake for your birthday… or have someone make it for you, rather!

I also know that you were planning on making my White Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake Bars for your special day this year and I really wanted to try and turn them into a cake for you. Because hey, who has “bars” on their birthday, right? There’s no such thing as Birthday Bars! Well, except for those that you actually walk into to have a drink in good company, after you’ve had a slice of cake…

But then I figured that, instead of trying to turn existing bars into a cake, I would instead create a brand new recipe from scratch. I would make you a truly decadent, creamy and dreamy cheesecake, one that would be totally worthy of this special occasion and entirely tailor-made for you.

This White Chocolate Lemon Curd Cheesecake is so creamy and dreamy, your taste buds will sincerely think they have died and gone to heaven. Every bite feels like you’re eating the most refreshing, lemony and unctuous cheesecake, topped with the most insanely rich and delicious lemon pie.

Honestly, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my entire life, and as far as cheescakes go, I think that this one is really hard to beat. It’s so creamy, you’d never believe that it was actually baked. If I had a restaurant, it would definitely be on the menu and I have no doubt that it would be my top seller. People would come from all over the world just to have a slice of it. And then I’d have to rename it to something like “Jordan’s Legendary Lemon Curd Birthday Cheesecake”. 

In all seriousness, I think that this cheesecake is totally worthy of the amazing and faithful reader that you are and I sincerely hope that you will like it! I wish I could’ve delivered the real thing to you in person, but unfortunately, you don’t happen to live right next door to me.

So I thought this would be the next best thing…

For the benefit of those of you who don’t know her (I’m guessing most of you…) Jordan has been reading me faithfully for years on my other blog and she’s just about the only one to have also followed me here since I started this place. For as long as I can remember, Jordan has been supporting me and commented on practically every post I wrote.

Without even knowing it, she’s warmed my heart and put a huge smile on my face on countless occasions, picked me up and gave me wings on many a low day and gave me a reason to keep on blogging when things weren’t going all that well.

I can’t count the number of times that Jordan has told me that I must be inside her brains or something, because I know exactly what she likes, or precisely what she’d been craving at the very moment I posted a certain recipe. If there is one thing, one passion that I know Jordan and I totally share, it would be our love for cheesecake. Both her and I wouldn’t consider having ANY other kind of cake on our birthday.

And no birthday could ever be complete without a slice of cheesecake…

Oh, and also too…

Just like no birthday would be complete without a slice of cheesecake, no birthday would be complete if you didn’t get to blow a candle and make a wish.

So here, Jordan! Close your eyes, make your wish, blow as hard as you can and then pretend that the flame went out… (because trust  me, no matter how hard you blow, this one will never actually go out) 

Have a spectacular one, my friend!

Oh, and as a side note, if you’re reading this and you’re NOT Jordan, you’re still allowed making this recipe, you know. In fact, you are STRONGLY encouraged to! 

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STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS & PICTURES

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TO MAKE THE CRUST

Line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper. To do that, remove the ring and cover the bottom with parchment paper. Fold the excess paper back under the plate and, while holding it in place with one hand, put the ring back in its position with the other hand. Bring the excess paper back from under the pan but do not cut it off.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter and mini chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl.

Mix until well combined and transfer to your prepared pan.

Press firmly at the bottom and about 3/4 of the way up the side of the pan.

Now place the pan over a piece of aluminum foil and fold the foil over the pan so the exterior is completely covered; this will prevent water from getting into the pan.

Now place this rig into a broiler pan and set aside.

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TO MAKE THE CHEESECAKE FILLING

Preheat your oven to 350°F and bring about 4 cups of water to the boil; you’ll be using it later to make a bain-marie for your cake.

Combine the cream cheese, sour cream, granulated sugar, heavy cream, lemon extract, lemon juice and zest and vanilla seeds in the bowl of your food processor.

While you’re at it, now would be a good time to crack your eggs into a bowl, measure your corn starch and melt your white chocolate.

Now I know I say it all the time and I must sound like a broken record by now, but just in case this is your first time here… My favorite method for melting white chocolate, or any kind of chocolate for that matter, is in the microwave.

What you need to do is chop your chocolate super finely and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then, you let it rest undisturbed for 30 seconds and finally, stir it delicately for 30 seconds. If there are still lumps of unmelted chocolate left after that, repeat the process but for 20 seconds this time, and continue doing that until the chocolate is completely melted but not hot to the touch.

