Mini Lemon Curd Cheesecakes (No Bake)

Individual no bake lemon curd cheesecakes, with a buttery biscuit base, a creamy lemon cheesecake and a filling of zesty lemon curd

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cheesecake

Prep Time 45

Setting time 4

Total Time 4 45

Servings

Calories 404kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the biscuit base

150 g Digestive biscuits crushed
75 g Butter or baking spread melted
1 Lemon zest only

For the cheesecake filling

450 g Full fat cream cheese I use Philadelphia
75 g Icing sugar
185 ml Double cream
2 tsp Lemon extract optional
125 g Lemon curd good quality shop bought or homemade

For decoration

150 ml Double cream
½ tbsp Icing sugar
½ tsp Vanilla extract or paste
45 g Lemon curd good quality shop bought or homemade
1 Lemon zest only, optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To make the base, use a food processor to whizz up the biscuits into crumbs, if you don't have a food processor, bash the biscuits gently with a rolling pin in a bowl or freezer bag
Mix the melted butter and lemon zest into the biscuit crumbs, and press the mixture into the bottom of a 12 hole loose bottomed mini cake tin. You can do this with a flat based shot glass, the back of a small spoon, or a pastry tamper if you have one. Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set
For the cheesecake filling use a food mixer with a whisk attachment or an electric hand whisk to mix together the cream cheese, lemon extract and icing sugar until smooth with no lumps
Add the double cream and whisk until it is very thick and holds it's shape, You want it to get to a stage where you can scoop some up with your spatula or spoon and you have to give it a tap on the side of the bowl or slight flick of the wrist to get the mixture off the spoon. If it’s sloppy and slides right off the spoon without any encouragement needed, then you need to mix it more
Pipe or spoon about half of the cheesecake filling over the biscuit bases. Add a dollop of lemon curd in the centre of each mini cheesecake. Pipe or spoon the remaining cheesecake filling around and over the lemon curd. Use the back of a spoon or a small palette knife to smooth out the tops
Put the filled tin into the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight, for the mini cheesecakes to set. You can remove the cheesecakes from the tin straight from the fridge. Or freeze the filled tin for 30 minutes, remove from the freezer, wait a couple of minutes, then push the mini cheesecakes out and remove the tin bases
To decorate, whip up the double cream with the icing sugar and vanilla, ideally using an electric whisk, and pipe a swirl onto each of the mini cheesecakes. Drizzle over some lemon curd and add a sprinkle of lemon zest. Serve immediately, store any leftovers in the fridge and eat within 2-3 days

Notes

It is really important to stick to the ingredients and use full fat cream cheese and double cream (a cream with a 48% fat content), both of these ingredients are essential to ensure the no bake cheesecakes set. If you want to make a low fat version, I suggest doing this in small dessert glasses or ramekins as they will not set well enough to hold their shape.
I am based in the UK and I find that Philadelphia cream cheese is the thickest and best quality cream cheese to use for no bake cheesecakes. I have made many cheesecakes with supermarket own brand cream cheeses too, and they have worked great. If you can though, I think it is worth spending a little more for Philadelphia (and no they haven't paid me to say this!)
I like to use Digestive biscuits (Graham crackers if you're in the US) for the base, but you could substitute if for another similar biscuit like ginger nuts or Hobnobs.
You can use either butter or baking spread for the biscuit base, I find that baking spread makes the cheesecake easier to remove from the tin as it doesn't make the base set as solidly.
You can find lots of answers to common no bake cheesecake questions on my How To Make A No Bake Cheesecake guide. If you've never made a no bake cheesecake before, I highly recommend reading through my guide first!
If you need a lemon curd recipe, check out my Homemade Lemon Curd recipe.
For the best flavour, make sure to use a good quality lemon extract and not an essence. I like Nielsen Massey and Steenbergs.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition