Lime & Lemon Curd Ripple Cheesecake

I didn't intend to post about this cheesecake; it was a complete disaster on so many levels. a) it took ages longer to cook than the recipe suggested b) it cracked badly as it cooled c) the curd ripples weren't discernible within the cheesecake - only those on top could still be seen, and I used too much curd for them to look good and d) to cap it all, it broke in half while I was trying to plate it for presentation.

It did, however, have two redeeming features - it tasted fantastic and had a gorgeous texture. My sister said it was the best baked cheesecake she had tasted for years! This just about outweighed the problems, and made me decide to post about it.

So - this is the recipe, from Epicurious.

I used my usual crumb base - 200g crushed digestives and 100g melted butter - which from previous experience, is exactly the right amount for a 24cm springform tin. The amount in the recipe would have given a very sparse coverage.

I used 300g of citrus curd, from a batch made from the juice of 4 limes, the zest of one lime and the zest and juice of two lemons (100mls juice), 4 egg yolks and 1 whole egg, 150g butter and 150g sugar. This was slightly too much when divided as suggested by the recipe - the cheesecake needed less than half of this amount on top to have better defined swirls.

Other than those changes, I made the cheesecake mixture as per the recipe, using vanilla paste with seeds.

It took 90 minutes before the cheesecake got to the slightly wobbly in the centre stage, but by then the edges were very solid and puffed up, and the start of cracks could already be seen across the surface. These deepened as the cheesecake cooled. The cheesecake breaking was my own fault - I should have left it on the base of the springform pan, as I usually do.

As I said previously, the ripples of curd within the cheesecake had all but disappeared, but I think the butter and eggs in the curd was what added so much to the texture of the cheesecake - it was smooth, creamy and very rich without being heavy. The flavour was more of lemon than lime, but overall it was well balanced and not very tart - although I like sharp tasting lemon desserts, not everyone does!

I'm not sure I would make this recipe again, as I don't know what to do to correct the faults. The cooking time is an insurmountable problem - at 45 minutes the whole thing was still liquid! A longer cooking time causes cracks! Rippling the citrus curd didn't work well either, but I'm not sure just folding it in would have had the same effect.