To say this Blueberry Cheesecake is bursting with blueberries is an understatement! Baked to achieve that elusive light-yet-rich creamy cheesecake filling, studded with blueberries inside and smothered in an incredible glossy blueberry sauce topping. It’s magnificent!
Blueberry Cheesecake
I know sometimes the thought of a quick ‘n easy no-bake cheesecake recipe is enticing.
But if you want to make cheesecake the way it’s intended to be, with a filling that’s somehow fluffy but creamy at the same time, rich but not so dense that it sticks to the roof of your mouth, then a baked cheesecake is the way to go.
Add pops of blueberry littered throughout that lemony cheesecake filling, then OMG that insane glistening blueberry topping ….
It’s a sight to make a grown man weep. (Well, girl. 😂)
Cheesecake made easy
Don’t let the number of steps you see visualised below daunt you. While cheesecakes aren’t usually pitched as a recipe for beginners, you don’t need to be an experienced cook to make mine. I’ll walk you through it so you can have confidence that you’ve got this, even if you’re a first timer.
I’ve written the instructions out carefully, you’ve got step photos AND an instructional recipe video.
And unlike cakes, you don’t need to worry about sinking and collapsing. So even a cheesecake that doesn’t go quite to plan is still going to be very, very good!
Blueberry Cheesecake Components
Here are the 3 parts to this Blueberry Cheesecake (which, by the way, is a rendition of this Strawberry Cheesecake, in case you’d like to browse reader feedback!):
The biscuit crust – I’m a cheesecake crust tragic. I just love the texture contrast of the sweet crunchy crust with that insanely creamy filling. So my cheesecake crusts go up the sides, rather than just being on the base. But you can skip the sides if you prefer;
The creamy rich-yet-light filling – a juxtaposition you can only achieve with baked cheesecakes, the consequence of which is that it’s not sickeningly rich (ie we can eat more! 🙌🏻);
Blueberry sauce topping – with a syrup that drips slowly down the side of the cheesecake as you plough your way through it….
1. Cheesecake biscuit crust
Here’s what you need for the cheesecake crust – just plain sweet crackers (any type will do – loads of options listed in the recipe) and butter (the glue).
How to make the cheesecake crust
Blitz to make crumbs (or bash a ziplock bag with a rolling pin – very therapeutic), mix with butter then press into the cake pan.
TOP TIP: Make quick work of the crust by using something round with a flat base and straight walls to press the crumbs into the pan.
Everybody thinks cheesecake biscuit walls are really fragile – but they are actually rather sturdy once the cake is cooled. I don’t have fairy fingers – and I’ve never destroyed one!
2. Blueberry cheesecake filling
Here’s what goes in the cheesecake filling. Standard baked cheesecake ingredients, with the addition of blueberries.
Cream cheese – must use block, not the spreadable cream cheese in tubs (too soft). If you can only get spreadable, just skip the sour cream;
Blueberries – fresh or frozen is fine here. If using frozen, do not thaw it (otherwise it bleeds when you stir it in and you’ll end up with a purple cheesecake!);
Sour cream – lightens up the mixture a touch so it’s not ridiculously rich. Just 1/2 cup makes such a difference!
Flour – just a tiny bit really helps stabilise the filling to keep it slightly aerated (rather than dense so it sticks to the roof of your mouth) and so it doesn’t collapse in the middle;
Eggs – the key ingredient that gives this cheesecake aeration. You don’t need to whip it – eggs just naturally rise when baked (you can see in these Egg Frittata Muffins how much egg rises);
Vanilla – for flavour;
Lemon zest – because the flavour of lemon is terrific to bring a touch of freshness to cheesecakes, and is a natural pairing with blueberries; and
Sugar – white, to keep the colour of the filling white.
How to make the cheesecake filling
Here’s how the filling is made and baked:
The cheesecake filling is very straightforward to make – everything just gets mixed in a bowl, poured into the crust then baked.
TIP: Only mix until each ingredient is incorporated and the batter is smooth. No need to beat to aerate the batter. If the filling is beaten too much and becomes very aerated, then the cheesecake might rise a lot in the oven which will cause cracks. Not a big deal though because flaws get hidden under the Blueberry Sauce!
