Citrus Cheesecake

I am a fan of cheesecake. I love the creamy dense texture, the rich flavor. This cheesecake has a deceptivly light citrus flavor from the lime, lemon, and orange juice and zest that are in it. This was the first time I made it. My friend Anna suggested it for an upcoming baby shower in her honor so I tried it out for our "Breaking Dawn" party. It was relatively easy to make, and quite delicious. It went over well at the party.


You end up with some leftover oranges so for presentation I sliced them thinly and then into triangle sections. I think they look cute, and they added a nice touch of orange flavor to the top of each piece. They are the perfect size for a baby shower, or a small party. Thanks Anna for sharing your family recipe with me. I will definitely use it again.



Citrus Orange Cheesecake:

(a couple of notes: this recipe calls for making it in a 9x13 then cutting it into squares, you could do it in a round springform pan to. Also, be sure to make it a day ahead so you can chill it overnight.)

Crust:
5 T. butter
3/4 tsp. grated lime peel
1-3/4 c. vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (about 48 cookies)

Filling:2 large lemons
1-1/4 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
4 8-oz pkgs. cream cheese
1/2 c. heavy cream
5 eggs

Topping:
1-1/2 c. sour cream
3 T. sugar
1 tsp. grated orange peel

Prepare crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Line pan with foil. In a skillet, melt butter over low heat; stir in lime peel. With a fork, stir crumbs into butter until moistened. With hand, presscrumb mixture firmly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake crust 10 minutes. Cool crust in pan on wire rack.

Prepare filling: From lemons, grate 1 tablespoon peel and squeeze 1/4 cup juice. In a bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch until blended. In a large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, about 5 minutes, scraping bowl with a rubber spatula. Slowly beat in sugar mixture, cream, lemon juice and lemon peel until blended. At low speed, beat in eggs just until blended (do not overbeat). Pour filling onto crust. Place baking pan in a larger pan filled with 1 inch of hot water. Bake cheesecake for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the center comes out almost clean and center of cheesecake is not completely set. Remove cheesecake from oven, spread topping over hot cake. Return cheesecake to oven for 5 minutes (oven is off but still hot) to heat topping. Cool cheesecake completely in pan. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. When cold, transfer cheesecake with foil to cutting board. Cut cheesecake lengthwise into 8 strips and cut each strip into 8 pieces. Makes 64 cheesecake bites.