Baked lemon raspberry cheesecake bars; smooth and creamy cheesecake swirled with lemon zest and tangy raspberries on a buttery biscuit base.
Summer baking is a challenge to say the least.
When it’s 30 degrees celsius both inside and outside, getting all your ingredients to behave themselves is difficult enough, let alone finding the will to make the delicious treats you’re craving. However, for the sake of both my own selfish desires, and to share some lovely refreshing recipes with you folks, I’m willing to tackle it.
Sticky heat requires cold, creamy, refreshing desserts. These baked lemon raspberry cheesecake bars are a perfect example of a perfect seasonal sweet.
I recently shared a recipe for baked coffee cheesecake bars; espresso-spiked baked ricotta cheesecake bars with a salted chocolate biscuit base and softly whipped vanilla cream. They went down so well amongst friends and family (and myself, let’s be honest) during the recipe testing that I knew I had to make something similar before summer was over.
Drawing on my eternal love for all things lemony, and my pining for Scottish summer berries (miss you guys), I’ve made you lovely people another baked cheesecake bars recipe. This time, even more zingy.
The butter may have melted on its own, and it may have taken 3-4 business days to actually cool these bars down in the Italian heat, but we got there in the end …
Smooth and creamy lemon-spiked cheesecake swirled with tangy raspberry jam and fresh raspberries on a buttery biscuit base. Is there a single part of that sentence that doesn’t tickle your wee fancy?
These baked lemon raspberry cheesecake bars are just that sweet spot between indulgent and light. Fresh ricotta and cream cheese together to make the bars smooth and creamy but also somewhat fluffy and refreshing. Buttery biscuits balance beautifully with tart raspberries and lemon juice.
We’ve been loving these as an afternoon sweet treat, and (of course) for breakfast. However, they’d also make a great dessert after a sunlit dinner or a nice way to round off a long BBQ. They don’t possess all the simplicity of a classic 1970s British style mix-and-chill cheesecake, but they’re worth the extra effort. Baked cheesecake is much more stable in warm weather and always seems lighter in texture while still being deliciously decadent. You will be rewarded for your patience during all that cooling and chilling time, promise.
Why not enjoy these baked lemon raspberry cheesecake bars with some softly whipped cream on the side? Maybe a bit of extra tangy raspberry sauce to pair with them? Why not even try making them with another soft seasonal fruit like blueberries or blackberries?
Want to save these baked lemon raspberry cheesecake bars for later? You can pin the image below!
To make these baked lemon raspberry cheesecake bars, simply follow the recipe below:
Ingredients
For the biscuit base:
- 200g (7 oz) plain or vanilla-flavoured biscuits
- 90g (6 tbsp) salted butter
- Pinch of salt
For the lemon raspberry cheesecake:
- 250g (9 oz) cream cheese
- 250g (9 oz) ricotta
- 125g (⅔ cup) caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp good-quality raspberry jam
- Handful of fresh raspberries
Instructions
For the biscuit base:
- Preheat your oven – 160°C / 140°C fan / 325°F / gas mark 3.
- Grease and line a tin to bake the bars in, both 20 × 20cm (8 x 8 in) or 18 x 25 cm (7 x 10 in) should work well. Ideally, use a tin with a removable base/bottom!
- Using a small food processor, or a food-safe bag and rolling pin, bash and/or blitz your biscuits into fine crumbs.
- Gently melt your butter, either in a small pan on the stove or in small bursts in the microwave, until liquid.
- Add the melted butter to the biscuit crumbs, along with the salt, and stir to combine into what resembles wet sand.
- Tip the biscuit mixture into your prepared tin and use the back of a spoon to smooth and flatten it out into an even base layer for your cheesecake bars.
- Place the tin with the biscuit mixture into the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, just to help set the mixture.
- Remove the tin from the oven, leaving it on and at the same temperature, and allow the biscuit base to cool slightly while you prepare the cheesecake itself.
For the lemon raspberry cheesecake:
- In a large bowl, weigh out your cream cheese and ricotta.
- Beat well for around a minute with a whisk to incorporate together smoothly.
- Add all the remaining cheesecake ingredients, except the jam and raspberries, into the bowl and whisk until completely smooth and combined.
- Pour the liquid cheesecake mixture on top of the biscuit base.
- Evenly dollop the jam over the cheesecake mixture, and use the end of a spoon or the tip of a knife to gently marble it through.
- Scatter over a few fresh raspberries.
- Bake in the oven for a further 40-50 minutes. By this stage, the cheesecake should have just the slightest wobble in the middle when the tin is shaken.
- Once baked, turn off the oven and cool the cheesecake inside it with the door ajar until completely cool.
- When cooled, chill the cheesecake in the fridge for at least one hour.
- Once chilled and set, remove the block of cheesecake from its tin and slice it into equal bars, square or rectangular.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not swap the raspberries and raspberry jam for blueberries and blueberry jam, or for blackberries and blackberry jam?
These baked lemon raspberry cheesecake bars will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, but are best enjoyed fresh!
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These look wonderful! Would it be ok to substitute corn starch for the corn flour? Or is there something else that can be substituted for corn flour? Thanks 🙂
My most successful cheesecake effort was actually in my instant pot (believe it or not). I made them in small mason jars… but I have been eyeing instant pot sized pans and I wonder if I should experiment! I’ve made it my life’s purpose to covert all recipes to instant pot/air fryer so I can make anything while I’m in the cabin lol.