I used to say that Christmas time is the best time of year but, let’s face it, we all know that the best time of year is when you have an opportunity to eat cheesecake. A few weeks back was my Mom’s birthday, so my sister and I decided we’d throw her a (not-so-)surprise birthday party (she hates surprises so we kind of told her something was going on). What was meant to be a small family get-together quickly turned into a reunion of almost twenty joyful peeps (that’s what happens in big families!), ranging from 1 to… well a little over 1 year old 😉 Everyone brought a drink or cake, together making quite a tasty banquet, which included my aunt’s famous walnut cake (sometimes I wake up at night dreaming about it!). On my side, I decided to bake my cheesecake recipe with some homemade lemon curd as a topping. I like this recipe because it brings my favorite American cake together with my favorite Belgian cookies, the spéculoos, which I think of as a good metaphor of my life right now, trying to bring some Belgian tradition into my new American life.

NB : I was thrilled to notice that they now sell these spéculoos cookies in the US under the alias Biscoff! Yay! No more coming back from Belgium with my suitcase full of spéculoos 😉

For one regular-size cheesecake pan:

• 1 pkg (about 8.8oz – 250gr) spéculoos (Biscoff), crushed into crumbs
• 4 tbsp butter, melted
• 3 pkg of 8oz each (about 600gr total) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup (200gr) sugar
• 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
• 3 eggs
• ⅔ cup (160ml) heavy cream whipped to soft peaks
• the juice and zest of 1 organic lemon
• OR 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp flour
• Topping (optional): ⅔ cup (150gr) sour cream, 2 tbsp sugar, and a few drops of lemon juice (or vanilla)

Make the crust: mix the spéculoos crumbs with the melted butter. Firmly press crust to the bottom of the cheesecake pan until it doesn’t move anymore when shaking the pan.

Make the filling: mix softened cream cheese with sugar. Add in milk, eggs (one by one), and lemon zest and juice (or vanilla), blend until creamy. Gently add the whipped heavy cream to the mixture, and then the flour.

Pour the filling on the crust. Bake in preheated oven 10′ at 450°F, then another 50′ at 350°F. Turn off oven, and let cheesecake in it until cold.

Topping: for a better-looking cake, combine together sour cream, sugar and lemon (or vanilla), and spread on top of the cake. Refrigerate for a few hours. When serving, add your favorite topping such as fresh fruits, caramelized apples, or raspberry coulis (although, to quote Joey, from Friends -big fan out here!- “Excuse me Sir, there seems to be some sort of red crap on my cheesecake” ;-)). My favorite topping is homemade lemon curd. What is yours?