Meyer Lemon Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust
Author Notes: A friend needed a cheesecake, and so I made one. And not just a plain vanilla cheesecake, this one is flavored with the juice and zest of Meyer lemons. Have you found the Meyer lemons in your supermarket produce section? (I'm asking this question of my local friends, not my California friends, who all seem to have Meyer lemon trees, leaden with fruit, and the "problem" of too many Meyer lemons. )
This is the second year that I've found the lemons in my suburban Kroger, $1.99 a bag. What is the magic of a Meyer, you ask? Well, it's like a lemon, but not. It's like an orange, but not. It's somewhere in between - not quite as tart as the lemon, not quite as bold as the orange, but a pleasant in-between.
For my lemon cheesecake, I used Biscoff cookies for the crumb crust, instead of the usual graham crackers. Biscoff have a deeper, more molasses taste that suits the Meyer lemons well. Plus, they are just exotic enough to go with the slightly-left-of-center lift of the Meyers. If you fly Delta, save up your little packs, or just visit Kroger, like the rest of us.
This is the best cheesecake I've ever made. Astute recipe readers will note that it's a riff on the classic Three Cities of Spain cheesecake from Gourmet. That is the best basic cheesecake recipe in the world, and is very adaptable. I added the zest and juice of two Meyer lemons, for just the right amount of zip.
—Lucy Mercer
Food52 Review: WHO: Lucy Mercer is a freelance writer who cooks, writes, and carpools.
WHAT: A creamy, lemony, celebratory cheesecake.
HOW: Blitz Biscoff cookies for the crust, bake it off, and then pour in a lemony, cream cheese-y filling. Bake, top with sour cream, and bake some more. Ogle at your creation.
WHY WE LOVE IT: We love the combination of zest, juice and lemon extract, which packs a very lemony punch without too much acidity. The sour cream topping adds a great balance to the richness of the filling and looks lovely flecked with lemon zest. And Biscoff cookies as a crust? Sign us up. —Food52
Serves 10
Biscoff crust
- 5 ounces Biscoff cookies, crumbled
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Heat oven to 350. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan.
- In a food processor, blitz Biscoff cookies until finely ground. Add sugar and salt and continue to process. Slowly pour in melted butter and process again.
- Press mixture into bottom and up sides of springform pan. Bake in 350 oven for 10 minutes. Remove and let crust cool to room temperature.
Meyer lemon cheesecake filling
- 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese (low-fat is ok, no-fat is not)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 Meyer lemons, zest removed and juice reserved
- 1 (16 oz.) carton sour cream (low-fat is ok, no-fat is not)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a mixing bowl, place cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sugar and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add 1/2 of the zest to the cheesecake batter, reserving the remainder. Add all of the juice and the extracts to the batter, and continue to mix. Pour batter into prepared crumb crust. Place pan on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until cake is just set in center. Remove cake from oven but do not turn off oven.
- Whisk together sour cream, 1 tablespoon sugar and remaining lemon zest. Spoon mixture onto the cheesecake and spread with an offset spatula or knife. Return the cake to the oven and bake for 10 additional minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven and let cool to room temperature. Store cheesecake, well-wrapped in refrigerator.
- This recipe is a Wildcard Contest Winner!
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Citrus Recipe
More Great Recipes:
Cheesecake|Desserts|Eggs|Cheese & Dairy
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5 months ago steven packer
i made recipe as stated,took longer to bake @15-20 . minutes +sour cream time
i used 8 inch spring form pan. u can use any cookie crumb as base because those listed are pricey. great flavor with those lemons. I needed to make larger cakes and doubled recipe that completely filled 10 in spring form pan
longer cook time, actually dropped oven temp to 300 f good results nice tasting cheesecake
5 months ago riv
This was so awesome. Made it for my daughter's bat mitzvah party and not a crumb was left. I also had butter leak out, but my springform pan was wrapped in foil.
5 months ago Pat Libien
I hate recipes that don't give you all the directions. I just was not thinking and forgot you have to chill a cheesecake for 12 hours. Made it the day I was taking to a party and realized that it had to chill after the fact.
6 months ago Marlene Tramonte
I had the same butter leakage problem with the crust but after reading the comments I did wrap the pan with foil. Maybe use a little less butter next time. Also, instead of the topping I spread lemon curd on the top after baking and put whipped cream over that. Very nice.
6 months ago Maureen K. Cosentino
Is there an amount (lemon juice) to use to jazz up the lemon flavor? I don't have Meyers. Or should I use more zest. Thank you.
6 months ago Carolyn giacalone
where do I find the recipe for the biscoff cookies to crumble to make the cheese cake crust????
6 months ago MJprovence
You buy the cookies...
