LEMON-BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE CAKE – A decadent blueberry cheesecake kissed by lemon hiding inside a layer cake.
Right in the center where the filling should be for a sweet surprise.
It’s a crustless cheesecake made with cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, sugar, a ton of lemon zest and blueberries. Wild blueberries. They’re small and mighty, my favorite type of blueberry. Of course you can use whatever blueberries you like.
The cheesecake should be made the night before because it has to be well chilled and set up so it’s nice and firm for handling. And it just tastes better that way.
The cake is a super easy one-bowl yellow cake that comes together in the wink of an eye. Because there wasn’t enough cream cheese in the cheesecake I had to put more in the frosting along with butter, more lemon zest, confectioners’ sugar and heavy cream or milk.
Once the frosting comes together I like to beat it for 5 – 10 minutes on low speed to make it extra fluffy and so light it’s like a silky cloud on your tongue.
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Assembly is the best part. The pay-off. It starts with one of the cakes covered in a thin layer of frosting, topped with the cheesecake, another layer of frosting and the top layer cake. The frosting in between acts like the glue to hold it all together so it doesn’t fall apart when you slice it.
The entire thing is covered in frosting and then chilled to be eaten cold. The colder it is the better it tastes.
I wasn’t even planning on posting this but it was such a hit I had to. It was for a birthday and thankfully there was some left over for pictures.
And to shove in my blueberry lovin’ face. Thankfully.
The stuff all my blueberry dreams will be made of.
Forever and ever and ever.
LEMON-BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE CAKE
Ingredients
- Cheesecake:
- 16 ounces bar cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- the zest of 2 lemons
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries preferably wild (don't thaw if frozen)
- Cake:
- 2 + ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 + ½ cups sugar
- ½ cup butter or stick margarine softened
- 1 + ¼ cups milk
- 3 + ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- Frosting:
- 8 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room-temperature
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 - 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
- 2 - 3 tablespoons heavy cream or half & half plus more if needed
- Optional:
- fresh blueberries to decorate the top
- fresh whipped cream for serving
Instructions
Make the Cheesecake:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter. Wrap the bottom in aluminum foil and set the pan inside a larger baking pan.
- Beat the cream cheese until soft and fluffy on medium speed about 2 minutes.
- On low speed beat in the sour cream and sugar until smooth and well combined.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time on medium speed. Beat in the lemon zest.
- Stir in the blueberries. Pour into the pan. Fill the outer pan with hot water so it reaches halfway up the cheesecake pan.
- Bake until set in the center and firm to the touch 50 - 55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- Cover and chill overnight.
Make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) round pans.
- In a large mixing bowl beat all the ingredients together using an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
- Divide equally between the two pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool on wire racks 20 minutes then turn one of them out onto a cake platter and the other onto a piece of parchment. Cool completely.
Make the Frosting:
- In a medium bowl beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and fluffy about 3 minutes on medium speed.
- Add a cup of confectioners' sugar at a time and beat 1 minute after each addition alternating with a small splash of the heavy cream until you get a thick spreading consistency.
- Beat an additional 5 minutes on low speed until light and super fluffy.
Assemble the Cake:
- Spread a thin layer of frosting over the top of the cake you set on the cake platter.
- Remove the ring from the cheesecake and run a butter knife around the edges if needed then use a thin spatula to help lift one side so you can get your hand under it.
- Place it on the cake. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the cheesecake and top with the remaining cake.
- Frost the cake (top with fresh blueberries, if you like). Chill at least 2 hours before serving.
- Serve cold with a dollop of whipped cream if desired. Keep the leftovers refrigerated up to 4 days.