Matcha-Yuzu Cheesecake + Waaaaaayyy More Than #FifteenCheesecakes

My husband Jake and I are celebrating 15 years of marriage today. Fifteen years. On one hand that feels like a lifetime; on the other, it seems to have passed in the blink of an eye.

In this past decade and a half, we've had two kids, lived in two states and five different houses, and juggled probably about dozen different jobs between us. We've been to Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; we've traveled to Italy and Costa Rica. We've SCUBA'd, zip-lined, canoed, and tangoed. It's been an amazing adventure.

But it's also been work. Don't let anyone tell you that marriage is easy.

So, today, as we celebrate fifteen years, I have an amazing crew of foodie bloggers lined up to share cheesecake recipes with you. Initially I put out a call for fifteen cheesecakes - hence the hashtag #FifteenCheesecakes - but the spots filled up within an hour and I had more friends who wanted to participate. So, I figured: you can never have enough cheesecakes, right?!? We had seven cheesecakes at our wedding instead of a traditional wedding cake. So, maybe more than fifteen cheesecakes made sense here. I removed the cap on the event and off we went.

Thanks, all, for helping me celebrate 15 years with 
Waaaaaayyy More Than #FifteenCheesecakes! 
Here's what everyone else brought to the cheesecake table...listed in alphabetical order.

Berry Cheesecake Bars by Baking and Creating with Avril

Cherry Cheesecake Bites by Cookaholic Wife

Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake by Dancing Veggies

Chocolate Cheesecake by My Hobbie Lobbie

Chocolate Topped Peppermint Cheesecake by Amy's Cooking Adventures

Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Puree by Making Miracles

Cookies & Creme No-Bake Cheesecake by Hapa-tite!

Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars by Tara's Multicultural Table

Easter Basket Mini Cheesecakes by Little Bit of Everything

Everyday Cheesecake by Things I Make (for Dinner)

Irish Cream Cheesecake by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Layered Cinnamon Streusel Cheesecake Cake by Famished Fish, Finicky Shark

Lowfat Blackberry Cheesecake by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures

Matcha-YuzuCheesecake with a Meyer Lemon Gelée by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Mini Churro Caramel Cheesecake by Cheese Curd In Paradise

Mini Maple Pecan Cheesecakes by Join Us, Pull up a Chair
Mom's New York Cheesecake by Taste Cook Sip

Mudslide Cheesecake by Sew You Think You Can Cook

{No Bake} Marshmallow Cheesecake by An Affair from the Heart

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake by Angels Homestead

Ricotta Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust by Living the Gourmet

Samoa's cheesecake by Goodie Godmother
Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars by The Savvy Kitchen
Sopapilla Puff Pastry Cheesecake by Pink Cake Plate

SkinnyVanilla Bean Cheesecake by Renee's Kitchen Adventures

Twix Cheesecake Brownie Torte by Making Memories With Your Kids

And though I was really tempted to make a savory cheesecake for the occasion, I ended up going sweet with a matcha cheesecake spiked with yuzu liqueur and glazed with a Meyer lemon gelée. Thanks to Shiho for the bottle of yuzu booze. You know what I like!

Matcha-Yuzu Cheesecake with a Meyer Lemon Gelée

by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Crust

• 3 C crushed cookies (I used some of the leftover Spiced Orange Blossom Sugar Cookies and leftover baci)
• 1/2 C (one stick) butter, melted
• zest from one organic Meyer lemon

Mix all of the ingredients together until moist clumps form. Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a springform pan that's been wrapped in foil. Chill crust while preparing filling.

Filling

• three 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 C organic granulated sugar
• 1/2 C organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 4 large eggs
• 2 C organic sour cream
• 2 T yuzu liqueur
• 1 T matcha green tea powder
• zest from one organic Meyer lemon

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Beat cream cheese in large mixing bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs - one at a time. Finally, mix in sour cream, yuzu liqueur, matcha green tea powder, and lemon zest. Spoon filling into prepared crust.

Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour boiling water into roasting pan and place some water-filled ramekins on the tray as well. Bake until cheesecake puffs around edges, approximately 1 hour. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, leaving oven door ajar.

Sour Cream Topping

• 2 C organic sour cream
• 1 T yuzu liqueur
• 1 T organic dark brown sugar

Beat the ingredients together. Spread over the cheese cake and bake in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes. Let cool for an hour and prepare the Meyer lemon gelée.

Meyer Lemon Gelée

• 1 packet unflavored gelatin
• Juice from 4-5 organic Meyer lemons, approximately 12 T
• 4 T organic granulated sugar
• 1/2 t cornstarch

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 4 tablespoons of the juice; let stand until soft, about 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, bring sugar and 8 tablespoons juice to a boil. Combine remaining juice and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir until dissolved; then, whisk into boiling lemon juice. Remove from heat. Stir in softened gelatin. Cool to lukewarm, and spoon over cake. Let set.

Run a butter knife around pan edge to loosen cake. Cool completely. Remove foil from pan sides. Chill some more. Remove pan sides to serve. Slice into wedges and serve.