The Best Healthy Lemon Cheesecake Mousse From Scratch

Lemon Cheesecake Mousse is a decadent, creamy, incredibly delicious dessert that you’ll come back to for more. And that’s ok! This is healthy!

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If I would have to choose just one favorite dessert, this could very well be it. It fits the bill for awesome flavor, creaminess, tanginess, fluffiness, and healthiness. I could live off this and my body would probably respond very happily. If you love lemon and cheesecake, you’ll be ecstatic over this little delicious dessert! I’m listing 2 ways to make it, both are delicious, so read on to learn more and make this awesome lemon cheesecake mousse for yourself!

If you love creamy cheese desserts, try to make my favorite homemade cheese and use it in this recipe: Make Your Own Quark, and you won’t be dissapointed! And here are some more delicious German recipes that use Quark or a substitute: sweet creamy Quark Mousse With Oranges, Strawberry Quark Dessert, Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars, and a super delicious baked German cheesecake! And don’t miss reading about how cheese happens in the Natural Cheese Making guide.

Lemon Cheesecake Mousse Two Ways

Main Recipe: I am posting my recipe card for making this lemon cheesecake mousse with homemade lemon curd, sweetened with honey. In this recipe, the eggs are cooked and so there is no worry about raw eggs if you’re buying eggs from a grocery store. This way takes an extra step of making the lemon curd. However, it’s very easy and it’s worth the trouble.

But I’ll also provide instructions on how to make it a second way. This time using raw eggs. If you are comfortable with that, it’s a bit quicker and more lofty. It can also be made with gelatin for a stiff enough mousse to hold up in layer cakes if you want to fill a cake with it. This is a traditional German ‘Zitronenspeise’, translated something like ‘Lemon dessert’. And this is how I learned to make it in cooking school over 40 years ago in Germany. 

Why You’ll Love Lemon Cheesecake Mousse!

• It’s incredibly delicious!

• Serve it fancy for the fanciest party with whipping cream and candied lemon pieces or simple for an everyday snack.

• Use it to make a no-bake pie if you spread it over a no-bake cookie crust. Then you can top this creamy, lemony base with berries, or a fruit sauce for example.

• Versatile! Make a trifle, top or layer with berries or other fruit that match well with lemon. I’m thinking blueberries here!

• If you make it with quark cheese, you’ll have a super healthy, gut-healing, probiotic dessert that you can easily justify eating a lot of 😀. That’s my reasoning! 😉

• High in protein, it’s filling and good for you!

• This lemon cheesecake mousse is a powerhouse of nutrition coming from the cultured cheese, the lemon, and the eggs, plus you get all the great health benefits of honey. 

• Quark cheese: Calcium for strong bones and teeth. Protein provides essential amino acids for building and repairing tissues. B Vitamins include riboflavin (B2) and vitamin B12, which are important for energy metabolism and nervous system function. Healthy Fats. If you’re using goat’s milk or sheep’s milk, you’ll also benefit from greater digestibility and many people can tolerate these when they can’t use cow’s milk. If you’re making your own Quark from raw milk, try to get milk from pastured animals for greatest health benefits. For more benefits on cultured milk visit my natural cheesemaking page.

• Eggs: High in protein, healthy fats, and essential vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin D, selenium, and choline for brain and liver health. They contain antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin, which are beneficial for eye health.

• Raw honey: contains antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, and antimicrobial properties that can support the immune system. And raw honey may help improve cholesterol levels. For more honey benefits visit my page on Fermented Garlic And Honey.

• Lemons: are high in antioxidants and vitamin C, which may support heart health, skin health and the immune system, and they might help reduce inflammation.

• Great for breakfast, lunch, dessert, and a nutritious, high protein snack.

• Makes a great spread on a summery lemon pound cake slice. 

About Quark

I am listing several options for the main ingredient, but I had quark cheese in mind when I created this recipe. Quark cheese is a probiotic, fresh, soft cheese that is easy to make from scratch. And hard to replace with anything else. And it’s just perfect for a cheese dessert like this. 

So I can’t recommend enough that you try making your own quark it if you can’t find it in your health food store. It’s just that awesome and it’s easy to make! But this dessert will still be delicious with substitutes, it will just not be exactly the same. 

Substitutes For Quark That Will Work In This Recipe

Nothing will be exactly like quark, but it will still be delicious in it’s own way, so please use what you can get or prefer. 

Cottage cheese – probably the closest to quark and it’s easy to get from the grocery store. Try to get a low-salt, small curd variety and drain it first if it seems wet. Then blend it well.

Ricotta cheese

Farmer’s cheese (from Russian ethnic stores, also called tvorog)

Queso Fresco – When you buy it in the store, this might be too salty and maybe too dry, but you can try it. Or make your own pretty quick! It’s super easy and takes just 15 minutes to make with regular pasteurized whole milk. And it takes maybe a half hour to drain. This works well in any German quark cheese recipes, I nick-name this quick quark, but it is not probiotic. 

Greek Yogurt – I’d use the full fat version for best flavor. 

