Saturday, September 02, 2006

Gotta Love Martha!


I have been wanting to make these cheesecake squares for some time now. I finally decided to do it and lo and behold...I lost the book the recipe was in. I went and visited my dear friend, the computer, and found it on-line. I gotta say, these were really good!! I wasn't really impressed early on because I wanted to let my cheesecake lovin' dad try them so I cut them up before they were completely chilled. They tasted bland at that time. I have since let them sit in the fridge and just tried one and these things were great! The lemon flavor just comes right through now. My husband even told me he liked them and that is a good sign since he isn't really a cheesecake fan unless it is drenched in cherry sauce. I need to take these cool little babies to my dad for a second tasting! Enjoy!

Lemon Cheesecake Squares

FOR THE CRUST:
8 graham crackers (each 2 1/2 by 5 inches)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE FILLING:
2 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon (2 to 3 teaspoons zest and about 3 tablespoons juice)

1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 325°. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Crimp overhang under rim of pan.

2. In a food processor, blend graham crackers with sugar until finely ground; add butter and pulse until moistened.

3. Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and pat in gently (wipe processor bowl clean, and reserve for making filling). Bake until beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. While crust is baking, make filling.

4. Make the filling: Place cream cheese in food processor; blend until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice; blend until smooth.

5. Pour mixture onto hot crust in pan; smooth top. Return to oven, and bake until set (filling should jiggle only slightly when pan is gently shaken), 30 to 35 minutes.

6. Cool completely in pan. Cover very loosely with plastic wrap; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Use foil overhang to lift cheesecake out of pan. With metal spatula, lift cheesecake from foil; cut into 16 squares

Source: Everyday Food

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious and appropriate for the last days of summer.

carmilevy said...

Mmmm...

Add this to the list of reasons why I'm glad she's out of prison.

And, of course, why the Internet is such a cool thing to have in our lives.

utenzi said...

That's a nice picture, Michelle, but I'm with your husband on this. I'm no fan of cheesecake. Since most people seem to love it, Michelle, I'm sure lots of people will enjoy this.

Michele sent me to see you and it's been a few weeks since I've been by.

srp said...

Here from Michele.

I definitely must send your site to my Mom. She reads cookbooks like novels.
Of course, I love anything with a touch of lemon.

Thumper said...

Those look really good...too bad they're cheesecake...! Still, they're making me drool.

here via Michele's today!

Sammy said...

Hi! wow, thats some nice cheesecake there :) Nice blog and I love ur blogskin :)

Anonymous said...

I love cheesecakes! And I haven't tried this one. Thanks for the recipe. Saves me time Googling. :)

Edith said...

I chanced up your blog while blog hopping. A great blog that I couldn't resist reading from Post 1 to now. Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

hi i stumbled upon your blog. lovely food pics u have here :) im a foodie myself too and its great to know likeminded ppl. take care!

Anonymous said...

useful information blog,very good content.

Anonymous said...

Lemon cheesecake sounds good. I had key lime cheesecake not long ago and it was delicious.