How to Make Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Lemon meringue cheesecake - a wonderful dessert that will wow your relatives. This recipe is sweet, airy, rich, creamy, and lemony. Easy to make and even easier to enjoy! Read on to learn how to make a delicious lemon meringue cheesecake.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 25 shortbread cookies
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 packages (8 ozs each) cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 8 oz sour cream
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tbs meringue powder
• 1/2 cup and 2 tsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Wrap outside of 9 inch springform pan with a double layer of foil.

2. Place the 25 shortbread cookies (I use Keebler sandies simply shortbread) in a plastic ziplock baggie. Squeeze out the excess air and seal. Using a rolling pin, crush the cookies. You should have roughly 2 3/4 cups of cookie crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl. Stir in butter (if you prefer you can use margarine but I think it is creamier with butter) and add to the pan. Use a measuring cup to press the mixture to the bottom of the pan and up the side of the pan 1 inch. Bake 12-14 minutes until lightly brown and set aside.

3. Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy on high speed. This takes about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to the low setting and beat in sugar. Increase to high, beat 2 minutes. Reduce to low and beat in sour cream, eggs, yolks, juice, zest, and vanilla. Beat until smooth (about another 4 minutes).

4. Pour batter into crust. Place pan into a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water halfway up the side of the pan. Bake for for an hour and a half until center moves slightly when pan is jiggled and the cake is set.
   
   Be sure to check after an hour. If cake is cooking (browning) too quickly, cover with foil loosely.

5. Cool on rack for an hour then cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

6. To make the meringue, preheat oven to 375. Remove cake from pan. Combine meringue powder (I use Wilton's) with water and half of the sugar. Beat high speed for five minutes. Slowly beat in the remaining sugar. Beat until stiff, another 5 minutes. Use back of spoon to spread the meringue over the cake. Bake until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!

7. If you like a graham cracker crust instead, use 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 6 tsp butter, and 1/4 cup sugar in place of the shortbread cookies and butter.

[mysteriousmuse]

on 7/30/2009 This looks so delicious. I am going to have to try this out myself! Great job with the article. 5*