Cream Cheese – And yes, regular cream cheese works too. It will make the dessert heavier and you may need to add a little milk or yogurt to make it less thick. I’d try to find a natural cream cheese with live cultures, such as Nancy’s organic probiotic cream cheese. This is also free of stabilizing gums. 

Chevre Cheese – Use your favorite chevre recipe or try mine and omit the salting. Be sure to drain it well! Store bought chevre usually tastes too strongly goaty for this recipe.

Clabber Cheese – If you make clabber cheese, you can certainly use it for this recipe. Be sure to drain it really well.

The Lemon Cheesecake Mousse Recipe

Equipment:

Hand mixer or Egg beater – for whipping cheese and heavy cream

Small saucepan – for making lemon curd

A Few bowls – for mixing and whipping (place the bowl for whipping cream into the refrigerator before starting)

Scale, optional – I find it easier sometimes to weigh ingredients instead of using cups. I provided both measurements for you so you can choose what you prefer.

Spatula – for folding and scraping

Parchment paper – grease and cover the lemon curd to prevent a skin. Or use your butter wrapper with the greased side down. Some people like to use plastic wrap.

Serving dishes or a bowl – This recipe makes 4 portions. Feel free to cut it in half if you need less. 

Ingredients: 

I always recommend choosing organic ingredients if at all possible for health reasons.

For The Lemon Curd

Eggs at room temperature

Mild honey – choose a mild flavored honey for this unless you want the honey’s flavor to dominate. I like it both ways, but it’s more delicate with clover or orange blossom honey rather than wildflower honey. I probably wouldn’t like it with forest honey or buckwheat honey. You can also use maple syrup or sugar. I would use organic evaporated cane juice crystals for a neutral flavor and a healthier sugar.

Lemon zest – The zest of about two lemons. You’ll want a nicely packed tablespoon of it. Lemon skin is normally treated heavily with stuff you don’t want to eat. It’s best to choose organic lemons if you’re using the zest.

Lemon juice – The juice of about two lemons. We’ll use a half cupful. Save the skins and pulp and put them to good use! Find ideas below.

Butter – I prefer unsalted in this recipe. You can try salted butter, but, well, you’ll have a salty lemon curd.

For The Cheese Dessert

Lemon curd – This recipe uses about half of the lemon curd you just made. Refrigerate the rest for another recipe or freeze it. It freezes well.

Quark cheese or substitute – Use what you can get from my list of substitutes, but I would give quark cheese preference if you can find it. Try the health food store or a German ethnic store. You can also mix substitutes, for example half cream cheese, half yogurt for a rich, but lighter cheese.

Heavy cream – Or whipping cream. Keep it chilled until the point of use so it will whip up easier.

Mild honey or Maple syrup – I would not use forest honey in this. Wildflower honey is ok, but you will taste it. If you want this to be more neutral, use orange blossom or clover honey. You can also use sugar if you want. I wouldn’t use panela, coconut, or sucanat sugar in this recipe but rather evaporated cane juice crystals.

Salt – just a pinch will do unless you like your dessert salty. I love to use Redmond’s Real Salt or Himalayan pink salt.

Organic vanilla – Use a purchased real vanilla extract or make your own. I don’t have a recipe for it here, but you can try this one!

Instructions For Making Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

Make Lemon Curd

In a small saucepan combine the eggs and honey and whisk together well. 

Whisk in lemon zest and lemon juice.

Then add the soft butter and mix it in.

Put on medium-low heat.

Heat slowly while stirring till the mixture shows the first bubble. This can take several minutes. Lower the heat and keep stirring for another minute to thicken. Do not let it boil or you’ll get scrambled eggs. Keep it just below a simmer.

Pour the lemon curd through a strainer into another dish if you prefer. I didn’t, mine seemed pretty smooth, but straining it will yield a smoother curd in case there are little lumps. 

Place a greased piece of parchment directly on top of it, to keep any skin from forming. You can also use a butter wrapper for this with the greasy side down, or a piece of plastic wrap.  

Leave on the counter to cool. Once cooled, if you don’t use it right away, refrigerate it. It will stay spreadable in the fridge. You can also freeze it for later if you have left overs.  

This makes 2 cups of curd. This recipe only uses 1 cup, so you’ll have extra.

Make The Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

Using a cold container, whip the heavy cream till stiff. Set aside.

In a bowl, cream the cheese and lemon curd till very smooth.

Add the honey, and vanilla and whisk or beat till well incorporated and creamy. 

Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mix and use a spatula to gently fold the whipped cream in, until incorporated. This will give it the fluffy texture that you associate with a mousse. 

Pour into a serving bowl or individual dishes and chill for a few hours. 

Serve as is, or decorate each serving for a pretty dessert. 

