White Chocolate Cheesecake Topped with Lemon Curd

In my second book, "Sophisticated Entertaining," I wrote a whole chapter devoted to cheesecake -- eventually all the cheesecake recipes will appear on my blog -- but I wanted to kick it off with my fave! My goal in developing the perfect cheesecake recipe was to strike a balance between the rich flavor that ample cheese in a recipe yields without creating a super dense dessert. I'm pretty happy with the way this recipe turned out primarily because of the addition of white chocolate and a healthy dose of Grand Marnier. Topping it all off is lemon curd, which adds a lively lift to this buttery, decadent dessert recipe. In the past, I’ve used prepared lemon curd purchased at the grocery store to fill tartlets. The commercial curd pales in comparison to fresh homemade curd that will really perk up this cheesecake as well as your dessert recipes.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 10 oz. good quality white chocolate, chopped
• 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier

Homemade Lemon Curd

• 6 egg yolks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into tablespoons
• 1 paper doily
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over low heat or in microwave. Allow remaining 1/2 cup butter to soften at room temperature. Mix together cookie crumbs, lemon zest, sugar, and 1/2 cup melted butter. Pat mixture in bottom and up sides of buttered 10-inch spring-form pan. Freeze covered 30 minutes.

Preheat oven 350F (175C). Set spring-form pan containing crust on a baking sheet.
Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler or in a small saucepan over a larger pot of simmering water. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Beat chocolate and cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat 1/2 cup softened butter and Grand Marnier into mixture until thoroughly blended. Pour batter into prepared pan over crust.

Place baking sheet with pan in middle rack of oven. Bake 1 hour until cheesecake puffs up and knife inserted off-center comes out clean. Cheesecake center will continue to cook and become firm once removed from oven and cake will sink slightly as it cools. Place baking sheet with pan on wire rack. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, make Lemon Curd. Whisk together egg yolks, granulated sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly so mixture does not boil, until mixture thickens, about 8-10 minutes. When thickened, remove from heat and immediately stir in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is smooth. Cool completely. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Spread lemon curd in an even layer over top of cooled cheesecake. Place cheesecake on a large dish and chill uncovered for 2 hours. When lemon curd sets, run a knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Release pan latch and remove pan collar.
Place a paper doily on top of lemon curd. Sift powdered sugar evenly over doily. Remove doily to reveal powdered sugar design. Cut individual wedges from cheesecake and serve cold with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Store covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Makes 12 servings