Sunday, March 22, 2015

Key Lime Cheesecake


As a rule, I am not a cheesecake person. It's not that I don't like cheesecake, I do, but when it comes to making it, I generally leave that up to Mr. O-P who has a recipe for a cheesecake that just melts in your mouth. This week, however, I had a hankering for cheesecake, and not just any cheesecake, but one that would be laden with citrus, lime, to be exact, and not just any limes, but Key limes.

I set to work squeezing each and every one of them with my little handheld citrus squeezer that is worth its weight in gold, until I had a half cup of the fragrant juice. Prior to squeezing I scrubbed the limes, and zested two of them until I had a healthy teaspoon of fresh lime zest.

I adapted a recipe for a basic cheesecake into what you see below. This recipe is a real keeper. I served it for dessert on St. Patrick's Day drizzled with a light green tinted white chocolate. Everyone was expecting basic cheesecake, but their eyes grew wide and moans of utter delight escaped their lips when they tried this one. I will make this again and again and maybe, just maybe, will try to create an orange (read: Creamsicle) version.

Key Lime Cheesecake

14 whole graham crackers
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup sugar
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 bag of Melissa’s key limes (or 1/2 cup fresh key lime juice)
1 teaspoon lime zest
3 extra-large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Make crust by combining graham crackers and sugar in a food processor. Drizzle in butter while motor is running; pulse to thoroughly combine. Press crumbs into bottom and halfway up sides of an 8-inch springform pan. Bake 5 minutes, remove from oven, and set aside.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla, and beat until smooth and creamy. Add lime juice, zest, and eggs, and continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into graham cracker crust. Bake 60 to 70 minutes until top turns light brown. Cool completely and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours (overnight is best). When completely chilled, remove pan sides. Slice into 8 equal slices and serve. 
This post is  linked to:

1 comment:

Mae Travels said...

Way too decadent! Maybe I'll make it.