LEMON BAR CHEESECAKE

3 from 1 vote

Lemon Bar Cheesecake is an incredible blend of 2 desserts, lemon cheesecake & lemon bars. Smooth, creamy cheesecake topped with a tangy, buttery lemon curd that everyone goes crazy over!

Prep Time1

Cook Time3 45

Chill8

Total Time12 45

Course: bars, Cake, cheesecake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Lemon Bar Cheesecake

Servings: slices

Calories: 511kcal

Author: Jessica & Nellie

Ingredients

Crust:

2 ⅔ cup crushed vanilla wafers
⅓ cup sugar
10 TBSP melted butter

Cheesecake:

24 oz cream cheese 3 blocks
½ cup sugar
⅔ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup sour cream
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 TBSP cornstarch

Curd:

5 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
½ cup lemon juice
¾ tsp salt
½ cup butter room temperature, cubed

Instructions

Prep: Start by preheating your oven to 350degrees F. Then, line the bottom of a 9-inchspringform pan with parchment paper and gently spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Make the crust: For the crust you need to begin by crushing your wafer cookies. The easiest way to crush the cookies is by placing them into a food processor and pulsing until finely ground. Or you can put them in a zip locked bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into fine pieces.
Next, in a medium-sized bowl, add your crushed wafer cookies and the sugar. Then, add in the melted butter and stir until the mixture looks like wet sand.
Proceed to press the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Make it into one even layer. After that, bake the crust in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool as you prepare the batter.
Increase oven temp to 400 degrees F.
Cheesecake filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and sugar for 2minutes until smooth and no lumps remain. When making the cheesecake it is important that the cream cheese is smooth. You can use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to press lumps against the side of the bowl if needed. If you do not have a mixing stand, you can use an electric hand mixer to achieve the same results.
Next, add in the heavy cream, sour cream, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla. Beat together for 1 minute or until well incorporated and smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
Then, add in the eggs and beat again for about 20 seconds until fully combined. Lastly, mix in the cornstarch and combine. Try not to overmix the cheesecake mixture because that will add air and cause the cheesecake to crack at the end.
Bake: Proceed to pour the cheesecake batter into your prepared crust and wrap the sides of the pan with tin foil to prevent the water from seeping in.
Place the springform pan into a larger baking pan or a broiler pan. Fill with 1 inch of water to create a water bath.
Next, put the pans into the oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the oven temp to 250degrees F and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Once baked, turn the oven off and allow the dessert to rest inside the oven for 30 minutes with the door closed.
After that 30 minutes, prop open the oven door and let the cheesecake rest for another 30 minutes. Make sure to leave the cheesecake in the oven for this 1 hour of rest to prevent the chances of the cheesecake cracking on top.
Once it has completely rested, remove from the oven and unwrap the foil. Place the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely. You can place the pan onto a hot pad to cool but note that it will take longer to cool that way because there is less air circulating around the pan.
Lemon curd: Start by creating a double boiler by filling a saucepan with about 2 inches of water and then place a medium-large heatproof bowl on top of the pan. The bowl should sit on top and not down into the pan. It should NOT touch the water.
Place the saucepan on the stove over medium heat with the water inside. This step is without the top bowl, you are just heating up the water at this time.
Once the water begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and maintain a simmer.
Next, place the bowl on top of the saucepan. Proceed to add in the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and salt (everything except the butter) to the bowl.
Use a whisk to mix constantly to avoid the eggs from curdling. This will take about 15-18 minutes or until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. The mixture will have thickened significantly.
After that has thickened, remove the bowl from the saucepan and turn the heat off. Next, whisk in the butter, the heat will melt the butter, stir to combine fully.
Then, transfer the curd to a heatproof bowl to cool for at least 30 minutes.
Assemble: Once the cheesecake has cooled for one hour and the curd has cooled for 30 minutes, pour the curd onto the cheesecake and smooth it out.
Once cooled completely, cover in foil and place into the fridge to chill for another 8 hours.
Serve: When the cheesecake has chilled, run a butter knife around the inside edges of the springform pan to release the cheesecake.
Then, release the pan and remove the sides from the cheesecake. Place the cheesecake on a cake stand or a serving plate. If desired garnish with lemon slices.

Notes

Serve this delectable Lemon Bar Cheesecake up at your next family gathering or holiday and watch how quickly it disappears! This creamy cheesecake is a wonderful combination of creamy cheesecake and tart lemon bars, every is sure to go crazy over this dessert!

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