The Divine Dish

Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecake

Posted on Dec 27, 2008 under Archives, Recipes | No Comment

As a food writer I have had my fair share of cheesecakes – topped with cherries, strawberries, blueberries or sour cream as well as naked ones.  Cheesecakes made with cream cheese, liquor, and varieties with various fruit and/or cookies, candy, or other ingredients within the cake itself.  There are so many kinds of cheesecakes that a restaurant chain is named after this delicious dessert.  Here is my ultimate cheesecake recipe, it always gets rave reviews.

Here is what you will need:

For the crust:

20 graham crackers, smashed up

3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) butter, unsalted and diced

1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar

For the cheesecake:

2 pounds cream cheese

1 cup mascarpone cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

First preheat your oven to 350 F.  Next make the crust.  I put the graham crackers in a big plastic bag and smash them with a mallot.  This simultaneously makes graham cracker crumbs and relieves the stress of a terrible day at work.

Place the smashed cracker crumbs, butter and brown sugar in a bowl and mix with your hands until the mixture begins to stick together.  Press the crumbs into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.

Place the pan on a baking sheet (I do this because sometimes the springform pans leak a bit and this catches any leaking onto the baking sheet instead of on the bottom of the oven).  Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and transfer to a rack to cool.

Using a mixer (I use my Kitchenaid with the paddle attachment), beat the cream cheese until light and smooth.  Add the mascarpone cheese (I get this at Trader Joe’s, it tastes great, is inexpensive and they always have it in stock where the cream cheese is).  Add sugar and beat on medium speed.

Add the eggs one at a time.  Zest lemons – usually it takes two or three, depending on the size of the lemons, to get 2 1/2 teaspoons of zest.  I use my microplaner – this is my favorite kitchen tool and is great for zesting.  Zest lemons before cutting, then cut and squeeze out lemon juice.

Add zest and lemon juice.  Pour mixture into the cooled crust.

Smooth the top with a spatula.  Place into the oven for one hour or until the cake is set around the edges and jiggles in the middle.  The sides should be golden brown.

Let the cheesecake cool before putting it in the fridge and then let it set for six hours or more (I usually make it the night before and let it set overnight in the fridge).  To serve, release the side springform and cut cake.   As you can see above to the right, I usually have enough left over crust and filling  to make a baby springform cheesecake.  You can buy the small individual serving springform pans at cooking supply stores or William Sonoma.  Take the small springform out when it is done (around 35 minutes) and leave the bigger pan in the oven to finish.

Here is what was left of my cheesecake after Christmas dinner.  Just enough for dessert with leftovers on Dec. 26.