Basque cheesecake will forever be that quintessential ugly delicious dessert for me. Well, that and worms and dirt. You can’t make worms and dirt look pretty, and that’s perfectly fine with me. With this particular basque cheesecake, I had a ton of Meyer lemons lying around, to the point where you’d think that they just grew legs and crawled into my kitchen! So I had to figure out a way to use them up, and that’s when this particular cheesecake came to mind!

To start, we made some fresh mascarpone cheese using a little bit of the Meyer lemon juice and heavy cream. From there, we scented an entire cheesecake with the zest of two Meyer lemons, and then topped it with a Meyer lemon cream made from folding whipped cream through some Meyer lemon curd to finish. While this dessert is far from the prettiest thing to look it, it is definitely a tasty, zesty experience, perfect for the summer! Also, this cheesecake is 100% gluten-free, since I just don’t like the texture of basque cheesecake with flour in it. I’ve tried it, but it’s not as creamy.

For the homemade mascarpone:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
a pinch of salt

In a pot on low heat, heat up your ingredients until they reach 200 degrees F. Stir the pot constantly, keeping the temperature of the cream no higher than 200 degrees F, for 5 minutes. Pour into a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate for 1 day. This will make 8oz of mascarpone cheese.

For the cheesecake:
8oz mascarpone cheese
2 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
zest from 2 Meyer lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

Puree together all of your ingredients to form your batter. Line two 6-inch cake rounds with parchment, and pour the cheesecake batter into both. Bake at 425 degrees F for 45 minutes. Throw the cakes straight into the freezer so that they can fully set. They will sink and crack, but that’s normal for a basque cheesecake.

For the lemon cream:
juice and zest from 1 Meyer lemon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
a pinch of salt
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a pot, whisk the Meyer lemon juice, zest, cornstarch, and salt together on low heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow that to cool down to room temperature. Whip the sugar, cream, and vanilla to stiff peaks. Fold that into the lemon mixture. Pour and spread on top of the cheesecakes to finish.