Lemony White Chocolate Cheesecake With Shortbread Cookie Crust Recipes

LEMONY WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Place a 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan; set aside. , In a small bowl, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar and zest; cut in butter until crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of prepared pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack., In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in white chocolate, flour, cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into crust. , Place pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake 65-85 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. , Remove pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour . Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan. Garnish with white chocolate and lemon zest strips if desired. Freeze option: Wrap individual portions of cheesecake in plastic wrap and place in a resealable plastic freezer bag. Seal bag and freeze for future use. To use, thaw completely in the refrigerator.

LEMON CHEESECAKE WITH SHORTBREAD COOKIE CRUST

Steps:

• Make crust:.
• Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes.
• Add flour and ground cookies to the mixture and blend for 3-4 seconds until fully incorporated.
• Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
• Bake the crust at 350° F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Allow the crust to cool completely.
• Make cheesecake:.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth.
• Add the mascarpone cheese and sugar and continue to beat on medium speed.
• Add the eggs one at a time.
• Blend in the lemon zest and juice.
• Pour mixture into the cooled crust.
• Set the cheesecake pan into a roasting pan, and add enough water to the roasting pan to reach halfway up sides of the cheesecake pan.
• Place in a 350° F oven for approximately one hour or until the cake is set and the top is golden brown.
• Remove the cake from the roasting pan and place on a wire rack.
• Allow cake to cool slightly, then place the cake in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.

NEW YORK CHEESECAKE WITH LORNA DOONE COOKIE CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• For Crust:.
• Finely crush entire pkg of cookies, mix in the butter. This can be done in a food processor on pulse. Butter the sides of the springform pan. Press the cookie mixture into bottom of 9 inch springform pan. DO NOT BAKE.
• For Filling:.
• Beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour and zests (if using). Add the 5 eggs and 2 egg yolks one at a time. Add the vanilla into the cream, and then add the cream to the cheese mixture. Beat on low speed (it's easiest to use a counter top heavy duty mixer) until all ingredients are incorporated.
• Place the springform pan with crust in the center of a shallow baking pan (to avoid oven drips). Pour filling into crust, it will be completely full. Place in the middle of oven for 12 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 250F and continue baking (approx. 1 hr to 1 hr 15 mins) until the center is mostly firm but still has a slight jiggle. (A little jiggle is good, if you overbake it you will end up with cracks that can be covered with a nice fruit topping to hide your sin).
• After removing from oven, run a knife around the edge and cool on a rack for 6 hours Remove side of springform pan and transer to a flat plate.
• It can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks (good luck on it still being around), but is best served after allowing to return to room temperature.

LEMONY WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Place a 9 inch springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil [about 18 inches square]. Securely wrap foil around pan; set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar and lemon peel; cut in butter until crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of prepared pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in white chocolate and lemon peel. Pour into crust.
• Place pan in a large baking pan; add 1 inch of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 325 for 65-85 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull.
• Remove pan from water bath . Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan before slicing.

LEMON CHEESECAKE WITH SHORTBREAD COOKIE CRUST

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes. Add flour and ground Trefoils to the mixture and blend for 3-4 seconds until fully incorporated. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake the crust at 350° F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the crust to cool completely.
• Make cheesecake:
• Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth. Add the mascarpone cheese and sugar and continue to beat on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time. Blend in the lemon zest and juice. Pour mixture into the cooled crust.
• Set the cheesecake pan into a roasting pan, and add enough water to the roasting pan to reach halfway up sides of the cheesecake pan. Place in a 350° F oven for approximately one hour or until the cake is set and the top is golden brown. Remove the cake from the roasting pan and place on a wire rack. Allow cake to cool slightly, then place the cake in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.

NEW YORK STYLE CHEESECAKE ON SHORTBREAD CRUST

Steps:

• PREP------.
• As with all baking, have all your ingredients at a cool room temperature (65°F).
• Get a couple quarts of water boiling on the stove.
• Arrange racks in your oven so there's one on the lowest and one in the middle. If you do not have a center position then go mid-lower.
• Have a clean 10x14x2-inch (give or take) roasting pan ready.
• Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
• Grease 10 inch springform pan.
• CRUST-------.
• Gently combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg and 1/2 cup butter in a medium bowl.
• Spread to the edges of the pan.
• Prick all over with a fork, then bake 10-15 minutes at 400°F until lightly browned. Allow to cool on a rack.
• FILLING------.
• Increase oven temperature to 475°F.
• Turn oven light off (trust me on this one), place roasting pan on bottom rack and fill with boiling water.
• In a large bowl (I use my stand mixer), very gently beat cream cheese until smooth. I use the slowest setting for 5 minutes.
• Scrape down sides of bowl.
• Gradually add the salt, 1 3/4 cups sugar and 3 tablespoons flour -- continue to beat SLOWLY until well combined, scrape down sides of bowl.
• In a small bowl gently beat the vanilla, 5 eggs and the 2 yolks, gradually add eggs to the cream cheese mixture.
• Continue to stir until combined and smooth, stop mixer occasionally and scrape down sides.
• VERY IMPORTANT! Stop mixer, remove bowl and give it a good scraping (some of the cream cheese will stick to the sides and bottom of the bowl), replace bowl on mixer and stir until all lumps are gone.
• Add cream and mix only enough to blend.
• Gently pour filling over crust, run a thin knife around the filling in a S pattern to remove any trapped air bubbles. Let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes then do it again.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 475°F.
• Reduce temperature to 200°F and continue to bake for one hour.
• Turn oven off, but leave cake in for another hour.
• DON'T TOUCH THAT OVEN DOOR! You've created a nice, humid environment that will help prevent cracks and produce a perfect, professional, NY style cheese cake assuming you didn't mess with it by changing the atmospheric conditions.
• It may appear a little jiggly in the center and will have a golden appearance around the edges.
• Allow to cool on a rack for several hours, release the latch slightly on the side of the pan after 20 minutes, rotate sides to be sure the cake is free (but don't take it off yet), you can remove the sides after an hour (or so) if you want to admire your work, but replace it quickly or the cake may fall.
• After it's cool, wrap completely with plastic wrap, there should be a layer stuck to the top of the cake.
• Chill overnight in the refrigerator (Yes, this is required).
• The cake will stay at peak flavor for several days so long as you keep it wrapped and cold.
• What can go wrong?.
• If the cake cracks you either had your ingredients too cold, mixed the filling too vigorously, opened the oven door while the cake was cooking or didn't have a pan of water in the oven.
• If it does crack, don't despair -- just cover with a dark fruit or a layer of cookie crumbs.
• Toppings------.
• Nothing (my favorite).
• OR, boil a bag of frozen berries with a 1/4 cup of sugar until the liquid coats the back of a spoon, thicken with a table spoon of cornstarch mixed into a 1/4 cup of cold water -- Pour in slowly while maintaining the boil and stirring constantly.
• Adjust thickness by adding liquid or more cornstarch.
• Flavor with liqueur, fruit juice or extract.
• Blueberries or raspberries with Chambord is awesome, cherries work well with Frangelico or Amaretto. If you do use an alcoholic beverage, be sure to boil off alcohol. Cool fruit sauce in a mason jar and refrigerate. Keeps longer than the cheese cake!
• I've served it with caramel sauce and, buttered/sliced/baked apples .
• A light milk chocolate sauce, a sprinkle of chopped pecans and dollop of whipped cream will produce a nice turtle cake.