Key Lime Cheesecake

I made this key lime cheesecake for the first time for a dinner with neighbors.  Over all it was very good.  Just make sure to chill it in the refrigerator over night.  It gets better the longer it sits.

Key Lime Cheesecake
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

3 packs cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


To make Crust: In a bowl stir together the graham cracker crumbs and 2 tablespoons sugar, stir in the butter well. Pat the mixture into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a buttered 10 inch springform pan and bake the crust in a preheated 375 degree F (190 degree C) oven for 8 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth, beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream, flour, lime juice and vanilla. Beat the mixture until it is smooth.

Pour the filling over the crust. Bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and bake for 50 to 55 minutes longer, or until center is barely set. Let the cheesecake cool on a rack, then chill it, covered, overnight. Remove the cheesecake from the pan and transfer it to a cake stand.


Ingredients:

It is easy and much cheaper to make your own graham cracker crumbs.  One full pack of crackers made 1 1/2 cups of crumbs.  Just add crackers to a bag and use a rolling pin to crush:

Mix the crumbs with the sugar and melted butter:

Add to the bottom of a springform pan.  Press down and up the sides about an inch.  I imagine you can also use a foil line large pan:

One whole bag of limes…next time I will use bottled juice only because it will be so much easier:

Mix the softened cream cheese and sugar:

Then the rest of the ingredients and add some lime zest:

It all goes into the baked crust:

And into a preheated oven.  I like to use a water bath when making cheesecake but my bigger pan was filled with lasagna so I added a pan of water to the lower rack.  This helps keep the cheesecake from cracking:

And it looks perfect:

I'm happy to say my guests really enjoyed it.  I usually like a cheesecake that has no sour cream so next time I will omit the sour cream.  It was still very good and had a nice tart taste.  I just didn't care for the slight sour taste but that is "my" preference.


Enjoy!!