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Lemon Soufflé Cheesecake is a light and lemony, airy as a cloud cheesecake that’ll please all the dessert lovers in your life.
Don’t you just love lemon desserts? I know I do, so my husband made this cheesecake as my or my Birthday Dessert 2017. Check out all my lemon dessert recipes!
We appreciate your support
Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.
Happy birthday to me
Every year my husband makes me a special birthday dessert! He says that I cook for him all the other days, so he likes to do something special for me and make a special dessert for my birthday.
Take a look at the bottom of this post for other birthday desserts that he’s made for me from past years!
He chose the dessert
This year, I asked him to choose the dessert for me. I think it was so sweet that he said he would take on not only the making of the dessert, but the choosing of the dessert.
Last year I never made the time to pick a dessert, so it never happened. But this year, he took right to it; he searched Pinterest and came up with a few suggestions for me. This Lemon Soufflé Cheesecake from Sweet & Savory was the winner.
It’s a winner
Or, should I say that I was the winner here!
He made this delicious Lemon Soufflé Cheesecake for me this year!
This Lemon Soufflé Cheesecake is light and airy. It’s creamy. It’s delicious! And, it was easy to make. We ate it for dessert, but we also ate it for breakfast! I mean, a light sweet cheesecake breakfast is just what this birthday girl needs!
Lemon Soufflé Cheesecake Notes
When you make the parchment paper liner, make it a bit taller than the pan in case the filling is a little more than the pan. Also, I suggest that you place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet before putting it in the oven; this will catch any spills that might happen.
My springform pan leaks on me, so I’m always happy to have the rimmed baking sheet to save me. A friend of mine also told me recently that she lines her pan with aluminum foil to stop it from leaking.
This is the parchment paper lined pan. I like my springform pan, but it does tend to leak, so be sure to use the rimmed baking sheet underneath
Cold eggs will separate more easily than room temperature eggs. And room temperature egg whites will reach hard peaks faster. This is why I suggest that you separate the eggs, then set aside, leaving them on the counter to come to room temperature.
I really like lemony desserts, so I often add a bit of lemon extract. It brightens up the dessert and makes it nice and lemony. If you don’t have any lemon extract, this ingredient can be skipped, but I really like the flavor it adds.
Cream of Tartar
The optional cream of tartar in the recipe helps the beaten egg whites form a stronger structure so they don’t deflate as much when you fold them into the batter. Cook’s Illustrated did a great article on the science behind how this works if you’re interested.
Some of the past desserts my husband has made for me:
All are delicious! Chocolate S’More Pie, Coconut Chocolate Marjolaine, Frozen Mocha Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze, and Lemon Cream Pie.
Lemon desserts you’ll love!
If you love lemon dessert as much as I do, you’ll want to check these out as well! Lemon Poke Cake, Lemon Puff Pastry Sticks, and Lemon Bars.
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Recipe
Lemon Soufflé Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 5 large eggs
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 3-4 small lemons)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1-2 small lemons)
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract optional
- 1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar optional
- Powdered sugar for dusting, for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325° Adjust oven racks to middle and lowest positions.
- Line the bottom and sides of a springform pan with parchment paper, using a 3.5-inch wide long strip around the sides.
- Separate the egg whites and yolks into small bowls. Set the separated eggs aside, leaving them at room temperature.5 large eggs
- Using a stand mixer, or a hand beater with a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sweetened condensed milk, and beat for another minute. Add the egg yolks, zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract, and continue to beat until well combined, about 2-3 minutes.8 ounces cream cheese, 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- Fold half of the beaten egg whites into the cream cheese mixture. Once well combined, add in remaining beaten egg whites, and fold gently until well-combined and there are no visible white.
- Place the empty springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet, and gently pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Place a loaf pan on lowest oven rack and fill with hot water. Place the rimmed baking sheet with the filled springform pan on the middle rack, and bake for 45 minutes at 325° F.
- Turn the oven off, and allow the cake to cool in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven, and take the sides of the springform pan off, and gently peel the parchment paper from the sides of the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely on the counter, and then refrigerate.
- Before serving, place the cake on a platter. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.Powdered sugar for dusting, for garnishing
Video
Notes
Store the cake in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Sandra
Happy Birthday! Your husband is awesome for taking the time to celebrate your birthday with a homemade dessert. This lemon souffle cheesecake is so creamy. It makes my mouth water! This is wonderful to serve for Easter brunch!
Janette
You can’t go wrong with a man that bakes you a cake and this is a fabulous one. Looks like a great birthday to me 🙂
Debra C.
Mmmm! What a lovely dessert, I’d say you are definitely a winner – happy (late) birthday to you, here’s to a great year!!
Kavey
Girl you are TRULY the Lemon Queen, I love all your lemon recipes. Here’s another one I’m absolutely in love with! It’s utterly lovely.
Lisa
Hello gorgeous! This is the most phenomenal cheesecake I’ve ever eaten — it’ so light and fluffy and decadent!
Deanna Samaan
I LOVE anything lemon!! This is sooooooo yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stephanie
I can see why your husband picked this one. It’s so delicious 🙂
Sarah
Aw that’s so sweet of him! And what a great choice- this is delicious! Easy to make too!
Rebecca
Happy birthday! And how sweet of your husband! The recipe is a keeper too!
Olivia Peterson
I made this cake today and it tasted great, but it ended up much thinner then I thought. The rise was great almost above the pan, but after cooling in the over for 40 minutes , the cake had fallen. I was thinking I over beat the whites. The directions said hard not firm, and was very difficult to fold into the cheese mixture. Took quite a long time to fold. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thank you.
Debi
Olivia, sounds like you might be right about the eggs being overbeaten. The cheese mixture fold easily, as it’s pretty wet. Sounds like maybe the batter might have been a bit overbeaten too, as that will deflate the cheesecake. Take a look at the video up top for more hints.
Olivia Peterson
I didn’t watch the video before baking. My husband wants me to keep making it till I get it right. He loved it and hadn’t seen the pictures. Thank you for your thoughts.
Terry W.
Hi Debi
I LOVED your LEMON SOUFFLÉ CHEESECAKE that Dan made at our party last weekend. I’m so excited to get your recipe for it. Thanks for bringing it!!! I just subscribed to your blog.
Terry
Vito B
So tell me, how do you remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake???
Thanks!!
Debi
Vito, good question, we usually serve the cake with the parchment underneath, when you slice, don’t slice through the parchment paper, and serve from above the paper. It always works fine for us.
Vito B
Debi~ only reason I asked is because Step #10 says “ Before serving, gently remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake, and place the cake on a platter.”
And I was wondering how it was done, LOLOL,
Thanks for your recipe I’m looking forward to using it for Christmas Eve.
Merry Christmas and Thank you!!!
Debi
Vito, thanks. I think I’ll remove that from the card. Thanks for the reminder. We make this one all the time to take to parties (well, when there were parties! lol). And, in fact, if you look closely you can see the parchment paper under the cake in the video when we serve it. Merry Christmas to you as well! 🙂