Ingredients
- CRUST
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg yolk, room temp
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1-1/2 tsp. lemon zest (I used a microplane grater)
- FILLING 24 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
- 16 oz. Philadelphia Neufchatel cheese, softened (recipe calls for 40 oz.
- of cream cheese)
- 1-3/4 cups sugar
- 1-1/2 tsp. ea. lemon zest and orange zest
- 5 eggs plus 2 egg yolks, room temp
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (recipe calls for 1/2 tsp.)
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (recipe does not call for lemon juice)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, room temp
- 3 Tbsp. flour
Preparation
Step 1
Place all dough ingredients in food processor and pulse several times till dough starts to leave sides of processor. If dough is too dry and doesn't come together, just add a teaspoon or more of lemon juice and pulse again. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge at lease one hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove ring from 9" springform pan. Roll almost a half of the dough on lightly floured wax paper to about 1/8 thickness and place on bottom of pan. (Alternately, you can just press the dough onto the pan, conforming to fit.) Trim edges to fit and bake in preheated oven 8-12 minutes, checking at 8 minutes. Remove when dough is a light golden brown. Cool. Place the springform sides over the baked base. Roll the remaining dough about 1/8 inch thick and cut to fit sides of pan. It will be easier if you butter the sides first. This will give the dough something to cling to. Be sure you seal the base. Just lightly press the new dough to overlap slightly on the base. When you are all done, take a plastic knife and trim the dough so that it comes a generous 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pan.
Turn the oven to 550 degrees (or 525 if you are using dark or coated pan). Be sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. Don't rush this process. Place 1 block of cheese and 1/3 cup of sugar in the food processor and blend smooth for about 10 seconds. Continue with additional blocks of cheese and sugar till all are processed. Add the lemon and orange zests and the 2 egg yolks and process again till smooth. Add the remaining 5 eggs, one at a time, processing till smooth after each addition. Add heavy cream and vanilla, processing till smooth. Lastly, add flour and just pulse briefly till combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes, then, without opening oven door, reduce temperature to 250 (or 225 for dark or coated pans) and continue to bake for one more hour. Check the cake for doneness by jiggling pan. If it wiggles, close the oven door and leave in oven for 15-30 minutes longer. When cake no longer wiggles, it is done. Remove to cake rack to cool. Cool completely before covering and placing in fridge overnight. May be frozen for up to 6 months.