Blackberry Lemon Ripple Cheesecake
To skip the post and step-by-step instructions and go straight to recipe, click here.This springy cheesecake has a luxurious, creamy blackberry filling swirled with sticky jam and rippled with tart lemon curd, all on a classic buttery graham cracker crust. It’s the perfect treat for any lover of fruity dessert (a.k.a. my husband!) and its soft purple color with bright yellow feathering looks gorgeous on any spring or summer holiday table.
I will admit that before creating this lovely recipe, my cheesecake game needed work. I could make a tasty cheesecake, sure, but they always seemed a little lacking - cracked, too soft, slightly soggy crust. But along the way of developing this recipe, I discovered everything I was doing wrong and was able to make a cheesecake that rivaled any gourmet bakery in town. One to really be proud of! And now, any future cheesecakes I make with this method are sure to be just as fantastic. Here’s what I learned in the process:
Tips To Level Up Your Cheesecake Game:
Baking In a Water Bath: The first time I baked my cheesecake in a water bath, I was blown away by how perfectly smooth and uncracked the surface of the creamy filling was. When you bake in a water bath (also known as a bain marie), it ensures that the temperature around the cheesecake never gets hotter than the boiling point of water. This means that the cream cheese custard bakes more slowly and evenly, which means no cracks, very little browning, and a smooth, creamy filling. Perfection!
Using Room Temperature Ingredients: When you use all of your ingredients at the same room temperature, they combine more smoothly, and “smooth” is the number one adjective that you want when you’re making cheesecake. Also, most ingredients, like cream cheese and berries, will be softer at room temperature. Softer ingredients means smoother incorporation with less chance of lumps.
No Springforms For Me: While I know most people like to use a springform for their cheesecakes (truthfully, it is way easier to remove a cheesecake from a springform pan than a regular one), I found it incredibly difficult not to get any water from my water bath in the cracks and crevices, no matter how much tin foil I wrapped around it to try to secure it. The water would creep its way through somehow, resulting in a weepy cheesecake and a soggy, soft crust - two things no one wants. So, when I decided to try using a regular pan lined with parchment and got a perfectly creamy cheesecake with a crumbly, buttery crust, I decided not to go back.
Blend It Well: Remembering back to when I first started learning to bake, I feel like most cheesecake recipes I came across would just tell you to blend together the filling with an electric beater or a whisk. This would almost always result in some chunks of cream cheese that I just couldn’t get out, and irritate me to no end. When I started working in bakeries though, and saw them blending cheesecake filling with food processors and blenders, I thought “oh, well that makes much more sense!”. I highly recommend it. You’ll get the smoothest cheesecake filling you’ve ever had! Plus, it makes incorporating extra ingredients (like the blackberries in this recipe) super easy, too!
Cool It Slow: Cheesecakes do not like sudden changes of any kind (relatable). So, they need to be cooled very slowly. If they go too quickly from somewhere warm (like the oven) to somewhere cool (like the fridge, or even sometimes the countertop), they will contract and crack. They might also even “weep”, creating water droplets on the surface of the cheesecake and making everything soggy. Bleh! So, I let my cheesecake cool for an hour in the turned-off oven, then a couple hours on the countertop before finally letting it finish up in the fridge for a creamy, smooth, evenly-textured final result.
Step-By-Step Walk-Through
If you’re feeling confident in your cooking skills and want to skip the walk-through, click here.
Step 1:
Make Lemon Curd
The day before you want to make your cheesecake, make your lemon curd. In the top of a double boiler or a bowl that can sit atop a pot, whisk together the zest of ¼ of a lemon, 2 egg yolks, ¼ cup plus 1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar, the juice of 1 lemon, and a pinch of salt.
Place over a pot of simmering water over medium heat, making sure water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl.
Whisk constantly and slowly until thickened and coating the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. Cut 2 tablespoons of cold salted butter into thin pats and add gradually, whisking until one is fully melted before adding the next.
Pour the curd into a bowl or a container. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the lemon curd to prevent a skin forming. Set aside in fridge to set completely.
