lime cheesecake

 

Oh man. It's lime cheesecake day. What's the special occasion? Well... look up. Look waaaaaaay up. That's right - we have our own little corner of the interwebs! You can now find us at http://www.unhipsquirrel.com. Truly, this had nothing to do with me making such an extravagant dessert today. I guess you could say that I just really, really wanted to make a lime cheesecake. Sometimes having a little food blog is an excuse in itself to make something sweet. I mean really... it was getting a little savoury around here.

There is no real story behind this cheesecake except for the fact that I made it for Adam's birthday a couple of years ago. Of course, we were only two people (Adam is not a party kind of guy) and I ended up eating half a cheesecake for the rest of the week. Believe me, it was my pleasure. Except the last day. I could have done without that.

This cheesecake is so limey. Let me tell you about all the lime flavour in here. The first layer above the crust is a tart and delicious lime custard. Then, in the cheesecake itself, there's a bunch of fresh lime juice and zest. The limes on top are just for show. Take them off. They actually leave the stuff beneath a bit bitter. I would have shown you the inside, except I simply could not wait more than 30 minutes for it to chill before cutting into it and it wasn't pretty. I'm sure you understand.

Tips: This cake is best made the night before an event. You can also bake it the morning of an evening event. Anything less than that and you could be pushing your luck. Also - you may think the sour cream thing is weird. I thought so too, but I tried it based on the epicurious reviewers comments, and it was awesome. It also works to hide any cracks that may form if you're too lazy to use a water bath.

lime cheesecake

From Epicurious.com

crust

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (approx 12 whole graham crackers if you're doing it that way)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

lime custard

6 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

6 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp lime zest

filling

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp lime zest

topping

1 500 mL (16 oz) container sour cream

3 tbsp sugar

crust: preheat oven to 350ºf and combine all ingredients and press into buttered springform pan. Make sure the sides go up approximately 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes. Cool completely.

custard: whisk together all custard ingredients over medium heat until it begins to boil. Let it boil and thicken for about 30 seconds before removing from heat. 

filling: cream the sugar with the cream cheese. Add eggs, lime juice and zest. Beat with a hand mixer until well combined. Do not overbeat.

topping: combine sour cream and sugar. Set aside.

Layer custard, then filling in crust. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until cake is set with a slight jiggle in the centre. 

Spoon the sour cream mixture over the cheesecake while still hot. Bake for another 10 minutes until set.

Cool for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the springform pan with a knife. Cover and refrigerate cake overnight.