This cake bottom lemon cheesecake recipe is the perfect combination of lemon cake and lemon cheesecake. It’s got a delicious lemon cake on the bottom with a smooth and creamy lemon cheesecake on top. A delicious homemade dessert that’s perfect for lemon fans.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
When I was a kid, my sister and I would get little prizes if we made good grades in school. My sister would ask for things like match box cars, but me?…oh I’d ask for my Mom’s lemon cheesecake.
So this post is a little nostalgic. I’m reincarnating my Mom’s Grade A Cheesecake, but I’m kicking it up by making it into this Cake Bottom Lemon Cheesecake.
The bottom is a layer of lemony cake that’s oh so good…And the top is a layer of creamy no-bake lemon cheesecake.
The top layer of cheesecake is based off the recipe my Mom used. She used that old Milnot cheesecake recipe…It’s everywhere on the internet, but for this recipe, I’ve adjusted it a bit to make it work for this purpose.
LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE BOTTOM LEMON CHEESECAKE:
Lemon juice and zest: Fresh lemon juice is best for this recipe. You’ll need the zest as well because that’ll add a lot of lemon flavor to it.
Lemon jello mix: You’ll need this for the cheesecake part of this recipe. It’s what will firm it up nicely.
Evaporated milk: This, in combination with the cream cheese, is what will make the cheesecake super creamy. Evaporated milk is different than condensed sweetened milk, so make sure you’re getting the evaporated milk.
Mixing Method for this Cake:
The mixing method for the cake portion is the regular creaming method. That just means you’ll be mixing up the butter and sugar until fluffy and then adding in the liquid and dry ingredients alternately.
This method makes for a fluffier cake and helps the ingredients mix together better.
The cheesecake batter will be mixed in stages. First you’ll dissolve the lemon jello in some boiling water. Next you’ll add that to the cream cheese. You’ll need to whip up your evaporated milk until its fluffy, then it’ll get added to the lemon cream cheese mixture.
TIPS & FAQs FOR THE CAKE BOTTOM LEMON CHEESECAKE:
You’ll need enough time to bake the lemon cake and allow it to cool completely before adding the cheesecake batter to it.
You could even bake the cake the night before and then add the cheesecake that morning. The whole thing will then need to be refrigerated for 5-6 hours to let the cheesecake set up.
Yes, it’s really best if you do. You want to use a springform pan so that the sides of the pan will be tall enough to account for the cake AND the cheesecake. A regular cake pan, or pie pan isn’t tall enough.
After the cake has chilled for 5-6 hours, you’ll just pop the sides of the springform pan and pull it up and off from around your cake. It’s REALLY helpful to run a hot knife around the inside of this pan before you try taking off the springform collar.
Do this before adding in the cake batter and it’s helpful to set the entire springform pan on a cookie sheet, in case any batter leaks out of your pan.
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Items & Tools Used for this Cake:
Video:
Ok, let’s get to the recipe. Also, you’ll want to catch the video below to see how to put it all together and how to actually get it out of the pan.
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Cake Bottom Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 large eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup milk
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- yellow food coloring (optional)
For the Cheesecake:
- 1 3 oz. lemon jello the small box
- juice of 1 lemon
- ¾ cup boiling water
- 2 8 oz pkgs cream cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup evaporated milk
- yellow food coloring (optional)
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Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a springform pan (that's around 9 inches) and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add the eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and milk. Whisk until well mixed and set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk and then set aside.
- In a third bowl, add the butter and sugar and mix very well.
- Add in ⅓ of the flour mixture. Mix just until combined.
- Mix in ½ of the liquid mixture just until combined.
- Add in the next ⅓ of the flour mixture. Mix until combined and then add in the last of the liquid mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Optional: Add a couple drops of yellow food coloring
- Pour into greased spring form pan. (You can set your springform pan onto another sheet pan, just in case the pan leaks a bit.)
- Bake at 350 for 35 – 40 minutes.
- Leave the cake in the pan and cool completely.