Step 2:
Set Out Ingredients
At least 2 hours prior to making your cheesecake, set out all of your refrigerated ingredients on a counter to come to room temperature. Set out 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese or neufchatel cheese, 2 eggs, ½ cup of blackberry jam, ½ cup of fresh blackberries, and your lemon curd.
Step 3:
Make Crust
Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.
Using a food processor or baggie and rolling pin, crush 9 full graham crackers to fine crumbs.
Pour crumbs into a mixing bowl and add 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 6 tablespoons of melted butter.
Mix well.
Grease an 8-inch round baking tin.
Cut two wide strips of parchment paper approximately 12 inches in length. Lay them perpendicular to each other across the bottom of the baking tin and up the sides. There should be a little excess parchment paper sticking up above the sides of the pan. These will be used to help ease the cheesecake out of the pan after baking.
Line the bottom of the baking pan with an 8-inch round piece of parchment paper.
Pour the crust mixture into the pan and press it evenly across the bottom and sides of the pan. You can use the bottom of a measuring cup to press it in if you’re having trouble getting it even.
Bake the crust for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool completely.
Step 4:
Make Filling
If you had turned the oven off after baking the crust, preheat it to 325 degrees again.
In a food processor or blender, add the room temperature cream cheese, eggs, and fresh blackberries, as well as ½ cup of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
Blend well, until no small lumps remain. Scrape sides as needed.
Pour half of the mixture into the cooled crust.
Use a spoon to place small spoonfuls of the blackberry jam as evenly as you can across the surface of the cream cheese filling until the full ½ cup is used.
Pour the remaining cream cheese filling over the jam. If needed, smooth with the back of a spoon.
Step 5:
Add Lemon Curd Ripple
Scoop your room temperature lemon curd into a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, or a piping bag with a ¼ inch round tip.
Pipe parallel lines of the lemon curd across the surface of the cheesecake.
Using a butter knife or toothpick, drag lines back and forth through the lemon curd to create an alternating feathered pattern. Leftover lemon curd can be refrigerated and used in future baked goods or on toast or scones. It will stay good for up to 4 weeks.
Step 6:
Bake Cheesecake
Boil a pot or kettle of water (about 6 cups to be safe, but you likely won’t use all of it).
Set the 8-inch baking pan into any pan that you have that’s large enough to hold it with at least an inch of room on all sides, and is at least the same depth as your cheesecake pan. I like to use a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Being very careful not to get any water into the cheesecake pan, slowly pour your boiling water into the larger pan until it reaches about an inch high.
Carefully and slowly move your cheesecake in its water bath into the preheated oven. If it’s easier for you, you can also place the pan into the oven and pour the water in while it’s in there so you don’t have to transfer it while full of water.
Bake the cheesecake undisturbed for 50 minutes.
Step 7:
Slowly Cool Cheesecake
Without opening the oven, turn it off and allow the cheesecake an hour to cool inside the oven.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven and the water bath and set on a cooling rack on the countertop to cool for at least 2 hours. It should reach room temperature.
Finally, cover the cheesecake and transfer it to the fridge to finish cooling. Cool for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight. (And don’t let your cat get in the fridge!)
Step 8:
Remove From Pan and Serve
Once cheesecake is fully set, remove from fridge. Very carefully run a butter knife around the outside edge to separate the crust from the pan.
Gently pull on the strips of parchment to lift the cheesecake from the pan. It may take a little time and patience to get it out completely. Once it’s out enough on one side, I slide my hand under to lift it out and peel off the parchment. Place on a serving plate.
Decorate if desired. I used some whipped cream swirled with leftover lemon curd, fresh lemons and blackberries, basil leaves, and edible silver leaf. Slice and enjoy!
