Can we talk cheese cake? Advice

[DirtyDancing]

I'm normally a pudding cheat. I buy them in for dinner parities. I'm determined to up my game!

4 friends coming over, so first attempt I'll be keeping it simple with a lemon cheese cake.

But I can't decide on the best recipe

Philadelphia or Mascarpone?
Caster sugar or icing sugar? [Won' caster be grainy?]
One lemon or two? Some recipes say 2 if you like it lemony, which I do, but won't it make it too runny?

Thank you for your help!

I use mascarpone and icing sugar for my famous strawberry cheesecake! Always goes down a treat!

Baked, chilled, or gelatine?

If baked, caster is fine. Otherwise icing sugar.

Whatever you do, if you use Philly, strain it first. Line bowl with a clean, ironed cloth, eg tea towel or pillowcase, tip the cheese in, gather up all the corners and edges, then twist tightly to extract the whey. Then open the cloth up again, break the ball of cheese into 4, rotate the pieces so that the inside is now on the outside, gather up the cloth and squeeze again. This will prevent your cheesecake being sloppy and will help the set.

Sorry, but can't remember the proportion of lemon to cheese.

Use lemon jelly, icing sugar and cream cheese

I made this one today

Chilled.

Chrisp that looks lovely do you have a recipe ?

I always make the BBC food Baileys cheesecake. It comes out great each time and only tastes a little like Baileys, not overpowering. I swap out normal digestives for chocolate ones because you get a crisper base.

Can't tell you how many lemons, but can tell you to use zest as well as juice to maximise lemoniness without making it too liquid. So maybe zest of two lemons but juice of one.

I never strain the philly, but I do make sure I drain any liquid off when I take off the lid, before adding it to the bowl.

I made a baked (well, Instant Potted, so steamed) one last week with Philly, double cream, caster sugar and the zest of half a lemon and half an orange (no juice). Two eggs. This was for a 7" biscuit based one. Flavour was divine and set was perfect, I didn't strain the Philly.

Thanks everyone picking up some great tips. Choc digestives; lemon zest; icing sugar and mascarpone it is. Off to find a recipe bril!

I used plain digestives, ground ginger and butter for the base. No sugar.

Mixed the cream cheese with icing sugar then added grated orange zest, dissolved half an orange jelly in a little hot water, cooled it with a little cold water and added that and then added the double cream. Put it in the fridge for an hour. Topped with mandarin slices and choc chips.

That sounds great! I have a dreadful oven so have become a cheescakeaholic.