Lemon-Glazed Cheesecake

When I come across a recipe on the web that looks like something I want to make but don't plan on doing anything with it in the next few days, I e-mail the link to myself. This means that I have dozens of e-mails from myself, to myself, all with random links to fantastic sounding recipes. The problem is, I don't go through them enough and really need to remedy that, because there are some really, really good ones just waiting to be tried! This is a recipe I e-mailed to myself back in December (not bad, considering my track record) and I didn't run across it in my e-mail, but while I was looking for a new recipe to try for Easter dinner.

My inner dialogue last week went as follows:

"I need to try a new recipe... hm. Cookies? Yes! Orange Madelines. Eh, maybe. Ooooh, this recipe looks great! Lemon-gazed cheesecake? A lemon dessert would be perfect and cheesecake is my favorite! Ha- look at that. 1st comment on this blog is from BeadEclectic. I guess this one was meant to be."

You can find the original recipe here, but I did make one substitution and slightly adjusted the cooking time and temp. My favorite cheesecakes almost always use sweetened condensed milk and this didn't call for any. There's something about the flavor, almost a tanginess, that just makes the cake. Soooo, I took out the sugar and added a can of it. I was nervous, but it turned out fine. Great even. Man, do I love me some cheesecake!

Ingredients

Crust

2 1/4 cups honey graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup butter, melted

Filling

3 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

14 oz (1 can) sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 heaping Tablespoon grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 Tablespoons grated lemon peel

6 Tablespoons butter

Pre-heat oven to 350.

While the butter is melting for your crust, crush the grahams into smithereens. I put them in a large plastic bag and punch the hell out of them. I'm sure there's a slightly less violent way, but what's better than taking out your aggressions on some unexpecting crackers? Once they're crushed up, add the sugar and butter and mix thoroughly with a fork. (The tines come in handy if you need to break up any pesky cracker pieces that survived the initial beating.) Press the crust along the bottom and partially up the sides of a 9" spring form pan. 

Now, bake the crust at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on your stove burners or a wire rack to cool a bit while you prepare the filling.

 

Using your mixer, beat the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together until thoroughly blended and smooth. Under beating the filling will lead to a denser cake, so don't under do it!

Add eggs and beat on low until combined. Finally, add the lemon peel, lemon zest and vanilla. Beat on low until just combined.

 

Pour the filling into the graham crust and bake at 325 for about 50 minutes. The cake will be jiggly (like jello), which is normal. You don't want to over bake it.

After the cake is ready, remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife along the edges of the cake, to make sure nothing is sticking. Cool for at least another hour and refrigerate overnight, covered.

The filling can be prepared the next day, but I made it while the cake was cooking. I wanted to glaze the cake before it sat overnight, though the original recipe called for glazing it right before serving. "My" way worked out just great!

To make the glaze, whisk the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind together in a small sauce pan. Add butter and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the glazed has thickened a bit and will coat the back of a spoon (approx. 5 minutes).  The glaze will further thicken as it cools, so wait about an hour before glazing your cake.

The remaining glaze is to serve along side the cake. Use leftovers in any way you would use lemon curd! Toast and ice cream are two things I plan to use my leftovers on.

This cake is a wonderful springtime dessert, and a great way to end an Easter meal. Unfortunately, I was too full from dinner (that potato casserole was worth every bit of pain it brought on!) so I only tried a bite of this cake when we all ate together. I did have a piece for dinner last night through! (And tonight, too. I hope my pants fit next week...)

Do you have a favorite cheesecake recipe? What's your favorite flavor/topping?

Happy eating!