Lemon Cheesecake

I’m in love with this recipe, I made it for my mother in law’s birthday and it was a huge success!

This cheese cake doesn’t need to be baked, and, because there is not any mascarpone cheese, I found it very light! Also the lemon sauce on top is very refreshing.

The only suggestion that I want to give you to make this recipe successfully is to get all the ingredients ready and to follow all the steps.

Are you ready? Challenge yourself and do it.

Bella Cibo

Ingredients:

For the base:

100 grams butter melted
200 grams graham cookies crumbled

For the cake:

10 grams gelatin
250 ml whipping cream
300 grams Lemon yogurt
200 grams Philadelphia cream cheese
100 grams sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
A sprinkle of love

For the lemon cream:

100 ml orange juice
100 ml lemon juice
15 grams corn starch
70 grams sugar

Step 1:

The first thing to do is to get the base of your cheese cake ready.
Get your cookies crumbled in a bowl and add the melted butter. Mix very well and pour everything in a round cake pan 9 ½ inch, I suggest to use a Springform cake pan, press firmly onto bottom of the pan and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Step 2:

Bring your gelatin, put it in a bowl and cover it with water, if you use Knox follow their instruction because I used a brand from the Italian store.
Whip your whipping
In another bowl put the lemon yogurts, the Philadelphia and the sugar. Mix very well with a hand-mixer and add the whipping cream whipped.
On a side squeeze out 1 lemon and put it the juice in a small pan adding the gelatin, bring it over to the stove to a low- medium heat and let it melt for 1 or 2 minutes; when its melt add it to the whipping cream mixture. Mix very well, bring your cake pan out of the fridge and pour it over the crust. Put it back to the fridge for at least 3 hours or in the freezer for 1 hour.

Step 3:

Now it’s time to make your lemon cream:
bring 100 ml orange juice and 100 ml lemon juice and pour it in a small pan, add the 70 grams of sugar and 15 grams of corn starch and on a medium-heat cook it for 4/5 minutes until the cream is nice and thick {it’s very important that the cream is thick, it might take few minutes longer}.Let it cool down before to pour it on the cheese cake for 2/3 minutes

Step 4:

Get the cake out of the fridge, open your pan, very gently, and pour the lemon cream on top. Use some lemon for decoration.

Buon Appetito and most important don’t forget the sprinkle of love.

About Marzia

Marzia’s love affair with Italian cuisine was sparked at a young age – as soon as she was tall enough to reach her mother’s countertops.

The Langley, B.C resident was born just outside of Naples in a small town called Sant’ Antimo, which had a population of 24,000 people at the time.

Her parents would soon move her family to a small rural village in Northern Italy called Traona – a town with less than 1,500 residents, but plenty of cows, chickens, and rabbits.

Marzia’s childhood in the rolling hillside was a joyous one. She got to eat fresh local food, daily, and the best cheese in the entire world. Her mother was also happy for the extra hand in the kitchen and with helping to care for her two brothers.

Summers were spent in Southern Italy at her Nona’s beach house. There were always plenty of cousins, aunts and uncles around.

Nonna made sure she did her chores and helped with cleaning up the house each morning.

Her golden rule for women was: “Man have to be happy, so all the ladies in the house have to clean up, make breakfast, get lunch ready while the men are at the beach.”

Nonna instilled the virtue of hard work, but also the importance of living well.

After lunch was eaten and all the dishes were cleaned and put away, it was time to unwind and have some fun. This meant heading to the beach, sun tanning, eating appetizers – living la dolce vita.

At the end of August it was time for the tradition of canning all those ruby-red tomatoes off the vine with Nona.

This would leave her family with enough fresh sauce to last the winter.

The end of summer was always sad. It was never easy to say goodbye to her big funny family.

Speaking of family…

In 1995, she‘d meet Dan – a quirky Canadian traveller who would set her heart on fire and change her destiny.

He was from Vancouver, which at the time, Marzia, nor anyone in her family knew very little about.

Marzia thought he was a bit strange, especially since he seemed to enjoy the rain.

Note: If you are a true Italian, you don’t like the rain one little bit!!!

Long story short, they both fell in L.O.V.E, and in 2003, Dan convinced her to move to Vancouver.

The lifestyle change was difficult in the beginning, but in the end, it proved to be the best decision for the couple. They now live happily ever after in the suburbs of Langley, B.C with their two beautiful children.

Today, Marzia enjoys teaching her passion of cooking authentic Italian cuisine and sharing her stories of growing up in Italy. Her dream is to one day soon, open a cooking school.

She hasn’t stopped missing her Mom, Nona, aunt and all her large family in Italy, but she is proud of the little family and life she has made for herself on the West Coast. She knows everyone back home is proud she is bringing a little slice of Italy to Canada.

marzia pic for bio