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best cheesecake with lemon flavour on white plate
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5 from 5 votes

BEST LEMON CHEESECAKE

This lemon cheesecake is fantastic for summer parties. With the refreshing lemon flavours its perfect for hot days.
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Chilling time6 hours
Total Time7 hours 45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cheesecake, lemon cake, lemon cheesecake, lemon glaze, lemons
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 360kcal
Author: Julia

Equipment

  • 9 inch spring form pan

Ingredients

CRUST

  • 2 cups of graham crumbs or 25 graham crackers
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of melted butter

FILLING

  • 3 packages (750 g) of soft cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large lemon for the zest
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • ½ cup of sour cream
  • 4 large eggs room temperature

SOUR CREAM TOPPING

  • 1 & 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon glaze

  • 1 & 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 drop yellow food colouring optional

Instructions

For the crust

  • Place the oven rack in the lower half of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/177 C.
  • Place the graham crumbs and sugar in a food processor and grind them until fine crumbs. Add to the food processor melted butter and continue to pulse until the mixture starts to come together. The mixture will look like wet sand.
  • Transfer the wet crumb mixture to the non greased 9-inch spring form pan and press gently & evenly into the bottom with a measuring cup. You can also use hands to pat the crumbs into the pan. Place the spring form in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
    graham crackers crumbs

For the filling

  • Place room temperature cream cheese in the large bowl of a standing mixer and beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add 1 cup of the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract and sour cream. Mix until fully combined.
  • If you decide to separate the egg whites to make stiff peaks, follow this step no.2, otherwise skip this step and follow step no.3.
    Separate the eggs from the egg whites. Place the egg whites into a separate bowl and, with a clean whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks. Set the bowl with egg whites aside.
    Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition until just blended. Incorporate by folding in the egg whites with the spatula in the cream cheese mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  • If you are not separating the egg yolk from egg white, follow this step:
    Add whole eggs one at a time (total of 4 eggs), beating after each addition until they are well incorporate into the mixture. Do not over mix at this stage. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  • If you are using a water bath, see the instructions in the notes below
    Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared 9" spring form pan on top of the crust and smooth out the top with a spatula. Bake the cheesecake in the oven until the centre is slightly wobbly, about 55–60 minutes (350 ℉ / 177 ℃)
    pouring cream cheese filling
  • If you decide of using the method of removing the cheesecake out of the oven during baking, see the instructions in the notes below.
  • Turn off the oven and open the oven door at first crack (1/4 opened door) and allow the cake to cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and run a small paring knife around the edges of the cake, let it sit for 1 hour on the kitchen counter.
  • While the cheesecake is cooling, prepare the sour cream layer. Mix in a medium bowl: sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla extract with a hand whisk and pour this mixture over cooled cheesecake. Even the sour cream layer with a spatula or butter knife. Cover the cheesecake with food foil or aluminum foil and place it in the refrigerator until you prepare the lemon glaze.
    sour cream mixture on cheesecake

Lemon glaze

  • To prepare lemon glaze, combine all cornstarch, sugar, water, lemon juice & yellow food colouring, in a small saucepan. Mix with a hand whisk and simmer over medium low heat, constantly whisking, for about 1 minute or until it thickens.
    lemon glaze on cheesecake
  • Remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator and pour gently the glaze over the cheesecake. Smooth the top with a spatula.
  • Cover the cheesecake again with plastic food foil and refrigerate minimum for 6 hours, ideally overnight.
  • To serve, first use a knife, ran with hot water and wiped with kitchen cloth, to loosen the chilled cheesecake from the rim of the spring form pan. Remove the rim and, using a clean sharp knife, (again ran with hot water and wiped with kitchen cloth) cut into slices for serving. For neat slices, keep wiping the knife clean and ran with hot water in between slices.

Notes

To use the water bath:  Once the spring form pan with the baked graham cracker crumbs is cooled, cover the bottom of the spring form pan with the aluminum foil. Prepare a deep baking dish and boil at least 1 litre/ 4 cups of water. Place the spring form pan with cheesecake batter inside the baking dish and add the hot water (about 1 inch). Bake as instructed above.
Baking with reducing temperature method: When the cake has risen in the oven for the first time, which will take just a few minutes (5 or 7 minutes), remove the cheesecake from the oven and reduce slightly the temperature of the oven (to 332 F/167 C). Let the surface of the cheesecake to sink to level with the top of the pan, then put the cheesecake back in the oven, & repeat this twice during the baking, keeping the lower temperature.