You don’t need to fuss with a water bath to prevent surface cracks. That’s only required to rectify recipes that don’t make the filling correctly, bake at the wrong temperature, or for too long.
Why cool cheesecake in the oven?
The cake is cooled in the oven for two reasons:
If you cook the cake all the way through in the oven, it puffs up too much which causes surface cracks; and
To keep the cheesecake creamy inside. The oven is turned off before the cake is fully cooked, then it finishes cooking in the turned off oven. The gradual drop in temperature creates an environment such that the cheesecake finishes cooking but cannot overcook.
3. Blueberry sauce for the cheesecake
Here’s what you need for the blueberry topping:
Blueberries – frozen or fresh is fine here;
Sugar – to create the syrupy consistency;
Vanilla – for flavour;
Lemon – to cut through the sweetness and because it goes so well with blueberries; and
Cornflour/cornstarch – to thicken the syrup so it drips slowly down the cake when you cut it, rather than running everywhere.
How to make blueberry sauce for cheesecake
We cook some of the blueberries with the sugar, lemon and vanilla so they break down to create the vibrant purple sauce.
Then stir in cornflour/cornstarch to thicken, and lastly stir in whole blueberries.
Word of warning: this blueberry sauce stains! The pictured wooden spoon is now permanently purple!
Blueberry Cheesecake FAQ
Cracks occur because the cheesecake rises too much. This can happen because filling that was beaten for too long so it aerated too much, or overcooking.
Excess beating = aerated batter = cheesecake rises too much = cracks in surface
Overcooking = cheesecake rises too much = cracks in surface
But don’t forget, it doesn’t matter if your cheesecake cracks because you’re smothering it with sauce!
3 key tips:
Make sure you don’t over beat the batter by using room temperature ingredients so they incorporate faster, and follow my recipe beating time directions;
Cook in a moderate oven, not hot – if the oven is too hot, the cheesecake will rise too fast, causing the surface to crack;
Turn the oven off while the cake is still jiggly (partially undercooked) then leave it in the turned off oven to cool – it will finish cooking during this time.
Play the clip below to see how jiggly the cheesecake should be when you turn the oven off – more jiggly than you’d expect!
NO. Though you’ll see many recipes swearing by the water bath method to ensure the surface of your cheesecake doesn’t crack, it’s not necessary if you make the filling properly, don’t over beat, cook in a moderate oven and don’t overcook.
In fact, when I published the Strawberry Cake recipe, I did a side by side comparison of water bath vs no water bath cheesecakes. As you can see in the photo below, there is no difference in the surface of the two cheesecakes – except the water bath one was a LOT more of a hassle to get into the oven!
I feel your pain – that was the disaster that occurred to me with my very first cheesecake!
Here’s how to make it easy (and safe) to remove your cheesecake: flip the base UPSIDE DOWN, line it with baking/parchment paper and secure the sides so the excess paper is sticking out.
If you do this, you don’t need to lift the cheesecake over the ridge of the base, it just slides right off. Similarly with the paper, grab the overhang then push the cheesecake off the paper. Voila! Cheesecake in tact!
This is how jiggly the cheesecake should be when you turn the oven off:
Also note how it’s quite puffy and even a big sunken in the middle. That doesn’t matter because it sinks back down to a level surface once it cools in the oven.
Blueberry sauce optional!
I know I’ve been going on and on about how great the blueberry sauce is. And it certainly adds an extra special touch here, but I only do it when blueberries are in season – and cheap! Because this cheesecake calls for 250g/8oz blueberries IN the cake (2 Australian punnets) and 375ml / 13oz ON the cake (3 punnets)
For the rest of the year, I only use blueberries inside the cake and a serve it with cream.
Nobody has ever complained.😉 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Blueberry Cheesecake
Ingredients
Cheesecake Biscuit Base:
- 200g/7 oz Arnott's Marie crackers or other plain biscuit (Aus) or 28 Graham Cracker squares (Note 1)
- 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 lb / 500g cream cheese , well softened (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp flour , plain/ all purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat, sub yogurt)
- 1 1/2 cups caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- Zest of 1 lemon (can skip)
- 3 eggs , at room temperature
- 250g / 8oz blueberries (Note 3)
Blueberry Topping for Cheesecake:
- 375g / 13 oz blueberries (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (or water)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan). Place shelf in middle of oven.
