Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Method

Lemon Curd

Combine the sugar, eggs, lemon juice & zest, butter and salt in a small nonstick or enameled (NOT metal) saucepan over medium-low heat.*
50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar, 2 tsp lemon zest 1 large or 2 small lemons, 60 mL (1/4 cup/2 oz) lemon juice, 1 large egg room temperature, 1 large egg yolk room temperature, tiny pinch fine sea salt, 42 grams (3 Tbsp) salted butter room temperature
Whisk continuously until it thickens, about 5 minutes, just until it reaches about 170F (77C) - don't go over. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
While it’s still hot, press the curd through a sieve into another bowl/jar, cover it and allow it to cool completely to room temperature. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

Graham Cracker Crust

Preheat the oven to 300F (148C) conventional (no fan) and grease and line a 9 inch springform pan with baking spray and parchment paper.
Place the graham crackers in the bowl of your food processor and turn it to full speed, until they're finely ground.
200 grams (1 1/2 packs) graham crackers ground up
Add the melted butter and pulse until the butter looks evenly distributed.
84 grams (3/4 cup/6 Tbsp) salted butter melted
Dump the crumbs into the prepared pan and use something small and round with a flat bottom (like a 1/2 cup measuring cup) to press the crust down evenly, coming up only halfway up the edge of the pan.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes, and then refrigerate, while you prepare the filling.

Lemon Cheesecake

It’s important that everything is softened to room temperature. If you need to, place the cream cheese (with the packaging) and the eggs in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes and microwave the sour cream for 10-20 seconds.
Place the sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer and zest the lemons on top. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar until they’re well combined.
266 grams (1 1/3 cup) granulated sugar, zest of 4 large lemons
Add the cream cheese to the bowl and use the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), to mix at medium-low speed for a couple of minutes, scraping the edge of the bowl every so often to make sure the mixture is smooth and there are no chunks of cream cheese left.
32 oz (4 bricks) cream cheese room temperature
Add the sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice and mix at low speed, until they’re all fully combined.
240 grams (1 cup) sour cream, 2 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract, 120 mL (1/2 cup/4oz) lemon juice 3-4 of the lemons
With the mixer still at low speed, add the one egg at a time, mixing just until each one is combined. Scrape the edge of the bowl well and give it one more good mix. Make sure to get smooth out any visible chunks and don’t increase the speed so you don’t incorporate air.
4 large eggs room temperature
Fold the batter a few times, scraping the edge of the bowl well. You can press the cheesecake batter through a sieve if you want to get out any chunks (but I don’t) before pouring it over the crust.
Pour HALF of the cheesecake batter over the crust. Swirl some lemon curd and then repeat with the rest of the cheesecake batter and some more curd. You can reserve some (about 1/2 cup should be fine) of the curd for the top of the cheesecake after it’s baking if you want a sharper lemon flavor.
225 grams (roughly 1 cup) lemon curd don't really have to measure, just swirl it in
Place the cheesecake in the preheated oven and place another pan full of hot water next to it (I just use another large cake pan). Bake for 75ish minutes. The edges of the cheesecake should be set but the center should still be jiggly and it should look pretty flat on top with a slightly golden color around the edge.
Turn the oven off and pull out the cheesecake just slightly so you can reach it. Run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake so it can release from the pan and prevent cracking as it cools. Put the cheesecake back in the oven and leave the door halfway open for 20 minutes.Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature before refrigerating overnight or for at least 6-8 hours.

Toasted Meringue

Bring a small pot with a little water to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer (keep it on very low heat).Wipe down your equipment with a tiny bit of vinegar or lemon juice (any edible acid) and then place the sugar and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisking them together.
Bring a small pot with a little water to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer (keep it on very low heat).Wipe down your equipment with a tiny bit of vinegar or lemon juice (any edible acid) and then place the sugar and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisking them together.
150 grams granulated sugar, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Add the egg whites to the bowl and whisk the egg whites into the sugar. Place the bowl of egg whites and sugar on top of the simmering water (making sure it doesn’t submerge into the water) – you want the steam to heat the egg whites.
3 large egg whites (90-100g)
Whisk the egg whites frequently so they don’t coagulate around the edge of the bowl. Generally around 5 minutes, the sugar will feel like it’s dissolved in the egg whites but you want to take the egg whites to 175F (80C) in order to get that stable, marshmallowy texture, which is normally around 10 minutes for me. So make sure to check the temperature with a thermometer between the 5-10 minutes (it may take up to 15 minutes).
Once it’s at 175F (80C), turn the stove off, remove the bowl from the simmering pot and place it on the stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium speed for a minute and then increase to medium-high for about 10 minutes.
Add in the vanilla extract and salt and mix, that just until it’s combined, making sure to scrape the edge of the bowl as well. The texture should be thick and marshmallow – not dry.**
2 tsp vanilla bean paste, tiny pinch fine sea salt
Spread on top of the chilled cheesecake and use a culinary torch to toast the top. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Equipment

Ingredients

Lemon Curd*

Graham Cracker Crust

Lemon Cheesecake

Toasted Meringue

Method

Lemon Curd

Graham Cracker Crust

Lemon Cheesecake

Toasted Meringue

Notes

Nutrition