Garnish Ideas And More Ideas To Use Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

• Garnish With Lemon slices
• Candied lemon slices or strips
• A sprinkle of lemon zest
• A sprig of lemon balm leaves
• Piped whipped cream
• Use some of the mousse and pipe it on top
• Natural colored sprinkles for a kid’s party
• Lemon zest curls for a fancier look
• Seasonal Berries
• Make it a red, white and blue layered dessert with blueberries and raspberries. Top with a little paper flag
• Make a crust with your favorite cookie crumbs like graham cracker, lemon shortbread, ginger snap, or vanilla cookie crumbs. Mix with butter and press into pie plate, top with lemon cheesecake mousse and decorate pretty with piped whipped cream, lemon zest, candied lemon pieces, or top with berries or berry sauce (instructions for blueberry sauce are in my lemon blueberry cheesecake recipe). 
• Layer with berry sauce and leftover cake pieces of cookie crumbs for a trifle. Soak the cake pieces in a lemon syrup or limoncello for an adult dessert. 
• Use as a lemon cream cheese spread for lemon pound cake slices, or as frosting in a layer cake. You might need to double the recipe for that, but you should have enough curd for a double recipe.

Storage

Store this dessert in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It will still taste fine for a week or so, but it will start to lose its fluffy texture. 

What To Do With Citrus Rinds:

If you use organic lemons, you can make any of these recipes below. If your lemons are conventionally grown, I’d just stick with making the cleaning vinegar. Lemon skins are normally treated heavily with stuff you don’t want to eat.

• Ferment it into a vinegar. Follow my Apple Cider Vinegar recipe! Use it for cleaning or for sipping to get probiotics and the many great health benefits of lemon peel.
• Make A Citrus wine! I am using the peels from making this recipe to ferment into wine. This tastes super delicious when adding a small dash to a winter spice tea. You get lots of health benefits and a great flavor this way.
• Make an easy cleaning vinegar by adding white vinegar or any vinegar to your lemon peels and let them infuse for 2-3 weeks. Strain and use for cleaning. Check out my friend Marta’s page for using citrus vinegar as a cleaner.
• Make candied citrus peel for baking things like fruit cakes, pannetone, hot cross buns and German christmas gingerbread, fruit bread, and christstollen. Recipes to come, stay tuned. Homemade candied citrus peel is far superior to the stuff you get in those little plastic containers at the grocery store.
• Make a tincture of lemon peel. It has many health supporting properties!

Bonus: Here Is My Original Recipe With Raw Eggs: 

Enjoy Your Awesome Lemon Cheesecake Mousse! 

Once you make this delicious lemon cheesecake mousse, you’ll want to make it again often. And because this is so healthy, you don’t have to practice restraint! Well, to a point. But if you replace a meal with this, you’ll get plenty of nutrition and healthy benefits too, that some meals can’t even provide. So for your health and happy tastebuds, indulge yourself and enjoy!

I’d love to hear about it if you get to make this and I hope you love it as much as I do! Leave me a comment below! And please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions or if you want more information! I would totally appreciate a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating if you like my Lemon Cheesecake Mousse recipe or this article! 

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Other recipes Related to Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

Make German Quark cheese – Make authentic German Quark, also called Topfen. A versatile fresh, soft cheese that is a staple in German cooking. This is the best cheese for this recipe.

Queso Fresco cheese recipe – The quickest, easiest cheese you’ll ever make and so versatile. One of the cheeses you can use for this recipe!

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars – Creamy, with a buttery crust, this cheesecake dessert is bright, tangy, easy, and perfect for summer gatherings, or any sweet cravings!

Classic German Cheesecake (Käsekuchen) – How to make an incredibly delicious German cheesecake using Quark. Must try this!

Creamy Quark Dessert With Oranges – Use unsalted queso fresco in place of quark cheese a delicious German dessert, a creamy, luxurious mousse, healthy enough for every day desserts, but fancy enough for special occasions.

Awesome Strawberry Quark Cheese Mousse – A delicious German quark dessert with pureed strawberries.

Make your own chevre cheese from scratch – How to make super versatile creamy, spreadable cheese that can be used as a dip, or spread, for baking, for savory or sweet shakes, fresh or aged. You can use this in place of Quark too, if you omit the salt.

Clabber Cheese – Learn to make bonny clabber, the original cheese. Nature’s strategy of preserving milk. A tasty, creamy cheese that makes a really good frosting, spreadable cheese for sandwiches, and it makes a wonderful quark substitute if it’s really well drained.

Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar – This lovely vinegar is made from apple scraps, not the actual apple cider. But it is just as effective, easier to make and uses all those leftover apple scraps or ugly apples.

Awesome Uses For Whey – Save the whey! And use it in dozens of ways. You’ll find something to do with whey for every single drop. It’s nutritious, versatile, healthy, and makes great fizzy sodas!

Sweet Potato Bread Recipe – A delicious spiced sweet bread that’s great for breakfast, tea time, a snack or as a side at dinner. It’s scrumptious slathered with real butter!

Lemon Tahini Cookies – Delicious, healthy spice cookies with lemon and honey. These spicy cookies are radical, especially if you love bold, complex flavors and healthy treats.

Einkorn Zucchini Bread – Make this delicious zucchini bread that is moist, healthy, and doesn’t skimp on flavor! Delicious!

Zwiebelkuchen a German onion pie – Delicious German fall tradition. Make some today, you won’t regret it!

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Spatula
Hand mixer
Egg beater
Parchment paper
Scale
Organic vanilla
Evaporated cane juice crystals
Redmond’s Real Salt
Himalayan pink salt
Mild honey
Maple syrup
Natural colored sprinkles