- Line inverted base: Get a 20cm/8" springform cake tin. Turn the base UPSIDE DOWN (Note 4), butter lightly then press on a square piece of parchment/baking paper. Then clip into the springform pan – excess paper will stick out, see photos in post and video.
- Line sides: Butter and line the side of the pan.
Cheesecake Biscuit Base:
- Break up biscuits roughly by hand and place in a food processor.
- Blitz until fine crumbs. Add butter, briefly blitz until dispersed and it resembles wet sand.(Note 5)
- Pour into the prepared cake tin. Use a spatula to roughly spread it out over the base and up the walls.
- Use something with a flat base and vertical edges (I use a measuring cup) to press the crumbs up the wall almost to the top of the sides, and flatten the base.
Filling:
- Cream cheese: Use a stand mixer (with paddle) or handheld beater to beat the cream cheese until just smooth, no longer than 20 seconds on speed 4. (You do not want to aerate cheesecake filling too much as it causes cracks when it bakes)
- Add flour, beat for 5 seconds on speed 4 until just incorporated.
- Add vanilla, sour cream, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until just combined (10 sec max, speed 4).
- Eggs: Add eggs one at a time – beat for 5 seconds on speed 4 in between each. After the last egg, beat as needed until batter is smooth – but stop beating immediately once smooth.
- Blueberries: Stir in blueberries with a rubber spatula. Pour into prepared crust.
- Bake: Bake for 70 minutes. The top should be a bit puffed, very light golden brown, not cracked, and near perfectly flat. It should jiggle slightly when you gently shake the pan, see video at 1 min 23 sec (sets in next step).
- Cool: Cool the cake in the oven with the door open approx 20 cm / 8" for about 2 hours (Note 6), then refrigerate for 4 hours+ in the pan or overnight. Cake will sink and surface should be flat.
- Release: Remove sides of springform pan. Use overhang paper to slide cheesecake off the cake pan base. Then slide the cheesecake off the paper.
Blueberry Sauce for Cheesecake:
- Place 1 cup of blueberries (125g/4oz), vanilla, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Stir then bring to simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 7 minutes until blueberries breakdown.
- Mix cornflour and water, then stir in – it wil thicken quickly.
- Stir in remainig blueberries. Sauce should be syrupy – remove from stove and cool. Will thicken as it cools.
- Once cool, stir. Adjust thickness 1/2 teaspoon of water at a time to make it the perfect "oozing" consistency (see video, Note 7) – be careful, don't make it runny!
- Spoon onto cheesecake so it's completely covered – you'll have maybe 1/2 cup sauce left, good for touch ups. Refrigerate 2 hours+.
- Slice and serve!
Recipe Notes:
- Australia: Arnott’s Marie Crackers, Arrowroot and Nice are ideal, I’ve made it with all these.
- US: Use 28 squares / 14 full sheets, yes I measured it with my last Graham Cracker packet I brought back from my last trip.
- UK: Digestives are ideal, I LOVE digestives!
- Cracks occur due to oven temp too high or overcooking
- In this recipe, you stop cooking when it’s still quite jiggly (see video at 1 min 23 sec) which means it’s actually still a bit undercooked in the middle
- By leaving it in the oven, it finishes cooking but the declining temp stops it from overcooking
- If you don’t do this step, you have to cook for longer in the oven to cook middle through which makes it rise too much = cracked surface and not as creamy inside
Nutrition Information:
More cheesecake recipes
And for blueberry monsters
Life of Dozer
Click! Snap photo of cheesecake.
Shift camera slightly to the left. Click!
Is it disturbing to know Dozer’s furry head is just out of frame of every single food shot on this website?? 😂
Very easy to follow recipe with a fantastic outcome ! The syrup was surprisingly quick and easy to make with minimal adjustment with water
Wish I could post a photo to show the result
By far one of the best cheesecakes I have ever made. Two comments though, I definitely opted for more biscuits as 200g didn’t feel like enough but then also the baking time for the base was more like 15 minutes. Secondly 330g of sugar for the cream cheese filling would have been way too much. I reduced to 250g and that was perfectly fine.
