The most divine lemon cheesecake.

This cheesecake was a happy mistake. I wanted to make something for dessert, and for some reason had all the ingredients for this cake, except biscuits for a base. The idea of an extra lemony lemon cheesecake grabbed me, though, and a lack of biscuits couldn’t dissuade me.

I got the idea of making a chocolate cake base from the Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies recipe I wrote about a while ago, and decided it would do at a pinch (I just used the brownie recipe for the base).

I used to be a little adverse to the combination of chocolate and lemon, until I worked in an icecream shop. A double scoop of chocolate and lemon was such a common request, that I had to try it. And I was hooked. Just like I’m hooked on this divine most lemony of lemon cheesecakes.
Cook it gently and slowly, until just set and savour the combination of decadently creamy and sharp citrus acidity against the extra chocolatey dense cake base.

Lemon Cheesecake

For Cheesecake:
500g cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 lemons
1/3 cup yoghurt.

For Base:
Make a traditional crushed biscuit and butter base, or use the following recipe, either will be alright as the cheesecake is the star here.

120g Butter
100g Dark Chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup flour
2T cocoa powder

For Base:
Melt chocolate and butter together. In a separate bowl whisk together sugar and eggs. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture. Sift in flour and cocoa and pour into a springform pan with a lined base.

For Cheesecake:
Beat cream cheese until smooth, add sugar and beat until dissolved, beat in the grated zest of 2 lemons. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in yoghurt, then gently fold in the juice one one lemon.

Pour over the base and bake gently at 160C or until just set. Serve warm or cold.