Lemon Swirled Cheesecake

My brother and his wife last July at my son Justin's wedding

Today is my little brother's birthday. I am so lucky to have such a great brother. He has a lovely home, wonderful wife and two handsome sons! The only problem is I only see him a few days out of the year. They were home last year for Justin's wedding and I went out to visit him over Christmas (where he showed us how to make his yummy apple dumplings with rum sauce). I really wish I could be closer. It would be nice to be with them on special occasions and see the kids playing their sports!


In honor of Steve's birthday I made a cake. A lemon swirled cheesecake that is. Look at the yummy lemon curd swirled into the cake....yummm!

When you are home this summer Steve, you know that I will be feeding you anything you request! I love you and hope you have a great day today with your family!!!


I feel bad my brother isn't here to share this with us....seriously. It makes a lot of cake! lol. I'm sure his wife is taking good care of him though so he's not suffering too much.  ;o)

Lemon Swirled Cheesecake
a Cooking Light Recipe

Crust:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon ice water
Cooking spray

Filling:
3 (8-ounce) blocks fat-free cream cheese, softened
2 (8-ounce) blocks 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 cup Lemon Curd

Recipe for Lemon Curd:

3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
2 large eggs
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)
2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook until sugar dissolves and mixture is light in color (about 3 minutes). Stir in lemon juice and butter; cook for 5 minutes or until mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cool. Cover and chill (the mixture will thicken as it cools).Preheat oven to 400°.
To prepare the crust, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Place 2/3 cup flour and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add chilled butter; pulse 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly pour ice water through food chute, processing just until blended (do not allow dough to form a ball). Firmly press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 325.

To prepare the filling, beat cheeses at high speed of a mixer until smooth. Add 1 3/4 cups sugar and the next 4 ingredients (1 3/4 cups sugar through salt); beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour the cheese mixture into prepared pan. Spoon mounds of Lemon Curd over filling, and swirl together using the tip of a knife. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cheesecake is almost set. Remove cheesecake from oven, and cool to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.