Will definitely be making again!
Has anybody shortened the time it gets left in the oven after the 70mins? Wondering if one hour will be enough time as I need the oven to cook roast pork for dinner!
Looks like Dozer has been around for quite a few baking sessions! It’s not his first rodeo!
I’ve made this cheesecake 3 times, once with blueberries, raspberries and plain with just cherries on top and it is ALWAYS a hit with everyone. I’ve only messed up one and that was because I left my cream cheese out too long and it got too soft and my cake didn’t set.
I’m about to make one again tomorrow for my daughter’s birthday.
This is the best cheesecake recipe I have ever followed and eaten.
Technique is perfect, flavor delicious.
Hi Nagi,
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I followed it exactly, and while the cake was delicious and looked great before cutting, it was still soft in the center after the recommended cook, rest, and cool times. To make things worse,the capote oozed into the center once I cut it, creating an even bigger mush and making it impossible to cut proper slices! It was unfortunate, as it looked perfect and almost identical to yours before cutting. Do you have any suggestions or ideas on what might have caused that? Thanks again!
Can I make this recipe in individual small pans for gifting rather than a big cheesecake? Will the oven time vary?
I followed this recipe for a baking competition at my work, there were about 20 other contestants and this cheesecake won! Everyone kept coming up and telling me it tasted amazing, you must try this recipe!!!
Hi Nagi! This cheesecake looks great! Can’t wait to make it for the family tonight. I only have a 9 inch cake pan. Will I have to adjust the baking time or can I bake as per recipe? Thanks!
Made the cheesecake so far, looks fantastic. Your recipes are my favorite! Everything is explained so well, love them.
Want to make the blueberry syrup with frozen berries, should I defrost these or make it with then straight out of the freezer?
I also have only 9 inch pan. I made this once using an 8 inch that i no longer have (it was AMAZING). Did you guys have to adjust the cooking time for the nine inch version? Anything else to adjust? Thank you kindly in advance !
Hi did you end up making the cheesecake with the 9inch pan? I’m in the same boat and wondering if my 9 inch pans will turn out okay!
How to make it
I did this recipe for a friend´s dinner and it was a success! Since I live in Portugal I could only find Philadelphia cream cheese (so I´ve used 450g , with no sour cream). I also used 1 (filling) + 1/3 (topping) cup of sugar, instead of the amount mentioned, and it was just the right amount 🙂 thanks for the recipe!
Excellent recipe. Hubby said it was the best cheesecake he’s ever had and I didn’t even have the lemon to add to it at the time. Today we are making a cherry one with your recipe as the base. Thank you so much!
one more question. the amount of sugar seems a lot. is it correct? does it not turn out to sweet?
this cake looks amazing, I am going to bake it for my partners birthday.
I have a 8inch pie pan (not springform). Can I make 2 smaller cakes with this recipe with that size pan? and is it possible to remove it safely as it is not a springform?
thank you
Wow! I’m so glad I made this. It turned out perfect! This was my first time to make cheesecake and it was beyond my expectations. I decided not to use the topping. The cheesecake was sweet enough on its own and tasted great! Such a unique combination to have lemon and blueberry together. My family loved it! They asked me to make this again! That it was the best cheesecake they’ve ever had! I’m so happy. I followed the directions to a T and had no issues! 10/10
Hi I was just wondering if I mage this cake for 16 servings it shows the increase in ingredients but how do I know what size tin to use
So incredibly sweet I could hardly eat it. To me cheesecake should taste as much like the cream cheese filling as the topping. Sorry but no.
Has anyne used bottled Morell cherries for thi receipe? Thanks
Made this for my husband’s birthday since he loves blueberries and anything with a graham cracker crust. The cheesecake took twenty minutes longer to bake since I used jumbo eggs (which all had double yolks) and the batter was more liquidy. Looked beautiful when it was cut and the blueberries showed IN the dessert as well as on the top. The taste was amazing, creamy and tangy in the same forkful. You’ll love it!
How much blueberry compote do I use instead of blueberries ad I have compote available with me right now