Lemon Cheesecake

A creamy, lemon cheesecake with a rich sour cream topping, fresh lemon glaze and a crispy graham cracker crust. Pretty much the perfect cheesecake in my mind.

We all have our strengths, am I right? That’s what I like to tell my husband anyway. Especially when he’s on me about something I did wrong. I’m horrible at planning ahead and I seem to have a problem returning Redbox movies. But like I tell my husband, I’d rather focus on my strengths. Making kick ass food being one of them. Last month, I did some recipe testing that focused on the upcoming holidays. Yeah, I know I just told you how awful I am at planning ahead but a girl can always strive to be better.

I really hoped to save this recipe for next month. Wouldn’t this be perfect for Thanksgiving dessert? (I hate pumpkin pie.) But last week our house became a bit of puke fest. It was like something straight out of the apocalypse. Every single one of us got the stomach bug. We sort of overlapped one another so essentially it was seven or so days of yuck. In between changing bedding, washing mountains of laundry and doing my best to keep Sprite and saltine crackers down, I’ve done absolutely no cooking. Not wanting to leave you all hanging, I dug into my new to me recipe stash so I could give you something tasty this week.

So while I making my way home from nausea-ville, I give you cheesecake. And a damn good one at that. Rich, creamy and super lemon-y. It’s a total winner. I just wish I could enjoy it. Instead I’ll stick to my chicken broth. Good thing I’m one of those people that plans ahead so in the event I get sick, I’ll have recipes ready to share. Oh, whatever, so I got lucky this time. Sue me. Now if I could just figure out how to return those darn Redbox movies on time.

Lemon Cheesecake

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5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews

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Description

A rich, lemon cheesecake with a sour cream topping and graham cracker crust. While time consuming, this is not difficult to make.

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Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

• 3 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/3 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• zest of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, divided
• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Combine graham crackers, sugar and melted butter in a medium bowl. Press mixture into an 11 inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool while you make filling.
3. In a food processor, beat cream cheese until completely smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. Continue to mix, adding 1 1/3 cups sugar a little bit at time until fully mixed in. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
4. Pour cream cheese mixture into cooled graham cracker crust and bake for 40 minutes.
5. While cheesecake is baking, mix sour cream with remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons sugar.
6. Remove cheesecake from oven and gently spread sour cream on top of cheesecake. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack for 45 minutes and then transfer to the refrigerator until cheese cake is chilled but not completely cool about an hour.
7. While cheesecake is cooling, make lemon glaze by whisking together sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Blend in water and lemon juice and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.
8. Remove chilled cheesecake from fridge and gently spread the lemon glaze on top of cheesecake. Chill several hours or overnight before serving.