the last of the curd.

I have been in the midst of taking stock of all the food in our freezer and cupboards to try to start using is up (and also to save a little money). The meyer lemon curd of yore has been waiting patiently in the freezer and I've had a box of graham cracker sticks in the cupboard for a while that needed a mission. So when I saw the recipe for Meyer Lemon Cheesecake on The Kitchen Sink I knew that we had a winner.

My big plan was to take it for dinner at a friends house where we were going to watch the final four. My inexperience at making cheesecake hindered this plan because I didn't realize that I needed to chill it for at least 8 hours before eating it... and that is after letting it come to room temperature, which takes about six. Our little cheesecake made the trip to our friends house, sat tempting us for the evening, but never had the time to properly chill, so it traveled back home with us and became our dessert for the next night.

Cheesecake was a lot easier to make than I expected and I am excited to try new flavors. I will say that the recipe for the crust was fantastic and will be used again. I changed a little bit from the original recipe for the cheesecake, adding some more fattening cream cheese to make it a little richer. It is pretty yummy!


Graham Cracker Crust
Adapted from Gourmet

1 1/3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (5 oz)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Invert bottom of springform pan (to make it easier to slide cake off bottom), then lock on side. 3Stir together crust ingredients in a bowl, then press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of springform pan. Place springform pan in a shallow baking pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool crust completely in springform pan on a rack.


Lemon Swirled Cheesecake
Adapted from Cooking Light

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) blocks fat-free cream cheese, softened
3 (8-ounce) blocks 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) blocks full fat cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind*
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 cup lemon curd (find recipe here)

To prepare the filling, beat cheeses at high speed of a mixer until smooth. Add 1 3/4 cups sugar and the next 4 ingredients (1 3/4 cups sugar through salt); beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour the cheese mixture into prepared pan. Spoon mounds of Lemon Curd over filling, and swirl together using the tip of a knife. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until cheesecake is almost set. Remove cheesecake from oven, and cool to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.