Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients
- Crust
- 2 packages graham cracker crumbs
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
- ⅓ cup sugar
- Filling
- 4 packages 8 ounces each cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup lemon juice juice of 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
- 2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ½ t yellow food coloring optional
- 5 eggs beaten
- Glaze
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ cup water I substituted 1/2 cup Limoncello for the water but it's optional. I also ended up adding just a touch of lemon paste color.
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Crust
- In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Press onto the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a greased 10-in. springform pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 325° for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- Filling
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the cream, lemon juice, flour, lemon peel, extracts and food coloring if desired. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into crust. Return pan to baking sheet.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan.
- Glaze
- Make glaze by combining sugar and cornstarch, blending in water and lemon juice until smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cook 3 minutes. Chill until cool but not set.
- Spread top of cheesecake with lemon glaze. Chill several hours or overnight. Can also be frozen.