Key Lime Cheesecake

We've decided to do a mini cheesecake theme before we focus on Father’s Day. We’re making a recipe that I’ve had for ages and always wanted to try, key lime cheesecake. It’s a take on the key lime pie but with a cheesy twist. The pie is very light and fluffy with a Graham wafer crust, the cheesecake has the Graham wafer crust but of course a heavier filling.

Much like other cheesecakes, you start by making a Graham wafer crust. You’ll need 1 ¼ cup of Graham wafer ground up. Then add ¼ cup of melted butter. Stir and pat into a 9 inch buttered spring form pan. Then put aside. This one you don’t have to bake first.

Next take 3 packages of cream cheese along with ¾ cups of white sugar until well blended.

Add in the zest from 2 regular limes or 4-6 key limes along with the juice from the limes.

We used regular limes and I think it made the cake a bit more bittery limy than sweet limy.

Now add 3 eggs one at a time beating on low speed.

Do one final stir and then pour over the crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until the filling is almost set. We started at 45 minutes and opted to leave it in a couple minutes longer.

Once the cake is out of the over, run a knife around the rim to loosen and then let the cake cool completely. Then put it in the refrigerator for about 3 hours or overnight,

Top the cake or the individual slices with whipped cream.

The finished product was pretty good and refreshing. The lime was more potent than the lemon in the lemon cheese cake that we made a few weeks back; I still think that one was my favourite as it was so light and subtle. I do think that using key limes might help make it more sweet and subtle than bitter, but it all depends on how limy you like things to taste. Enjoy!