“This lemon cheesecake is so rich and creamy! The light and refreshing lemon flavor is perfection!”
I can’t tell you how excited I am about this recipe for lemon cheesecake! It’s rich, creamy and full of bold citrus flavor. If you are looking for a delicious, lemony dessert…please…look no further because this lemon cheesecake with a lemon curd topping has it all!
It reminds me of a true southern favorite … the cold, refreshing lemon icebox pie served at just about any B-B-Q restaurant here in the south.
Yummy!
Lemon Cheesecake
Homemade Lemon Curd Topping
This already delicious, lemon cheesecake is topped off with a homemade lemon curd that makes the flavor really pop!
Lemon curd is very easy to make and it only takes about 10-15 minutes. The only hard thing about it is having to whisk constantly until it thickens, but the end result is worth it.
If you don’t want to make homemade lemon curd, you can always buy it pre-made from your grocery store!
The Crust is Perfectly Sweetened with Light Brown Sugar
The graham cracker crust is perfectly sweetened with light brown sugar. This really adds a nice richness to the crust that you can’t get with regular granulated sugar.
Lemon Cheesecake is even better with Homemade Whipped Cream!
Big dollops of homemade whipped cream on the top help to marry all of the sweet and tart flavors together into one big delicious bite!
Use a Water Bath to bake the Perfect Lemon Cheesecake!
I love to use the water-bath method when baking cheesecakes to help the cheesecake to bake more evenly. Because the water-bath bakes the cheesecake extra gently, the filling will be smooth and the top will be less likely to crack as well. The sides of the cheesecake will bake to a nice light color instead of browning and over-baking.
If you’ve never used a water-bath, check out my video to find out how easy it is!
Tip: One of my readers told me that instead of using a water-bath, she placed a large pan of hot water on the rack below the cheesecake. This created steam in the oven to keep the cheesecake moist and also caught any drips from the spring-form pan. Thanks Pam!
The center of cheesecake will by jiggly when it comes out of the oven!
When the cheesecake comes out of the oven, the center will by JIGGLY. This is normal. The cheesecake will set up overnight in the fridge perfectly!
If you bake the cheesecake until it’s firm in the center, it will be over-baked!
If you are looking for more eggless cheesecake recipes, try this AMAZING recipe for Vanilla Bean Cheesecake. It will knock your socks off!
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Crisp, refreshing Lemon Cheesecake…It’s absolutely delicious with it’s perfectly sweetened graham cracker crust and homemade lemon curd topping!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1.5 cups (127 g) crushed graham crackers
- 1/4 cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon Cheesecake Filling
- 32 oz. (1000 g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons (55 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (227 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (230 g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (30 g) flour
Lemon Curd
- 3 eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup (151 g) sugar
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter, cubed
Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9″ spring-form pan with parchment paper.
Graham Cracker Crust
- Place ingredients in a small bowl and stir with a fork until fully combined.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the spring-form pan making sure that the crust is firmly packed.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- Turn oven down to 320°.
Lemon Cheesecake Filling
- Using a stand or electric mixer on low speed, beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary to insure everything is being mixed evenly.
- Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Beat on low until well blended.
- Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- Add the sour cream and flour and continue to mix until fully incorporated.
- Remember not to over mix to avoid incorporating air into the batter.
- Pour the filling into the spring-form pan and smooth the top with an off-set spatula.
- Gently tap the spring-form pan a few times on a hard surface to release any air bubbles.
- Place in the water bath and bake for 1 hour.
- Turn the oven off, crack the door and allow the cheesecake to cool inside of the oven for 1 hour.
- Remove the cheesecake, run a sharp knife around the inside edge of the pan and let it continue to cool to room temperature.
- Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight to set.
Lemon Curd
- Add 1 inch of water into a medium sauce pan and heat until it is at a gentle simmer.
- In a medium glass bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice together until well combined.
- Place the bowl on top of the sauce pan and continue to whisk constantly for about 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens. You can check with a thermometer if you’d like. You want the mixture to be at 160°.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the cubed butter until it has melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Let the lemon curd cool to room temperature, pour into an airtight container and then place in the refrigerator to set.
Whipped Cream
Assembly
- Remove the cheesecake from the spring-form pan.
- Spread the lemon curd evenly on top of the cheesecake and smooth with an off-set spatula.
- Using a piping bag, pipe dollops of whipped cream on top to decorate.
- Enjoy!
Notes
When the cheesecake comes out of the oven, the center will by JIGGLY. This is normal. The cheesecake will set up overnight in the fridge perfectly!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 675
- Sugar: 26
- Fat: 55
- Carbohydrates: 36
- Protein: 11
Keywords: easy lemon dessert, lemon cake for a party
I agree with other comments made about this recipe – the cheesecake itself and the lemon curd (which came out perfectly) are very good, but the crust has far too much butter in it. I wrapped my tin in a double layer of extra large foil – thankfully, as during the cooking process in the water bath butter leaked out from the bottom of the pan and into the foil. Four tablespoons of butter instead of 4 oz. would work much better I think.
★★★★
Hi Jane, I’m going to retest this recipe with less butter and update this post with the results!
Hi Amy – I did like that the crust was more chewy and firm and I was able to get the cheesecake off the spring form pan base which is often very difficult with cheesecakes – maybe 6 tablespoons of butter would work – give the crunch and firm base but without the butter leakage. Will wait to hear the results of your testing 🙂
I gave this a four star only because the recipe would have the lemon zest wasted. I did not. Both the cheesecake and curd contained the zest. Good recipe. I typically wrap mine in heavy foil, but may try your trick when I get a bigger cake pan. Thank you.
★★★★
Got good reviews & Guests were happy to take a piece home…always a good sign. I mixed the lemon curd but by the time I put it on the stove it just didn’t set up. Tasty but drippy, so gave it a bright nice yellow color & taste…even if not the yummy, correct curd. Will do it again.
Hi Judi, sorry about the curd. I think curd can be a little tricky!
I was making the curd and the glass bowl literally cracked in half so maybe update your directions to say have the heat on Low when simmering
Hi Devon, I will make a note of that! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I had to remake the crust with half the butter. Am I the only one who gets a soupy mess with an entire stick of butter? After it was baked it was chewy and so oily. It also leaked all over the oven, but I should’ve known to put a pan under it. With half the butter it turned out fine. I also added lemon zest and extra lemon juice. Great recipe for the cheesecake and curd.
Hi Ashley, I’m not sure what’s going wrong. I’ve made so many cheesecakes and I always use an entire stick. I have found that some butters are different than others when baking. Sometimes I leave a stick of butter to come to room temperature and it’s still hard as a rock after hours of being left out. It’s very frustrating!
My son and I thought we were crazy when we had the same results – hubby loves the “toffee crust”, but I was surprised when the butter all leaked out after prebaki g the crust!