Process the cream cheese, sour cream, etc. until super smooth and creamy and completely lump free, about 3 minutes.

You’ll want to stop the motor to scrape the sides once or twice to make sure every last bit gets incorporated.

Add the eggs trough the feeding tube while the motor is running and continue processing until well combined.

Stop the motor, scrape the sides well, add the corn starch and resume beating until well incorporated, about 30 seconds.

Pour the melted white chocolate through the feeding tube while the motor is running; process for about 30 seconds, until well incorporated.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the reserved crust.

Now delicately pour enough boiling water into the broiler pan so it goes up about 3/4 of the way up the side of the broiler pan.

Place that rig onto the middle rack of your oven and bake your cake for 25 minutes at 350°F. After that time, decrease the temperature of the oven to 250°F and continue baking your cake for a further 75 minutes.

Turn off the oven and crack the door slightly open. Leave the cake in the oven, undisturbed, for about 1 hour, or until it’s cool enough to be handled with your bare hands, and then slide it out of the oven to finish cooling to room temperature.

When the cheesecake is completely cooled, run a thin spatula or knife around the rim and refrigerate uncovered for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

This is what your cheesecake should look like once it’s had a chance to chill. The yellow stuff that you see around the pan is just a little bit of butter that leaked out of the crust and set in the fridge. Nothing to be alarmed with if this happens to you. That’s why we lined the pan with parchment paper in the first place!

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TO MAKE THE LEMON CURD

Make the lemon curd according to the recipe in this post and then cover your lemon curd with a piece of plastic film pressed directly against its surface and place it in the refrigerator to chill completely.

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TO MAKE THE WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

It’s better that you start working on the white chocolate ganache once both the cake and lemon curd have had a chance to chill completely and you’re just about ready to assemble your cake. While you will need to let some of that ganache set before you can use it, it will only take about 45 minutes before it’s ready to go… so you wouldn’t want to get started too long ahead of time.

If you wanted to save time (and cut down on costs a little), you could also use whipped cream instead of the white chocolate ganache to make the rosettes and then do the criss-cross pattern with a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate (to which you may have to add a few drops of neutral tasting oil to help it fluidify).

But if you’re gonna go with the ganache, you’ll want to combine the white chocolate and whipping cream in a fairly large mixing bowl and then place them in the microwave for 1 minute.

Then, allow it to rest for 1 full minute and then stir until well combined.

If there are still lumps of unmelted chocolate, repeat the process but for 20 seconds this time, and continue doing that until the chocolate is completely melted but not hot, and the ganache is well combined.

Sound familiar? Yep, the principle is pretty much the same as the one used to melt chocolate!

At this point, the ganache will be fairly runny; you’ll want to take advantage of that fact and pour about 1/4 cup of the ganache into a small squeeze bottle.

The rest of it, you’ll want to send the rest to the refrigerator until set, about 45 minutes. Make sure to give your ganache a little stir from time to time. This will help it set quicker, and more evenly. You’re looking for a consistency that’s very similar to that of firm cream cheese frosting. I’ll show you in a few…

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ASSEMBLY

While the ganache is in the fridge, chilling, you can get started on the assembly.

Take the chilled lemon curd out of the refrigerator and beat it with an electric mixer on high speed until it becomes light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

The little “lumps” that you see in the cream, they’re caused by the lemon zest. So don’t panic when that happens to you; it’s all good.

Dump the whole batch of whipped lemon curd over the chilled cake…

…and spread it all the way to the edge, as evenly as possible.

Now grab that squeeze bottle with the melted white chocolate ganache in it and squeeze it over the top of the cake, going left to right then up and down…

…creating an elegant criss-cross pattern.

At this point, you can run a spatula or knife around your cake, carefully free it from the pan and place it on a cake plate or stand.

Your ganache should be just about set by now… this is what it should look like when it’s ready to use: firm, but still somewhat pliable.

Beat the ganache on high speed with an electric mixer until it gets lighter in color and fluffy in consistency.

Pipe big swirls of the whipped ganache around the top of the cake (I used a Ateco #6) and then drizzle a little bit more of the melted ganache over each swirl.

Sprinkle a few mini white chocolate chips over each rosette and garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

And there you have it, your beautiful cake is now ready to serve.

This cheesecake is very delicate and creamy, so ideally, you want to serve it chilled.

Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.