Lemon Cheesecake

My parents are going to a New Years party tomorrow and were asked to bring something that starts with the letter ‘L’. Mom asked me to take care of it for her. After going through multiple internet lists of appetizers and desserts that start with ‘L’, I settled on a Lemon Cheesecake recipe that I found on www.allrecipes.com but utilized some of the edits from the comments. It’s actually called Luscious Lemon Cheesecake, so it doubly fulfills the ‘L’ requirement, but there’s something about the word luscious… I’m leaving it out!

LEMON CHEESECAKE

Crust:

1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
3/4 c. ground almonds
1/3 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar

Filling:

4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 T. lemon juice
zest of 3 lemons
1 T. vanilla extract
1 1/4 T. lemon extract

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Turn 9-inch springform pan upside-down and cover with 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. (This cheesecake is baked in a water bath, so the foil will prevent water from seeping in.)

Combine graham crumbs, ground almonds, butter and sugar and toss with fork. Press into the bottom and 3/4 of an inch up the sides of the springform pan (I find that a flat-bottom highball glass works great for this). Bake for 8-10 minutes at 475.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add extracts, zest and juice, and combine well, scraping bowl once or twice to be sure cream cheese is worked through. Add eggs one at a time and then pour filling into crust.

Set springform pan inside a larger pan (for me, my jumbo frying pan is my best option). Pour hot water between the springform pan and the pan you set it in. Bake at 475 for 15 minutes, reduce oven temp to 350 and bake for an additional 60 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and take cheesecake out of water bath. Return cheesecake to oven (turned-off ) and leave in there for 30 minutes with door cracked open.

Mrs. Verburg, think you could take a pic of a piece once you all cut into this tomorrow night?