This Valentine’s Day Blueberry Cheesecake is the perfect treat for you and your loved ones. It is easy to make and not overly sweet, it has just the right balance between sweetness and a little tang to tickle your taste buds.
Kenwood Ireland has kindly gifted me a brand new Kmix in order to create this lovely Valentine’s recipe for you. I received a black one, which I love, it just looks so beautiful and blends in so well with all my other appliances. It is also available in cream, white and red to match any kitchen.
The Kmix comes with accompanying bowl tools, K-Beater, whisk and dough hook, which allows you to create flavoured breads, stylish cakes and enticing pavlovas with ease. Also, there are over 20 additional attachments available, so whether you want to make your own pasta or mince your own meat, you can get creative in the kitchen.
For this recipe, I have only used the whisk attachment.
How to make a Blueberry Cheesecake?
Usually, there are just 2 types of cheesecakes, either baked or no-bake but this one is special, it is technically a hybrid. The first layer is a baked cheesecake, simply because I am German and we do love our baked cheesecakes. The second layer is a no-bake cheese cream because I wanted to make a cute heart-pattern on top for Valentine’s day.
If you are in a rush you can skip the second layer completely and it will still taste amazing, but sometimes it’s just nice to put a little extra effort in.
Unfortunately, I piped the blueberry puree dots a bit too close together this time, which is why the heart-shape isn’t as visible as it usually is, but I am sure you can totally nail it.
You can even make vegan cheesecakes. You don’t believe me? Check out my Vegan, No-Bake Blackberry Cheesecake Recipe.
The Cheesecake Base
I like using wholemeal cookies for this, you get brownie points if you find some that are low in sugar. Making this kind of base couldn’t be easier, you simply add the cookies into a freezer bag and smash with a rolling pin until they are all crumbly.
Then you transfer them to a bowl, mix them with melted butter and cinnamon and spread them evenly across the base of a parchment paper-lined 24cm springform. I like using the back of a spoon to press it down. Make sure you grease the sides of the pan to prevent the cake from sticking to the sides.
Bake it for 7 minutes at 350°f / 180°C (fan).
The Baked Cheese Cream
Now it’s time to let the Kenwood KMix in on the action, add regular full-fat cream cheese, quark, xylitol or brown sugar and corn starch to the mixing bowl, set it to medium speed and step back and relax. It will only take the KMix about a minute to cream everything together.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a stand mixer, of course, you can mix it by hand or use a wire whisk instead.
Then add in the fresh cream, egg and lemon juice and mix for another minute.
Pour the perfectly smooth mixture on top of the baked base, sprinkle the frozen blueberries on top, lower the oven temperature to 335°F/ 170°C and bake for 50-60 minutes. After about 25 minutes cover the springform with baking paper to prevent the cheesecake from getting too dark.
This is what it should look like. Many German cheesecake recipes call for pudding powder, but I would rather avoid this and use corn starch instead.
Quark only seems to become popular here in Ireland now and you find it in most supermarkets where the yoghurts are. In Germany, it comes in a variety of fat contents, but in Ireland, I can only find fat-free one. If you use fat-free cream cheese combined with fat-free quark the cake might not set properly, so make sure to have at least one full-fat product in there.
No-Bake Cheese Cream
Traditionally this cream would be made with Schmand which is a lighter version of a mix between sour cream and creme fraiche, but because it is almost impossible to get in Ireland I replaced it with creme fraiche. Occasionally you will find Schmand in Polish stores, but don’t fret if you can’t get it.
Time to get the Kmix out again, add the creme fraiche, fresh cream, 1/2 of the xylitol and 1/2 of your lemon juice to the mixing bowl and mix at medium speed for about 1 minute. Place the bowl into the refrigerator until you need it.
Meantime, pour the defrosted blueberries, the remaining xylitol and lemon juice into a small saucepan and bring it to a gentle boil. Once it starts to thicken slightly, pour it through a sieve to remove any solid parts.
Let the baked cheesecake cool for about 30 minutes and evenly spread the second layer on top. Fill the blueberry puree into a piping or freezer bag and pipe little dots in a spiral pattern.
As mentioned before, space them out more than I did in the photo to get a more distinct heart shape. Then simply pull a toothpick through each dot to achieve little hearts. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and enjoy with your loved ones. You can also prepare the baked cheesecake part ahead of time and freeze it.
I love baking and the Kenwood Kmix has really made mixing things much easier for me. I have tendon problems in my hands from back then when I used to work as a hairdresser. Not having to hold a wire whisk for minutes at a time has given my hands a great relief. It enables me to prepare big batches in one go.
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Your turn
Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day? We don’t really celebrate it, but it is a great excuse to get baking. I’m looking forward to reading your replies in the comments.
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Valentine's Day Blueberry Cheesecake
Ingredients
Base
- 2 ounces butter melted, plus some extra for greasing the pan
- 4 ounces wholemeal cookies ( I used wholemeal digestive biscuits)
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Baked Cheese Cream
- 1/2 cup blueberries frozen
- 2 cups cream cheese full-fat
- 3/4 cups quark fat-free
- 3/4 cup xylitol or brown sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1/2 cup fresh cream
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Non-Bake Cheese Cream
- 1 1/4 cups creme fraiche
- 1/8 cup fresh cream
- 1/4 cup xylitol or brown sugar, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice divided
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Defrost 1/2 cup of blueberries for later use.
Base
- Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°C (fan).
- Place some baking paper onto the base of your springform and grease the rest of the pan with butter.
- Fill the wholemeal biscuits into a freezer bag, close it and smash the cookies with a rolling pin until they turn into fine crumbs. Move them to a medium-sized bowl and mix in the butter and cinnamon.
- Transfer the mixture to the springform and spread it evenly by pressing down with the back of a tablespoon.
- Bake for 7 minutes.
Baked Cheese Cream
- Add the cream cheese, quark, xylitol and corn starch to your Kenwood stand mixer and blend it together using the whisk attachment for about a minute at medium speed. If you don't have a stand mixer you can mix it by hand or wire whisk.
- Once it is nicely combined add in the fresh cream, egg and lemon juice and mix for another minute at medium speed.
- Spread the mixture on top of the baked base in the springform and sprinkle with the frozen blueberries.
- Lower the heat of the oven to 335°F/ 170°C and bake for 50-60 minutes. After about 25 minutes cover the springform with baking paper to prevent the cheesecake from getting too dark.
Non-Bake Cheese Cream
- While the cake is in the oven, continue with the non-bake cheese cream.
- Add the creme fraiche, fresh cream, 1/2 of the xylitol and 1/2 of your lemon juice to the bowl of your Kenwood stand mixer and mix for about 1 minute at medium speed. Move the mixture to the refrigerator until needed.
- In a small saucepan, bring the defrosted blueberries and remaining xylitol and lemon juice to a gentle boil and cook for about 3 minutes or until it starts to thicken slightly. Stir continuously to prevent burning. Then push the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve with the back of a spoon. Set aside.
Assembling
- Let the cake cool for about 30 minutes, then spread the non-bake cheese cream evenly on top of the baked cheesecake.
- Fill the blueberry puree into a small piping or freezer bag and pipe evenly spaced dots across the cake. Then run a toothpick through the dots to achieve a little heart-shaped pattern.Enjoy with your loved ones.
