Cool and creamy clouds of tart-sweet-savory flavor swirl around your tongue with each bite of this magical pie. With layers of crust, lemon cheesecake custard, berries, and crumble, this bright and flavorful dessert is absolutely delish and dreamy. This totally luscious dessert is made with a toasted English muffin bread crust, a cherry-blueberry-lemon curd-liquid cheesecake filling, and topped with a freeze-dried corn streusel. This delicate, almost nutty streusel may sound a bit odd, but it’s absolutely delicious and mimics the flavor of cornbread. Combined with the toasted bread crust, these savory elements add incredible flavor and transform the pie into a texturally satisfying salty-sweet dessert. The end result is a fruit studded cheesecake-like filling with just the right amount of sweet and tang. By essentially combining three favorite pies (blueberry, cherry, and lemon cream), this stellar dessert is downright addicting and is worthy of a special celebration.
This recipe was developed as part of an intense creative baking course where we explored the art of baking. We developed and honed our baking skills through a variety of different baked goods. Through the class, we found the balance of what baking is all about; art and science. We created our own recipes each anchored in their own flavor story that's true to Barth Bakery.
For this recipe, our flavor story was the county fair in Ohio that I used to go to each summer with my granddad. Before leaving the house to head to the fair, we’d eat a light breakfast to set a nice base for our day of excess. Breakfast consisted of either English Muffin Bread toasted with butter or plain cornflakes with sugar sprinkled on top. Once at the fair, Granddad and I used to eat lunch at the same spot every year; He'd always get a hamburger, a coke, and cherry pie, and I'd get a hot dog, a sprite, and either peach or blueberry pie. Throughout the course of the day, we’d get various other snacks like French fries, fried dough, milkshakes, lemonade, popcorn, etc. After returning home from the fair, we’d almost always have fresh corn from the farm down the street from my grandparent’s house. So, in this recipe, the crust is reminiscent of our breakfasts, the cherries to represent my Granddad’s favorite pie and the blueberries mine, the lemon part is reminiscent of the fresh squeezed lemonade we got each time we went to the fair, the creaminess from the cheesecake to represent the milkshakes my Granddad was obsessed with, and the corn streusel for the corn that always accompanied our dinners.
Ingredients
Liquid Cheesecake
225g cream cheese, room temperature
150g granulated sugar
6g cornstarch
2g kosher salt
25g whole milk
1 large egg
Lemon Curd
80g fresh lemon juice
5g lemon zest
100g granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1.5g powdered gelatin
115g unsalted butter, cold
2g kosher salt
Toasted English Muffin Bread Crust
175g English Toasting Sandwich Bread crumbs (slices toasted and ground down to fine crumbs in a food processor)
75g unsalted butter, melted
40g granulated sugar
2g kosher salt
Corn Streusel
30g freeze-dried corn (slightly broken down with a pestle and mortar, leaving most of the pieces whole)
20g all-purpose flour
30g unsalted butter, room temperature
1g kosher salt
25g light brown sugar
Cherry-Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Filling
200g frozen blueberries, thawed and drained
200g frozen pitted cherries, thawed, drained, and halved
25g granulated sugar
0.5g kosher salt
3g cornstarch
230g liquid cheesecake (recipe below)
170g lemon curd (recipe below)
Directions
Liquid Cheesecake
Preheat oven to 300°F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Add the sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes until the sugar has been completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
Whisk the cornstarch and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk in the egg until the mixture is homogeneous.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, stream the egg mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese mixture. Beat for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Line the bottom of a 6x6-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Pour the cheesecake batter into the pan and bake for about 20-30 minutes. The cheesecake should be mostly set around the outside but still jiggly in the center. If the cheesecake starts to brown at all, remove it from the oven.
Cool the cheesecake completely to allow it to set.
Lemon Curd
In a blender, combine the sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest and blend until the sugar has dissolved. Add the eggs and blend on low speed until completely incorporated. Transfer the mixture to a medium pot or saucepan. Clean your blender for use later in the recipe.
Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it evenly onto the surface of 2 Tbsp cold water in a small cup. Allow the granules to soak up the water and soften entirely for 3-5 minutes. Set aside.
Cook the juice and egg mixture over low heat, whisking constantly. As it heats up, the curd will start to thicken, so pay close attention and make sure to whisk constantly to prevent the mixture from sticking and burning.
Just as the mixture starts to come to a boil, remove it from the burner and pour it back into the clean blender. Add in the bloomed gelatin, butter, and salt, and blend until the mixture is shiny and smooth.
Pour the mixture into a container and refrigerate until it is completely cool, at least 30 minutes.
Toasted English Muffin Bread Crust
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, butter, sugar, and salt and mix thoroughly until the crumbs are evenly moistened.
Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch pie tin and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
Corn Streusel
In a medium bowl, use your hands to combine the corn, butter, flour, salt, and sugar until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Cherry-Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Pie with Corn Streusel
In a large bowl, combine the thawed and drained fruits (ensure the cherries are halved), sugar, salt, and cornstarch and mix gently to combine.
In a separate medium bowl, use a whisk to mix the liquid cheesecake and lemon curd together and try to get out any visible lumps.
Add the fruit mixture to the lemon cheesecake mixture and gently fold to combine. (You only want to fold a few times to keep a swirled effect without mixing completely.)
Pour the mixture into the pre-baked crust, and evenly sprinkle the corn streusel on top.
Cover the edges of the crust with foil or a pie crust shield. Bake the pie uncovered for 25 minutes, then cover the entire pie with foil. Bake the pie for another about 30-35 minutes or until set. Allow the pie to cool completely and store in the refrigerator.