6 months ago Tara chamot
Yes-check the Biscoff website store finder. They're fairly common. My grocery 5 min away had them;)
11 months ago Nalan Kara Nane
The butter dripped down from the bottom of the pan and ruined the oven during the second cooking stage. The whole apartment got covered in smoke and I had to quit and throw away everything. What possibly I could have done wrong?
about 1 year ago Patty Tawadros
I made this for a recent party. While I didn't have Myer lemons - I used 1 lemon and 1 lime. I also made strawberry sauce to pour on top. It was insanely good and easy!
over 1 year ago Tara chamot
First time ever making cheesecake & this came out perfect! No Myer lemons, so I just used normal lemons, but aside from that followed the recipe exactly. As others mentioned, was a little hesitant on adding the sour cream topping, but it was perfect! I didn't even grease my pan(will in the future just to be on the safe side) & it came out just fine. Served with fresh strawberries-perfect combo!!!
over 1 year ago Melusine
Made this for the 3rd time in three months - my husband's birthday in October, Thanksgiving in November and for Christmas. Seriously good. I used Chef Ono's trick of putting the cheesecake pan in a slightly larger one, so there's no danger of seepage from the water bath. The cake came out perfectly creamy with a crispy crust. The sour cream layer adds something special.
over 1 year ago Tina
Bought a big bag of meyer lemons at Costco. Made this cheesecake for Christmas day and it got rave reviews. I was skeptical at first but it was light and creamy and absolutely delicious. I have already gotten requests for more.
almost 2 years ago Sammy
I just bought a mini cheesecake pan (3" diameter wells) and wondered if anyone knows what adjustments I should make for cooking time and temperature. Thanks!
about 2 years ago BRENDA GEHRING
To die for cheese cake! I think I made 6 after discovering the recipe. Giving them all away! When I discovered Meyer lemons via WPR (Wis. Public Radio) I needed to try them and fell madly in lemon love. I saved the seeds and now giving the seedlings to friends and relatives.
2 months ago Francesco
How are your indoor lemons coming along?
about 2 years ago Hiromi Motojima
I made this for people who came to my dog's 7th birthday party. (well, they all have a dog or two).
They LOVED it! I didn't add sugar to the crust at all. The cookies are so sweet, there is no need to add any more sugar. I used tiny bit less sugar for the cheese cake. I also made candied lemon slices to decorate the cheesecake. I will def. make this again before my meyer lemon tree runs out of lemons... This is a keeper!
over 2 years ago riv
Well, the batter is delicious and it smells heavenly just out of the oven, but we won't be cutting into it just yet--party coming! It seems the butter from the crust leaked out of the pan. Did anyone else have this happen?
over 2 years ago zoemetro uk
I am made this with key limes from our yard. Wow! Thank you Lucy.
over 3 years ago Susan
Usually my husband makes this, but I made it for the first time last weekend. I was in a bit of a rush and forgot to add the vanilla and lemon extracts. It still came out wonderfully - just mildly lemony and more cheese-flavored. Lots of compliments!
over 3 years ago Luvtocook
I've been making this recipe (minus lemons) since 1960. It's the best cheesecake I've ever tasted, too. One thing I usually do is put a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of my gas oven to prevent the cheesecake from cracking on top. Cracks are covered up by the sour cream layer, but I try to avoid getting them in the first place.
over 3 years ago Lindsey
After eyeing this recipe for months, I finally got around to making it this weekend! It was AMAZING. I couldn't find Meyer lemons or Biscoff cookies, so I switched things up a little bit - subbing in limes and a graham cracker crust. Because I used limes, I naturally had to sneak a bit of coconut into the cake too (I put a little bit of coconut oil in with the butter for the crust - delish!). Lime and coconut are meant to be together.
Loved the creamy texture of the cheesecake and the sour cream topping was just the icing on the cake - literally. I was skeptical about the sour cream at first, but it really brought everything together and balanced the sweetness of the crust + cake. I did end up adding 2 tablespoons of sugar to the sour cream rather than one, as I added a rather large amount of lime zest to the topping, which upped the tang factor.
Topped off the cake with shredded coconut for the last five minutes of baking, and it toasted to near perfection. I think six minutes would have been the magic number.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, Lucy! I'll definitely be keeping it in my rotation. Looking forward to making it again when I can find Meyer lemons!
over 3 years ago Lucy Mercer
Oh my, your lime and coconut cheesecake sounds divine! If there's a Best Cheesecake recipe contest here, definitely submit it!
over 3 years ago salemao
made it today for my mum's birthday and it was delicious. The biscuit base was stuck to the bottom and had to be scraped off. The cheesecake was very soft and crumbly and broke easily when cutting. The cake itself did not crack in the oven, but the sour cream did. would love to make it again, but would hope for a better presentation; any suggestions for the crumbly texture and the stuck crust? Thanks! sarah
over 3 years ago Lucy Mercer
Well, let's see ~ did you use a different kind of cream cheese? I've tried this with full fat and 1/3 less fat, and both work fine, but I can imagine that non fat would affect the texture. Has the cream cheese ever been frozen? That tends to make things crumbly. Perhaps time and temperature in the oven? A coating of baking spray in the pan would take care of the stuck crust. Hoping for better results for you next time around.
Showing 25 out of 110 comments