So I have already made a blueberry cheesecake or two in the past for this blog, but I wanted to do a cheesecake mousse cake-entremet kind of thing using a blueberry-lemon cheesecake as the body of the dessert, with a blueberry gelee and a lemon curd interior, as well as a blueberry chiffon cake base. This recipe was kind an homage to a dessert I made a few years ago, but this time around, it has more of a focus on a cheesecake-like flavor profile, and using lemons instead of yuzu, since I happened to be gifted several lemons from my friend Karen. I will be honest, I feel like some of my more interesting desserts are the result of friends gifting me with their homegrown produce, and I kind of love how L.A. that is. The lemons were gorgeous, plump, and the zest was fragrant, so I applaud Karen’s green thumb here, since it only made the cake that much better-tasting! I also used blueberries since I had purchased a Costco-sized pint of blueberries, and still had about half of my blueberries left to use. I managed to make a blueberry puree from most of these, and from that puree, it became a flavoring agent for a chiffon cake, a gelee, and a no-bake cheesecake! The lemons, I used to make a lemon curd, which was frozen into a disk that was inserted into the middle of the cheesecake, and the curd was mixed with the blueberry puree and used to flavor the no-bake cheesecake itself! All in all, this was a lot of fun to make, and a convenient way to use up both Karen’s gorgeous homegrown lemons and the plethora of blueberries I had on hand.

For the recipe, the two things I would start on first are the lemon curd, and the blueberry puree/gelee. The lemon curd needs to be frozen solid to form a disk to put into the cheesecake, and freezing it takes a decent chunk of time, and the rest of the lemon curd will be used to flavor the cheesecake itself. The gelee is a pretty little disk that sits on top of the cake, so that needs to be made and set first as well. The chiffon cake, which you need to vigorously whip egg whites to fold into the batter for a light, airier sponge, would be the next thing I would focus on, since that will need to be fully baked so that you can then press it into the cheesecake. The cheesecake mousse would be the fourth component I would work on, and it should be relatively easy to bring to together, since the lemon curd and blueberry puree are already made at this point! If I were to give any advice, patience is key. Waiting for the lemon curd and gelee disk to freeze is important for the different layers, while the cheesecake needs to be frozen too before unmolding from the ring mold. From there, the rest of the recipe is straightforward – you have a clear glaze, tuiles, which you can omit if you do not want to make those or own Pavoni tuile molds, fresh whipped cream, and fresh blueberries. I would rate this dessert a 7/10 in difficulty, and would probably bring down that to a 5.5/10 if you have a standmixer to do all of the manual work for you! It just comes down to waiting for everything to set. So if you want to make this dessert, give yourself a full day to prepare it before you intend to serve it!

Makes a 6-inch cheesecake:
For the blueberry puree:
8oz fresh blueberries
4oz water
a pinch of salt

Puree everything in a blender and then pour the liquid through a sieve into a pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then allow it to fully cool before using it throughout the recipe.

For the lemon curd disk:
8oz lemon juice
Zest from 6 lemons
2 egg yolks
1oz cornstarch
2oz sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp butter

In a pot, heat up the lemon juice and zest. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Pour half of the simmering lemon juice onto the egg yolks. Whisk the egg yolks with the juice and pour that back into the pot with the lemon juice. Whisk the egg yolks in the pot on medium heat until it thickens and clings to the sides of your whisk. Pass the curd through a sieve to remove any lumps and zest.

Reserve 7oz of the curd for the mousse. Pour the rest of the curd into a lined 5-inch ring mold placed onto a sheet tray and freeze that solid.

For the blueberry gelee:
3oz blueberry puree
1oz water
1 tsp agar
a pinch of salt

In a pot, bring everything to a simmer. Once the agar is dissolved into the other ingredients, pour into a lined 5-inch ring mold and freeze solid.

For the blueberry chiffon cake:
1 egg white
1 tbsp granulated sugar
.1oz canola oil
.5oz blueberry puree
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Whip the egg white with sugar to form stiff peaks. Mix the canola oil with blueberry puree first, then sift onto that the flour. Fold that all together with the egg whites to form your batter. Pour the batter into a lined 6-inch ring mold placed onto a sheet tray. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Allow the cake to fully cool before using in assembly.

For the blueberry-lemon cheesecake
1.5 oz blueberry puree
2 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
a pinch of salt
7oz lemon curd
8oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, heat up the blueberry puree with gelatin and salt until the gelatin is dissolved. In another bowl, whip the lemon curd, cream cheese, and vanilla together. Pour the warm blueberry puree into the lemon-cream cheese mixture, whisking until everything is fully combined.

For initial assembly:
Start with a lined 6-inch ring mold on a sheet tray. Place the blueberry gelee down, then pour half of the cheesecake mixture in. Press the lemon curd disk into the cheesecake mixture, then pour the rest of the cheesecake on top of that. Press into that the chiffon cake. Transfer the ring mold to the freezer for 4-6 hours. Unmold the cake and keep in the freezer until time to glaze.

For the tuiles:
.5oz all-purpose flour
.2oz granulated sugar
.2oz canola oil
1/4 tsp egg white powder
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
.4oz water
a pinch of salt
.1 purple yam powder

In a bowl, mix everything besides the purple yam powder together. Divide the batter into two batches, and mix the yam powder into half. Pour both batters into silicone flower tuile molds and spread the batter evenly into the molds. Bake at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow the tuiles to cool before attempting to use.

For the whipped cream:
2oz heavy cream,
1 tsp confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, whisk everything together until stiff peaks form. Transfer the cream to a piping bag with a star tip. Refrigerate until time to use.

For the clear glaze:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
1 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup water

In a pot, heat up the lemon juice, gelatin, sugar, and salt. Once the gelatin, sugar, and salt are dissolved into the lemon juice, take the pot off heat and stir in the water. Let the liquid come down to 85 degrees F.

On an icing rack, pour the glaze onto the still-frozen cheesecake, allowing the excess to drip off. Reserve the leftover glaze for garnish, and transfer the glazed cheesecake to a serving surface.

For garnish:
Blueberries
Remaining lemon clear glaze

Toss the blueberries in the remaining clear glaze. Pipe the cream on top of the glazed cheesecake, alternating between cream and the glazed berries. Finish the top of the cake with the tuiles.