Key Lime Cheesecake Recipe

A pleasantly tart key lime cheesecake with graham cracker crust.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake

Author: Go Sweet Fox

Prepare the spring-form pan. Place parchment paper at the bottom on the pan and lightly spray the paper and sides of the pan with cooking spray. You can line the sides with parchment paper as well, but I found that to be unnecessary.
Place the graham cracker crumbs in a medium bowl.
2½ C Graham Cracker Crumbs
Mix the cinnamon into the graham cracker crumbs
2 tsp Cinnamon
Melt the butter (the flavor of the crust can be more toasted if you brown the butter. To do this, stir the butter over medium heat. It will start to bubble and then the bubbling will go back down. It should start to brown shortly thereafter).
¾ C Melted butter
Add the melted butter into the bowl and mix with a whisk until evenly moistened.
Pour the crust into the pan and press the crust around the pan evenly using the bottom of a flat cup. (Note: I prefer a thicker, flat crust so that there is an equal amount of crust in each bite. If you wish to have the crust go up the sides, you can do so by pressing the crust against the sides of the pan.)

Preheat the oven to 250°F.
Place all of the cream cheese into the KitchenAid mixer bowl. Using the beater attachment (not the whisk), mix the cream cheese until smooth. Medium speed is fine. Do not worry about overmixing the cream cheese. You need to make sure it is smooth at this step (and before you add the eggs).
16 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese, 16 oz Lucerne Cream Cheese
Add the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Continue mixing. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl using a spatula. You will mix until it looks smooth and uniform in color.
1¼ C Sugar, ½ C Sour Cream, 2 tsp Vanilla
Add the eggs, two at a time. You only mix until the eggs are incorporated into the mix (ie: uniform in color). You do not want to overbeat the eggs. I've use the KitchenAid at low speed and finish with a hand whisk just to ensure no eggs are missed.
4 Large Eggs
Cut the key limes in half and squeeze the juice through a strainer into a small bowl. This should make about ½ C of key lime juice.
12 Key Limes
Zest the rinds of limes into the bowl - leaving four key limes unzested (you will zest these on top of the key lime cheesecake once it is done).
Pour the key lime juice and zest into the cheesecake mixture. Mix by hand until batter is an even consistency.
Gently pour the cheesecake mix onto the crust in the spring form pan.
You can even out the top of the cheesecake with a spatula or by lightly tapping the bottom of the pan flatly against the countertop.

Bake the cheesecake at 250°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Place the cheesecake on the top rack so it is in the center of the oven. Also, place a large cookie sheet on the bottom rack beneath the cheesecake. The cheesecake may "weep" extra moisture from the butter or fat from the cream cheese. The cookie sheet will catch this and help avoid mess in the oven.
After one hour, turn off the oven and crack it open slightly. You can wedge a hot pad against the oven door to stop it from closing all the way. This will vent the oven while allowing the residual heat to continue the baking process. Allow the cheesecake to sit in the oven for an additional 60 minutes.
After this second hour, the center of the cheesecake should still be a little jiggly. Remove it from the oven and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature (about another hour). Allowing the cheesecake to cool will help prevent it from "sweating" in the refrigerator.
Zest the remaining lime rinds evenly over the cheesecake.
Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours. Overnight is best.