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5 from 2 votes

German Style Lemon Cheesecake With Sour Cream

Loaded with fresh lemon flavor, this baked German style lemon cheesecake with sour cream and cream cheese is creamy, refreshing, so good and easy to make! Easy enough to be made by beginners too. Made up of a cake base, filled with cheesecake filling with an amazing fresh lemon and buttery flavor and finished off with sour cream meringue topping.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 5 minutes
Cool Time (at least)1 hour
Total Time2 hours 25 minutes
Course: afternoon tea, Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: European, German
Keyword: cheesecake with creamy topping, Cheesecake With Sour Cream Topping, German baked lemon cheesecake, special occasion desserts
Servings: 12 Servings
Author: Ester | esterkocht.com

Equipment

  • 26 cm(10 inch) spring-form (or cake tin with removable base)
  • Parchment paper
  • Silicone spatula
  • kitchen machine or hand mixer

Ingredients

For the base

  • 200 g (7 oz/ 1 2/3 cup) plain flour/ all purpose flour
  • 75 g (2.6 oz) butter
  • 75 g (2.6 oz/ ¼ cup+ 2 tablespoons) sugar
  • 1 medium egg Germany, large US 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

For the filling

  • 200 g (8.8 oz/ 1 ⅛ cups ) cream cheese room temperature
  • 650 g (23 oz/ about 2 ⅔ cups) sour cream room temperature
  • 40 g (1.4 oz/ ⅓ cup) cornstarch (corn flour)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
  • 130 g (4 ½ oz/ ⅔ cup) sugar
  • 150 g (5.3 oz/ ½ cup + 2 tablespoons) butter melted
  • 125 ml (½ cup + 1 teaspoon) milk
  • 2 egg yolks room temperature

For the creamy topping

  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 egg whites
  • a pinch of salt

Instructions

  • Start off by lining the cake tin with a parchment paper at the bottom and grease the sides with butter. In a bowl combine an egg, sugar, butter, flour and baking powder.
  • Using your hands mix all the ingredients together to form a firm dough. Crumble the pastry into the prepared cake tin. Using your hands, press the cake base until the bottom of the cake tin is covered. Make the dough a bit high on the sides as well and set aside. Preheat the oven to 175 ° C (347°F), with both top and bottom heat.
  • Separate the eggs into two separate bowls. Put the bowl with egg whites in the fridge. Add sugar, cream cheese, sour cream, corn flour (cornstarch), milk to the bowl with egg yolks. Whisk to a smooth cream. Add melted butter, lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice and combine well. Pour ¾ of the filling into the cake base. Put aside the remaining filling for later. Bake for 45 minutes.
  • In the meanwhile prepare the creamy topping. Take the egg whites out of the fridge; add a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Using hand mixer, whip until light and fluffy. Fold in the cream that you previously kept aside.
  • After 45 minutes take the cake out of the oven, spread the creamy topping over it and bake for another 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Notes

  1. All filling ingredients must be at room temperature.
  2.  If your sour cream is runny, try to strain it through cheesecloth before usage or use about 1 tablespoon more cornstarch.
  3. If you're not a fan of lemon, just cut the amount in half or omit it.