Blackberry Lemon Ripple Cheesecake
Servings: 12 Time: 48-60 hours (full), 60-90 minutes (active)
Difficulty: Difficult
Ingredients
For Lemon Curd:
Zest of ¼ of a lemon
2 egg yolks
¼ cup + 1 ½ TBS. granulated sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
2 TBS. cold butter, cut into thin pats
For Crust:
9 full graham crackers
3 TBS. granulated sugar
6 TBS. melted salted butter
For Filling:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese or neufchatel cheese
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
½ cup fresh blackberries
3 TBS. all-purpose flour
½ cup blackberry jam
Directions
Step 1: Make Lemon Curd
The day before you want to make your cheesecake, make your lemon curd. In the top of a double boiler or a bowl that can sit atop a pot, whisk together lemon zest, egg yolks, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Place over a pot of simmering water over medium heat, making sure water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl. Whisk constantly and slowly until thickened and coating the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter gradually, whisking until one pat is fully melted before adding the next. Pour the curd into a bowl or a container. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the lemon curd to prevent a skin forming. Set aside in fridge to set completely.
Step 2: Set Out Ingredients
At least 2 hours prior to making your cheesecake, set out all of your refrigerated ingredients on a counter to come to room temperature. Set out cream cheese, eggs, blackberry jam, fresh blackberries, and your lemon curd.
Step 3: Make Crust
Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Using a food processor or baggie and rolling pin, crush graham crackers to fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into a mixing bowl and add granulated sugar and melted butter. Mix well. Grease an 8-inch round baking tin. Cut two wide strips of parchment paper approximately 12 inches in length. Lay them perpendicular to each other across the bottom of the baking tin and up the sides. There should be some excess parchment paper sticking up above the sides of the pan. These will be used to help ease the cheesecake out of the pan after baking. Line the bottom of the baking pan with an 8-inch round piece of parchment paper. Pour the crust mixture into the pan and press it evenly across the bottom and sides of the pan. You can use the bottom of a measuring cup to press it in if you’re having trouble getting it even. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool completely.
Step 4: Make Filling
If you had turned the oven off after baking the crust, preheat it to 325 degrees again. In a food processor or blender, add the room temperature cream cheese, eggs, and fresh blackberries, as well as the granulated sugar, vanilla, and all-purpose flour. Blend well, until no small lumps remain. Scrape sides as needed. Pour half of the mixture into the cooled crust. Use a spoon to place small spoonfuls of the blackberry jam as evenly as you can across the surface of the cream cheese filling until the full ½ cup is used. Pour the remaining cream cheese filling over the jam. If needed, smooth with the back of a spoon.
Step 5: Add Lemon Curd Ripple
Scoop your room temperature lemon curd into a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, or a piping bag with a ¼ inch round tip. Pipe parallel lines of the lemon curd across the surface of the cheesecake. Using a butter knife or toothpick, drag lines back and forth through the lemon curd to create an alternating feathered pattern. Leftover lemon curd can be refrigerated and used in future baked goods or on toast or scones. It will stay good for up to 4 weeks.
Step 6: Bake Cheesecake
Boil a pot or kettle of water (about 6 cups to be safe, but you likely won’t use all of it). Set the 8-inch baking pan into any pan that you have that’s large enough to hold it with at least an inch of room on all sides. I like to use a 9x13 inch pan. Being very careful not to get any water into the cheesecake pan, slowly pour your boiling water into the larger pan until it reaches about an inch high. Carefully and slowly move your cheesecake in its water bath into the preheated oven. If it’s easier for you, you can also place the pan into the oven and pour the water in while it’s in there so you don’t have to transfer it while full of water. Bake the cheesecake undisturbed for 50 minutes.
Step 7: Slowly Cool Cheesecake
Without opening the oven, turn it off and allow the cheesecake an hour to cool inside the oven. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and the water bath and set on a cooling rack on the countertop to cool for at least 2 hours. It should reach room temperature. Finally, cover the cheesecake and transfer it to the fridge to finish cooling. Cool for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.
Step 8: Remove From Pan and Serve
Once cheesecake is fully set, remove from fridge. Very carefully run a butter knife around the outside edge to separate the crust from the pan. Gently pull on the strips of parchment to lift the cheesecake from the pan. It may take a little time and patience to get it out completely. Once it’s out enough on one side, slip your hand under the cheesecake to lift it out, peel off the parchment, and place on a serving plate. If desired, decorate with whipped cream, leftover lemon curd, fresh lemons and berries, etc. Slice and enjoy!