For the Cheesecake:
- In a bowl, whisk together the jello mix, lemon juice and boiling water. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (You can cool in the fridge, but don’t allow it to get cold, or it will firm up too much.)
- In a mixing bowl, add the sugar and cream cheese and mix well.
- Add in the room temperature jello mixture and mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
- In a chilled bowl, add ½ cup evaporated milk. Whip on high until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the whipped evaporated milk into the cream cheese mixture.
- Optional: Add a few drops of yellow food coloring.
- Pour into the springform pan and cover the cake.
- Chill in the fridge for about 5-6 hours.
- Once chilled, run a hot knife around the inside of the pan before taking the pan collar off.
- Can top with additional whipped cream if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Maureen
This looks great Kara! As soon as the rain stops I plan to swim to Publix for the lemon jello to make this. I’ll be sure to bring waterproof grocery bags!
One question … what size spring-form pan do you use for this recipe? I’m sorry if it’s there and I missed it.
Thanks!
Maureen
Kara Jane
Hi Maureen, Oh my goodness that sounds like a ton of rain! We had a couple months like that a bit back and it was getting to the point of ridiculousness. My plants loved it though and now my gladioli are as tall as I am! Ok, onto your question…no I don’t think you missed where I talked about the size of the pan. I think I’m the one that missed actually putting that in the post. I used a 9″ springform pan. I’ll also go back and update that recipe card to reflect that. If it ever stops raining and you can go to Publix without drowning, let me know how you like the cheesecake!
Nicole holladay
I am making the cheese cake and need to know if I use instant jello or cook & serve. I’m not an experienced with baking and I dont want to mess up.
Thank you
Kara Jane
Hi Nicole, you’ll be using the instant jello, not the lemon pudding mix.
Maureen
Hi Kara,
I made this yesterday and OMG it’s fabulous!
Hubby stayed up extra late just waiting for it to “set” and was blown away when he tasted it.
…I had trouble getting the evaporated milk to whip ( I think there was too little volume for my Kitchenaid whisk to reach) so I hand-whipped some heavy cream to fold in (and pipe).
Can’t wait to pick next week’ project from your recipes.
Thanks!
Maureen
Kara Jane
Oh yay! I’m so glad y’all liked it! And using heavy cream will give you essentially the same end product. So glad that it worked out and glad your husband didn’t wait up just to be disappointed. lol!
Azniv
Made this yesterday and omg lemon goodness! Even people that don’t like Lemon had a little bit and loved it! I’ve never whipped evaporated milk so I messed that up. Whipped it so much it turned into a flat bubbly mess. So I added some whipped cream instead. It ended up super yummy!
Kara Jane
Oh yay! I’m glad everyone liked it! Yes it’s pretty easy to over-whip milk…it goes quicker than you expect and then can deflate. Glad you were able to fix it though!
Ana
Dear Kara
how much should be the size of pan?
thank you in advance
Kara Jane
Hi Ana, I think mine was about a 9″ springform pan, so anything around that size should be just fine.
Suzanne
Hi there. I am in the UK so I need to know what type of sugar as we have icing (confectioner) sugar, caster sugar and granulated sugar. Our caster sugar is finer than granulated.
Once I know, I can’t wait to try this recipe as it looks delicious.
Kara Jane
Hi Suzanne, it’s granulated sugar for this recipe…both for the cake and the cheesecake. I hope you love it!
Liza Padilla
Can I bake the cheese cake as well? If yes, will it be fine of I bake them together?
Kara
Hi Liza, the cheesecake is a no-bake cheesecake, so it shouldn’t be placed in the oven. The lemon cake (the bottom layer) will need to be baked first, cooled, then you’ll add the cheesecake mixture over it and chill. Hope this helps.
Ana
Hi Kara,
This looks delicious; can’t wait to try it out! For the bottom cake portion – can I use buttermilk or sour cream instead of regular milk?
Kara
Yes, I think that would work just fine. There’s enough baking soda in there, that I think it’ll be ok. 🙂