This lemon blueberry cheesecake is creamy and bursting with lemon flavours and fresh blueberries! Its made with simple graham cracker crust, a lemon cheesecake base filling with juicy blueberries floating through the thick, rich, creamy, lemony batter and a delicious simple homemade blueberry sauce to top this irresistible dessert.
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Filling, Crust & Sauce Ingredients
- Graham Crackers or Graham Cracker crumbs – either store bought crumbs or crackers made into fine crumbs using food processor
- Melted butter – unsalted for the crust
- Cream Cheese: Room temperature and I prefer to use all fat cream cheese for the best flavour – best not to skimp
- Sugar – 1 cup is what I prefer for just enough sweetness and just a touch for the crust to keep it tender
- All-Purpose Flour: Just a few tablespoons to helps prevent batter from cracking and sort of stabilizes it making it easier to slice nice firm pieces. You could swap it out for corn starch or corn flour too.
- Sour Cream: For a smooth and creamy cheesecake.Most cheesecake recipes use either heavy cream or sour cream; either will do the job of softening the texture of the cheese and adding some moisture. I prefer sour cream because I like the extra hit of sour tang it adds to the cake.
- Vanilla Extract: always adds the perfect flavour
- Lemon Juice & Lemon Zest: Freshly squeezed just enough for this delicious blueberry lemon cheesecake filling
- Eggs: Room temperature.Three whole eggs hold the cheesecake together. An extra yolk is added, which enhances the cake’s velvety texture. (Whites tend to lighten the cake, which is actually fine — if you don’t feel like separating that fourth egg and don’t mind some extra airiness in the texture, just add in the whole egg.)
- Blueberries: Fresh is best, but frozen would be fine too. But I’d recommend thawing them first and patting them dry so that they don’t add a bunch of extra moisture to the cheesecake.
For the Blueberry Sauce
- Water
- Cornstarch: To thicken the sauce.
- Sugar
- Lemon Juice: Fresh, always.
- Vanilla: For flavour
- Blueberries: Fresh is preferred or frozen in a pinch
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake – Step by Step:
- Prepare Crust – combine crust ingredients and press into the bottom of springform pan. Bake then cool
- Make Filling – Mix the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Mix in the eggs and yolk one at a time – Wait until the previous egg is just barely mixed into the batter before adding the next one. Stir a few times by hand. Scrape down the beater and sides of the bowl with a spatula, to make sure everything is incorporated. Don’t worry if you see a few specks of un-mixed cream cheese here and there; they will melt into the batter during baking and won’t affect the finished cheesecake.
- Fold in Berries – toss berries in remaining teaspoon of flour and fold into batter
- Pour the batter over the cooled crust
- Transfer the pan to the water bath – helps cheesecake bake evenly
- Bake the cheesecake – The cheesecake is done when the outer two to three inches look slightly puffed and set, but the inner circle still jiggles slightly when you gently shake the pan. Some spots of toasted golden color are fine, but if you see any cracks starting to form, move on to the next step right away.
- Cool the cheesecake in the oven– Leave the cheesecake in the oven. Turn off the oven and crack the door open or prop it open with a wooden spoon. Let the cheesecake cool slowly for 30min -1 hour. T hen remove from oven and from water bath and place on cooling rack and allow to come to room temperature.
- Chill the cheesecake for 4-8 hours in the refrigerator -Chill the cheesecake, for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days in the refrigerator. This step is crucial for letting the cheesecake set and achieving perfect cheesecake texture.
- __ Make Topping and Top the cheesecake and serve__- Take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you plan to serve. Unmold the cake and top the cheesecake with berry sauce
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Tips
- Beat on Low Speed: In order to minimize the amount of air you’re beating into your filling, keep the mixer on low speed. This helps prevent cracking.
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure you bring your ingredients to room temperature before making this cheesecake. If the eggs or cream cheese are too cold, you could end up with lumpy batter.
- Use a Water Bath: I know it’s kind of a pain, but it truly makes a difference. Without it, your cheesecake is more likely to crack, brown around the edges and fall in the center when cooling. It’s definitely worth the extra step.
- Cool the Cheesecake Slowly: Follow the directions in the recipe for cooling your cheesecake. If it cools too quickly, it could crack.
How to Store Cheesecake
Store leftover cheesecake in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy the cheesecake within 4-5 days for the best results. It lasts well, making it great for making ahead.
Can I Freeze Cheesecake?
You can definitely freeze cheesecake. This cheesecake freezes well for up to 2 months. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving. You can freeze individual slices the same way as well.
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