You know what they say: When life hands you a cold, rainy day in February, make Meyer lemon cheesecake.
I don't know about you, but I've been happily tripping over Meyer lemons for weeks now at the grocery, so when I spied this recipe the other day on Food 52, I was ready. Creamy and delicious, not too sweet, but not too tart either, my initial reaction to reading it was that it just might be the perfect way to banish the reality of it still being February and happily, I was right. It came together in a jiff, and the only trauma was waiting for it to cool because the Meyer lemonyness suffusing my kitchen proved to be almost irresistible.
So whip up one of these bad boys over the weekend and it'll be March before you know it. Oh, and one little extra tip, a burned tongue is no fun.
Meyer Lemon Cheesecake
serves 10
for crust:
5 ounces Biscoff Cookies
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
for filling:
3 8-ounce packages of low fat cream cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 Meyer lemons, zest removed, finely chopped and divided into two equal portions, and the juice from those lemons
1 16-ounce carton low fat sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper, and greasing the entire interior of the pan, including the paper.
In a food processor, finely grind the cookies. Add the sugar and salt and pulse until combined. Add the melted butter and pulse again until fully mixed.
Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside until cooled.
Meanwhile, mix cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sugar and half of the lemon zest and mix well. Add the lemon juice and the extracts and continue to mix. Pour the batter into the crust and place pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes or until cake is just set in the center.
In the meantime, whisk together the sour cream, the 1 tablespoon of sugar and the remaining lemon zest.
When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven but do not turn the oven off. Spoon the sour cream mixture onto the cheesecake and spread it over the top. Return the cake to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature before serving. Is even better the next day after having been carefully wrapped and kept in the refrigerator over night.
--adapted from Food 52 who adapted it from Lucy Mercer.