Lemon Cheesecake
This creamy Lemon Cheesecake is filled with fresh lemon flavors. It’s sweet, slightly tart and so delicious! A buttery brown sugar graham cracker crust serves as the bottom layer of the cheesecake. It’s filled with a smooth and creamy cheesecake batter that’s filled with lemon juice and lemon zest, then it’s topped with a decadent homemade lemon curd. This cheesecake won’t last long!
The details
make the graham cracker crust
The graham cracker crust is made up of graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and brown sugar. You can mix this by hand or with a food processor. Add the graham cracker crust to your springform pan and using the bottom of a glass, smooth into the bottom and sides of the pan.
This crust is prebaked for 8 minutes, because it helps the crust to get firm and stay together better without crumbling apart.
Make the cheesecake filling
The cheesecake filling is loaded with fresh lemon juice and zest as well as a creamy delicious cream cheese batter. You’ll begin by massaging the lemon zest into granulated sugar. This helps to release all the oils from the lemon and gives you the utmost lemon flavor. Trust me, it takes the cheesecake flavor up a notch!
Then you’ll cream together this sugar mixture with cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add in the lemon zest, vanilla, salt and heavy cream and beat until smooth. Next you’ll add in the eggs. Normally you add the eggs one at a time in a cheesecake, and to be honest, when I made this I wasn’t thinking and added them all in at the same time. I mixed the eggs into the batter by hand just until incorporated and it worked out perfectly fine. The cheesecake batter was just as smooth and creamy. The trick with adding them all at once is you have to mix the eggs by hand into the batter. They need a gentler, slower mix to get incorporated into the batter. Mix with a whisk until the batter is smooth.
ready to bake
The cheesecake is now ready to bake. Wrap the springform pan with aluminum foil – the bottom and the sides. You don’t want water to leak into the pan. Place into a large roasting pan and fill the pan with hot, boiling water.
Bake the cheesecake for 50 minutes in a 325F oven. The center of the cheesecake still jiggles slightly, but the edges are set, when it’s done. Crack the oven door and allow to cool in the warm oven for 1 hour.
Cool the cheesecake, covered, for 4 hours, or overnight to completely cool.
spread with lemon curd
Spread the cooled cheesecake with lemon curd, then place back in fridge for a few hours to set up the lemon curd.
Serving
When the lemon cheesecake is done chilling in the fridge, top with whipped cream and serve. I like to garnish with lemon zest as well.
If you made this cheesecake, let me know what you thought in the ratings and comments below. Make sure you follow me on instagram and youtube for the full baking video for this as well as some fun behind the scenes.
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Lemon Cheesecake
- Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This creamy Lemon Cheesecake is filled with fresh lemon flavors. It’s sweet, slightly tart and so delicious! A buttery brown sugar graham cracker crust serves as the bottom layer of the cheesecake. It’s filled with a smooth and creamy cheesecake batter that’s filled with lemon juice and lemon zest, then it’s topped with a decadent homemade lemon curd. This cheesecake won’t last long!
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 4 packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (roughly the juice from 3-4 lemons)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Topping
- Lemon Curd
- Whipped Cream
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a food processor, add graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Pulse to combine all ingredients.
3. Add graham cracker crumb mixture to 9-inch springform pan. Use the bottom of a glass to smooth out the graham cracker crumbs along the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake in preheated oven 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 325F.
4. Make the cheesecake filling. In a large bowl add the sugar and lemon zest. Using your hands, massage the lemon zest into the sugar until the sugar is a pale yellow color. This helps to release the lemon oils and brings out more of the lemon flavor.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, add softened cream cheese and lemon sugar mixture until smooth and creamy. Add in the lemon juice, vanilla and salt and beat until combined.
Mixing with a whisk by hand, add all eggs into the batter and whisk just until incorporated.
5. Get the cheesecake ready to bake. Wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan with aluminum foil. Place in a large roasting pan and add boiling hot water to bottom of pan so that it is 2 inches up the sides of the springform pan. You want to make sure the water is not higher than the aluminum foil covering.
6. Bake the cheesecake. In the preheated 325F oven, add the cheesecake/roasting pan and bake for 50 minutes. The center should jiggle slightly and the edges should be set. Prop the oven door open and allow the cheesecake to sit in the warm oven for 1 hour to cool.
7. Allow the cheesecake to sit in fridge for 4 hours or overnight, covered.
8. After cooling, run a butterknife gently along the edges of the pan, then release the springform pan and remove. To remove the cheesecake from the bottom pan, place a plate on top of the cheesecake. Flip the cheesecake over, then use a butterknife to gently separate the crust from the pan. You may also grab the edges of the bottom of the springform pan and lift up, jiggling the pan very gently to loosen the cheesecake from the bottom pan. Once the cheesecake starts to loosen, you can use a butterknife to help release the rest of the crust from the pan. It’s okay if some of the crust sticks to the pan. Just scrape it off and add it to the cheesecake crust. Alternatively, you can just serve it on the bottom of the springform pan. Once the bottom pan is removed, get your serving plate and place on the bottom of the cheesecake. Flip the cheesecake over so that it is upright.
9. Top with lemon curd. Spread lemon curd over cheesecake. Allow to set up in fridge for a few hours. Garnish with whipped cream. I used a Wilton 1M piping tip. For clean, slices, wipe your knife between each slice and dip in warm water.
10. Cover leftover cheesecake and store in refrigerator up to 5 days.
- Prep Time: 260
- Cook Time: 50
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
