Lemon Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

A couple weeks ago, my best friend Jennifer (finally) turned sixteen. It occurred to me that while she is but sixteen, I’m already looking forward to my seventeenth birthday. Seventeen. How old that sounds.

Last year, we went to a teppanyaki restaurant to celebrate Jennifer’s birthday. I love teppanyaki because it’s like dinner and a show. Soup, salad, sushi, sashimi, salmon, steak, stir-fry vegetables, chicken, dessert; how I gorged myself. Yet I couldn't finish it all.  

This year, we went back to the same teppanyaki restaurant. Obviously, the meal wouldn’t be complete unless I baked something for dessert. I had baked a cake for her in previous years, but she didn’t particularly enjoy it. As I vaguely recalled a distant conversation about sweets, I remembered Jennifer mentioning that she liked cheesecake. “Blueberry,” she said definitively when I asked her what flavour.

So I scoured the internet for blueberry cheesecake recipes. Not one satisfied my vision of a blueberry cheesecake, so I created my own version based on various recipes. I started off with a blueberry sauce, cooked until slightly thickened over the stove top and left to cool. Then I whipped up a classic graham cracker crumb crust and blind baked it.

The filling was simple: cream cheese, sugar, milk, sour cream, eggs, and a splash of vanilla and some lemon zest. Then I poured half the filling into the crust and some of the blueberry sauce over top.  I used a butter-knife to create a marbled effect and then repeated with the remaining filling and some of the blueberry sauce.

I used a 7-inch springform pan, but in retrospect, I should have used an 8-inch. The 7-inch pan was filled to the brim and threatening to spill over.

I really love the swirled look of the cheesecake, but the huge crack running down the center kind of ruined it for me. One of the recipes I adapted mine from recommended leaving the cheesecake in the oven to cool for several hours to prevent the cracking. The thing is, in my house, you never know when one of brothers decides that he’s hungry and preheats the oven to make roast potatoes. I decided to just take the cheesecake out of the oven, lest somebody accidentally preheated the oven to bake something else.  

The teppanyaki lunch was delicious, but what I was really looking forward to was the cheesecake. You know something is good when you don’t want to give it away.

Happy (belated) Sixteenth Birthday, Jennifer! You're the Woody to my Buzzy. 

Click on the recipe below.

Jennifer’s Lemon Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

Adapted from:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Blueberry-Swirl-Cheesecake-2/Print

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/philly-blueberry-swirl-cheesecake-76176.aspx

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chantals-new-york-cheesecake/Detail.aspx

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• ¼ cup butter, melted

Blueberry Sauce:

• 1 package (12 ounces) frozen blueberries, thawed
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Filling:

• 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Note: everything should be at room temperature!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. For the crust, mix crumbs, sugar, lemon zest, and the butter. Press firmly onto bottom and sides of 7-inch springform pan. Bake 7-10 minutes, until the crust is golden.  

For the blueberry sauce, combine blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir over medium heat until thickened. Reserve 1/2 cup of sauce for filling and refrigerate the remaining sauce.

For the filling, in a large bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar, lemon zest, and the vanilla and blend until combined. Add milk and sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour half the filling over crust. Gently drop spoonfuls of half the reserved blueberry sauce over batter; cut through filling several times with knife for marble effect. Repeat with the remaining filling and sauce.

Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until center is almost set. Turn the oven off and leave the door open a crack to cool for a couple hours. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Serve with the reserved blueberry sauce. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.