Lemon and ginger cheesecake recipe

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This lemon and ginger cheesecake uses only six ingredients and takes 15 minutes to prepare.

Lemon and ginger cheesecake
(Image credit: Future)
Serves12
SkillEasy
Preparation Time15 mins
Cooking Time Chill overnight
Cost RangeMid
Nutrition Per PortionRDA
Calories359 Kcal18%
Fat22.7 g32%
Saturated Fat13.7 g69%
Sugars24 g27%
Protein4 g8%
Carbohydrates34.2 g13%

Our lemon and ginger cheesecake takes 15 minutes to prepare and is best made the day ahead so it has plenty of time to chill. 

We love a get-ahead dessert and this lemon and ginger cheesecake is exactly why. It is made using six ingredients and takes 15 minutes to put together. The rest of the hard work is done by the fridge and the cheesecake needs to set for at least four hours but ideally overnight. Remove from the fridge 10 mins before serving so it’s easier to slice and more enjoyable to eat. 

Ingredients

  • 250g (8oz) gingernuts
  • 125g (4oz) butter, melted
  • 200ml (7fl oz) double cream
  • 397g can condensed milk
  • Zest and juice of 2 lemons
  • Zest and juice of 1 lime

WEIGHT CONVERTER

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Method

  1. Grease the sides of a 20cm loose-based cake tin. Cut a circle of baking paper and use to line the bottom of the tin.
  2. Put the biscuits in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Mix to combine then press 200g of the mixture into the base of your tin. This is just over half the mixture. Chill while you prepare the creamy filling.
  3. Lightly whip the cream in a bowl and stir in the condensed milk, lemon and lime zest and 10-12 tablespoons juice. Spoon the creamy mixture over the biscuit base and smooth the top. Sprinkle over the rest of the biscuit mixture. Chill until set, at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
  4. Remove from the tin and slice before serving.

Top tips for making lemon and ginger cheesecake 

You can make the cheesecake with only lemons if you like but we enjoy the combination of the two citrus fruits. It’s just important you include at least one, read below to find out why. For an extra boost of ginger consider adding some chopped pieces of candied stem ginger to the top of the cheesecake. It will add a lovely chewy texture. 

Why do you put lemon juice in cheesecake?

Put simply, because it tastes great! Lemon juice helps to cut through the rich cream and condensed milk in this recipe and brings an important contrast in flavour. 

What are 3 styles of cheesecake?

This recipe would be classed as a no-bake cheesecake. The ingredients are assembled and then chilled until firm and ready to slice. You can also make a baked cheesecake which doesn’t have the biscuit base. Instead it’s usually a sponge base and the cream mixture is gently cooked in a low oven until set. American cheesecake is richer than most classic cheesecake recipes as it usually includes cream cheese, cream and egg yolks for added richness. 

Which cheese is best for cheesecake?

This recipe uses a mixture of double cream and condensed milk to create the light fluffy filling. However, other recipes will use cream cheese, also known as soft cheese, which is sweetened with icing sugar and sometimes has double cream added too. 

Instead of crushing the biscuits with a rolling pin you could blitz them in a food processor or blender. It is much quicker but will create a little more washing up. If you’re interested in buying a new blender, food editor Jessica Dady wrote a KitchenAid K400 blender review explaining why it’s a great investment. 

KitchenAid K400 Artisan Hibiscus Blender - View at KitchenAid 

KitchenAid K400 Artisan Hibiscus Blender - <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=92X363&xcust=hawk-custom-tracking&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kitchenaid.co.uk%2Fblenders%2F859711659200%2Fblender-k400-artisan-5ksb4026-hibiscus%3Fawc%3D23934_1690207095_d9118ce291573c77c10af85f03ce143e%26utm_source%3Dawin%26utm_medium%3DSub%2BNetworks%26utm_campaign%3DSkimlinks&sref" data-link-merchant="SkimLinks - kitchenaid.co.uk"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View at KitchenAid 

There are five manual speed settings to choose from on this blender. We recommend using the slowest setting as you want to blitz the biscuits into and even crumb but you don’t want it too fine. The colour of this blender is very striking and will make a great statement in your kitchen. 

If you like this recipe, you should try our lime and ginger cheesecake too. For something chocolatey our indulgent Maltesers cheesecake is perfect. Alternatively, if you fancy a classic bake you can’t go wrong with our lemon drizzle cake. 

Jessica Ransom
Senior Food Writer

Jessica is a freelance food writer, stylist and recipe tester. She previously worked as Senior Food Writer at Future. While at Future Jessica wrote food and drink-related news stories and features, curated product pages, reviewed equipment, and developed recipes that she then styled on food shoots. She is an enthusiastic, self-taught cook who adores eating out and sharing great food and drink with friends and family. She has completed the Level 1 Associate course at the Academy of Cheese and is continually building on her knowledge of beers, wines, and spirits.