Fourth of July

Lemon-Lime Cheesecake with Saltine Cracker Crust

July 26, 2017
4
3 Ratings
Photo by Mary Catherine Tee
  • Serves 12
Author Notes

This recipe is a mashup of Bill Smith's Atlantic Beach Pie and Taste of Home's Lemon Dream Cheesecake, with a little tweaking here and there. It's everything you want a cheesecake to be (rich and creamy balanced with citrus) with a hint of salt from the saltine cracker crust. Links for both inspirations are below. —Mary Catherine Tee

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Saltine Cracker Crust
  • 1 1/2 sleeves of salted saltine crackers
  • 1 stick of salted butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • For the Cheesecake
  • 2 pounds full fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime, zested fine
  • Juice of above lemon and lime (about 1/2 cup)
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 5 eggs
Directions
  1. Saltine Cracker Crust
  2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. With your hands or with a food processor, crush crackers finely but not too finely (you want the cracker crumbs somewhere between the size of Panko and Rice Krispies).
  3. Transfer crumbs to a bowl. Add the sugar. Add the melted butter and mix until the mixture holds together. Press mixture into a springform pan, coming up about 1/2 inch on the sides.
  4. Chill for 30 minutes.
  5. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove and cool.
  1. For the Cheesecake
  2. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add zest, lemon and lime juice, flour, and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating between additions, until mixture is smooth.
  4. Add cream cheese filling to the cooled saltine crust.
  5. To bake, position racks in the center of your oven and one right below center.
  6. Fill a 8x8 glass pan or 8 inch glass bowl with water, place on a baking sheet, and position it on the lower of the two racks.
  7. Place cheesecake right above the pan of water on the center rack. Close door and bake for 55-60 minutes.
  8. Once center has set, remove cheesecake from oven. Set on a wire rack. Let cool for about 20 minutes.
  9. Run a knife around the edge. Let cool for one hour more at room temperature.
  10. Place in fridge overnight. Right before serving, pour powdered sugar in a fine mesh sieve. Dust over raspberries until coated white. Arrange strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries over the cake. Serve with whipped cream.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Mary Catherine Tee
    Mary Catherine Tee
  • chris
    chris
I’m an old soul. My favorite Saturday morning activity is watching birds on the feeder while drinking strong, black coffee out of my favorite hand-thrown mug. My favorite place to kill time is in antique stores. The less organized the better. I like full-bodied red wines and bitter IPAs. I live for feeling the warmth of sunshine and hearing the stillness of freshly fallen snow. I can thank my stint in Alaska for that. I have salt water in my veins, having grown up in Eastern NC, and (shhh…don’t tell any of my Mainer friends this about me) I prefer blue crab over lobster.

2 Reviews

chris August 30, 2018
Two pounds of cream cheese? Really???
 
Mary C. August 31, 2018
Yes, you read it right. It’s a whole lotta dairy!