Lemon Cheesecake

No-bake Lemon Cheesecake! Yum!

I made this cheesecake in honor of those C5ers who listed cheesecake as their favorite dessert. We like to have our freshmen students over for dinner every fall, and I like to make their favorite desserts if I can. I don't normally make or even really like cheesecake - it is not one of my favorite desserts - but this cheesecake was GOOD. I liked it, and I decided that I would make it again, so I decided to share it here.

The recipe is adapted from Cook's Country's Lemon Icebox Cheesecake. I had to make it in a pie dish instead of a cheescake pan but it worked out okay. Next time, I would just make sure to spray the pan before putting the crust in because it was a pain to get the crust out of the pan! Seriously, it was very difficult.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

Crust

15 lemon sandwich cookies, processed in a food processor

3 T melted butter

1 t. (or so) grated lemon zest.

Curd

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1/4 c. sugar

pinch of salt

2 T lemon juice

1 T butter

1 T heavy cream

Filling

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese

3/4 c. sugar

pinch of salt

1 1/4 c. heavy cream

Preparation Instructions

Crust Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cookies, butter, and zest either in the food processor or in a bowl. Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9 inch pie dish or cheesecake pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Curd Whisk egg, egg yolk, sugar, and salt together in a small saucepan. Add lemon juice and cook over medium to medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and pudding like. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes. If it doesn't start thickening after 4 minutes, turn the heat up a bit but keep stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and cream. Strain the curd to get out any clumpy parts, and refrigerate until you need it in the next step.

Filling First soften the gelatin by mixing the lemon juice and gelatin in a small bowl and letting it sit for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, microwave about 30 seconds, or until the gelatin has dissolved. Set the gelatin aside. Then, beat cream cheese, sugar, and salt until smooth and creamy, for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the cream and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 more minutes. Then add gelatin mixture and 1/4 c. of the curd. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until smooth and airy, about 3 minutes.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth out the top. Put the rest of the curd in a small ziploc baggy and cut a small slit in the corner of the bag. Pipe lines of curd on top of the cake and lightly drag a knive or skewer through the lines to create a marbled appearance.

Refridgerate at least 6 hours. Serve!

Enjoy!