Simply the Zest

I love gloomy weather. Is it grey and cloudy? Good. It is raining? Better. Is it snowing? Best. Needless to say, after five very long, very winter-less years in Florida, I was stoked to be back in New Mexico where it gets cloudy, rainy, and snowy sometimes all in the same day during the winter months. Sadly, we went from mid 40s to low 80s this week, so I think we've skipped straight from winter to summer. I generally need a spring-buffer to prepare my frail, heat-hating body for the sun's rage in the summer (it has literally zero chill). Since I knew I needed some lemon-aid to get through this hot weather, I turned to my favorite coping mechanism: the cheesecake. I wanted spring vibes happening inside my house if they weren't going to take place outside of it, so I made the cheesecake lemon flavored and accidentally turned it into a giant daisy during the decorating process.

Daisy me rollin', they hatin'....

March went by in a blur, and I try to blog once a month, so I had to squeeze one in before April and all it's foolery. I haven't made cheesecake since November (which apparently means my mental health has been optimal this winter since feelings-eating hasn't been a thing), so I knew it was time to bust out the springform pan for springtime eatings. I know lemon typically has a summer-flavor connotation with it, but I felt this was the right call for my cheesecake flavor because like me, lemons are also small, thick-skinned, and slightly bitter. THIS. CHEESECAKE. It is positively divine. It is tart but creamy, sweet but sour, and probably the best thing I've eaten all month (and the only thing I want to eat for the rest of it). It is light and refreshing but also truly satisfies my gigantic sweet tooth, like a lemon bar married a cheesecake and had really tasty children. Thankfully, each slice is fewer than 300 calories (282 to be exact) for 8 slices total. I am sharing with my husband, lover of all things sour, so there may be some battling toward the end of this beauty.

One of us is bound to squeeze the day and take that final lemony slice.

I am not a fan of cheesecake crusts that go all the way up the side of the cheesecake. I like a small, thin layer of crust because I want less filler and more filling. If you need more graham cracker crust than there is actual cheesecake, just save yourself some time and go make s'mores. For my lighter crust, I use:

• 1 cup (120 grams) Kinnikinnick gluten free graham crumbs
• 2 TBS (24 grams) Lakanto granular monkfruit sweetener
• 2 TBS (28 grams) light butter

To make, I preheat my oven to 375 and line an 8-inch springform pan with Parchment paper and spray with Pam. I mix all 3 ingredients in my food processor until the crumbs look wet. I spray my hands with Pam and press the crust into the prepared pan. Bake time will vary from 10-15 minutes by oven. This was my first regular cheesecake in our new kitchen, and my oven definitely over-bakes quickly, which I unfortunately learned the hard way with this crust (it was a real whoopsy daisy, if you will). Baked at 12 minutes, it is very, very tanned. Ten minutes next time, for sure.

This was pre-sunburning.

I placed my crust into the freezer to cool down while I made my filling. I also turned my oven off to cool down a bit since bake temp for the cheesecake is lower.

Lemons the size of my whole friggin' hand brought to you by Albertsons.

This filling is super easy to make, and given that cheesecakes are known prima donnas in the dessert world, that's saying something. All you need is:

• 8 ounces (225 grams) 1/3 the fat cream cheese at room temp
• 1/2 cup (96 grams) Lakanto classic monkfruit sweetener
• 14 ounces (398 grams) fat free plain Greek yogurt, strained overnight
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup (58 grams) lemon juice (I only used 1 of the ridiculously large lemons for this)
• 1 TBS lemon zest (still only 1 lemon needed since these were terrifyingly large lemons)
• 3 eggs at room temp
• OPTIONAL: if you don't have lemons or don't want to zest and juice, try using 2 tsp of lemon extract to taste; you may need more depending on how tart you want your cheesecake
• To be used for topping:
• 5 ounces (142 grams) lemon curd
• 85 grams Cool Whip Free
  

Turn the oven to 350 degrees, then mix the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 3 minutes on medium-high. Add in the strained yogurt and mix well before adding in the zest, juice, and vanilla extract on medium-high. I scrape the bowl at this point, then add in the eggs on low speed, one at a time.

Then prepare for a weird-looking ritual.

Before I pour my filling onto my cooled crust, I always line the pan with several overlapping sheets of foil and two crockpot liners to keep water out of the crust during the water bath. My middle name should be "Safety" because there is no step I won't take to ensure the well-being of my baked goods. I then pour my filling on top of my crust and place this into a large roasting pan before filling the pan with 4-5 cups of very hot water. I baked at 350 for 1 hour and 5 minutes, until the edges of the cheesecake were getting golden and set but the center was still jiggly. Then I turned off my oven, cracked the door open, and let the cheesecake finish baking for 1 hour. It may seem like a lot of weird hoop-jumping, but this process has never steered me wrong in yielding a cheesecake without any cracks on the top.

If a lemon curd, it would.

At this point, I moved my frozen Cool Whip Free from the freezer to the fridge to thaw out overnight, and I moved my cheesecake from the oven to a cooling rack so I could use a sharp knife to run around the edge of the pan. Then I placed the cheesecake + rack into my fridge for 30 minutes to cool.

Now it's time for the icing on the (cheese)cake.

I filled a piping bag with 5 ounces of lemon curd, snipped the tip, and piped the curd around the center of the cooled cheesecake before smoothing out with an angled spatula, leaving about a 1-inch edge without curd:

This picture makes me want a fried egg.

Now, since cheesecakes like to do nothing more than be, well, lazy daisies, cover with plastic wrap and let this set overnight in the fridge.

They're always worth the wait, though.

The next day, like a kid on Christmas morning (or someone obsessed with dessert), I ran to the fridge to remove the springform pan and finish my cheesecake.

Circle the part you want to eat...

I used 85 grams of Cool Whip Free plopped into a piping bag with a 1M tip to make a large circle for my inadvertent flower petals to sit on top of...I was really just going for a cool swirly pattern but it ended up looking like a daisy in a twist of good fate.

Spring has sprung. Right onto my fork. Straight into my belly.

I piped a zigzag back and forth on top of the circle base, and I looks pretty nifty. At this point, you could cut and serve, but it was only 9 a.m., so I very sadly placed my cheesecake back into the fridge and shuffled away, longingly gazing at my fridge and willing the clock to spring further forward to dessert time.

It just looks so happy, so bright, so ready to be cut into reasonably-sized pieces.

Alexa, play "Here Comes the Sun."

I'm more of Stones girl myself, but I'll give the Beatles their just desserts (ha!) for writing that bop because it's been on a loop in my head since the first bite of this cheesecake. Creamy cheesecake flavor meets tangy lemon curd and sweet Cool Whip topping? This is perhaps the first time I've been excited about spring's arrival since I was still young enough to hunt for Easter eggs.

It's almost as pretty as an Easter egg, too.

And those accidental daisy petals are just perfect.

I might have had whatever the opposite of the winter blues is called (cold weather contentment?), for the last four-plus months, so it's probably a good thing it's getting hot out or I might never have been sad enough to make this delicious cheesecake. Just thinking about how decadent yet light, sweet yet sour, and accidentally floral this cheesecake is brings me a joy not even the sun can outshine. And the zest, as they say, is history. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

Have a nice daisy! I plan on having several (slices).