Cheesecake, Lemon

By Becky Jo

Ingredients

• For the crust:
• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 7 tablespoons butter, melted
• For the cheesecake:
• 2 1/2 pounds (1.14 kg) Cream Cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 4 lemons)*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice*
• 1 About 1 cup lightly-sweetened whipped cream, optional for garnish
• 4 to 5 lemon slices, halved, optional for garnish
• *If using regular lemons, reduce the zest to 2 tablespoons and the lemon juice to 1/3 cup.

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from foodbuzz.com

Preparation

Step 1

This recipe uses Meyer lemons, (because I just picked well over 300 from our tree) but you can also use regular lemons. I’ve added notes on adjusting the recipe for regular lemons below. There are a few easy tricks to making this cheesecake perfect: 1) It’s important that the cream cheese is at room temperature before creaming it, or you may have lumpy instead of creamy cheesecake. 2) Cook the cheesecake in a water bath to help it bake more evenly and prevent cracking and browning on top. 3) Don’t overbake the cheesecake. It should still jiggle slightly in the center when you remove it from the oven. The cake continues cooking even after it’s removed and will set once it’s cooled.





Preheat oven to 375ºF and butter the bottom of a 10-inch spring form pan



Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into the spring form pan, going up the side of the pan only 1/4 inch. Bake about 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely.



Decrease oven temperature to 325ºF



In a stand mixer, cream the cream cheese until it’s smooth. Add the sugar and lemon zest and mix together. Add the vanilla extract, cornstarch, and heavy cream and stir until combined. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time; mix each in before adding the next. Stir in the lemon juice. Pour the cheesecake filling into the spring form pan on top of the cooled crust. Bake in a water bath for 60-70 minutes. The outer edges should be set and the center will still jiggle a little when you move it. (The cake continues cooking after it’s removed from the oven.)



Cool for 15 minutes, then remove the spring form rim. Cool completely, then place into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, overnight is best. You can garnish with the whipped cream and lemon slice, if you like. The cheesecake also goes very well with lemon granita. Enjoy!



Update: To ensure that no water leaks into the cheesecake while it's baking, wrap aluminum foil around the outside of the spring form pan. Don't fill the water bath until you've already placed the cheesecake in the oven, and only fill it to halfway up the side of the spring form pan.