Marcel and Ken made an Easy Lemon Cheesecake for dessert at the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors.
This has to be the best part of the meal. It’s cheesecake, my favourite dessert.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs
- 5 tablespoons butter
Filling:
- 1 x 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnishing:
- fresh fruit: berries, mango, orange, etc (optional)
Source: adapted from Lisa Zwirm
Prep time: 30 minutes; Bake time: 30 minutes; Serves 12
Instructions
 Place graham crackers in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to grind until resemble crumbs. |
 Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch baking pan with foil, leaving overhang on sides. Repeat with another sheet of foil in opposite direction, lining pan completely. Butter foil. |
 Microwave butter in a medium-sized heatproof bowl in 30 seconds increments until completely melted. Add crumbs and toss to coat. |
 Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust until deep brown, about 12 minutes. Cool crust while preparing filling. |
 Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and sour cream, then lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla. |
 Spread filling over crust. |
 Bake cheesecake in a 350F preheated oven until slightly puffed and set in center, about 30 minutes; cool completely in pan on rack. Chill cheesecake until cold, at least 2 hours.To serve, use foil to lift cheesecake from pan. Cut in slices; arrange on platter. Top each slice with fresh fruit of choice, optional. Served chilled.
Marcel and Ken, thank you for making this easy and yummy Lemon Cheesecake. |
It looks like you are using a springform pan. If you are, you do not need to use foil. I am from a mining state, and if you ever saw how much ore they have to remove to make a small amount of a metal product, you would be very conservative of its use. It is 100% recyclable with no loss in quality, but many recycling centers do not accept aluminum foil. Much of the world’s production of aluminum comes from China and Russia, which do not have real environmental standards. Aluminum is not mined as a seam, like striking gold, but is chemically extracted from ore. The process uses a lot of electricity as well as noxious chemicals.
You can use baking parchment instead of foil if you do not have a springform pan. The springform pan has a latch on the side so the sidewalls can be removed to serve the cake without having to lift it out of the pan. Parchment does not need to be buttered, but you could give it a quick spray of oil.
I’m not saying to NEVER use foil, just be aware of its environmental cost and spare its use as much as you can.
BTW, I will try the cake later today with some Key Lime juice I have on hand. It looks good! If you don’t have one of those hand blender thingies (I don’t), I’m sure a mixer or a big whisk would also work just fine. I make my cracker crumbs in a blender, too.