Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
Recipe courtesy of Sireena Edwards, Pastry Chef, High Ridge Country Club (High Ridge, Mo.)
Ingredients
- Lemon Cheesecake
- cream cheese - 30 oz.
- sugar - 7 oz.
- eggs - 6 oz.
- heavy cream - 4 oz.
- lemon - 2 ea., juiced and zested
- lemon oil - 1.5 tsp.
- Graham Cracker Sugar Cookie
- butter - 14 oz.
- sugar - 6 oz.
- egg - 1 ea.
- salt - pinch
- vanilla extract - 1 tsp.
- all purpose flour - 10 oz.
- graham cracker crumbs - 7 oz.
- Meringue
- sugar - 300 gms.
- egg whites - 150 gms.
Instructions
Procedure for Lemon Cheesecake
- Cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down several times to eliminate lumps.
- Stream in heavy cream and lemon juice. Add lemon zest last.
- Pipe into individual molds and bake at 300° F for 20 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and cool.
- Freeze cheesecake to unmold and finish.
Procedure for Graham Cracker Sugar Cookie
- Cream together butter and sugar until pale and light.
- Add the egg and vanilla. Mix all the dry together and add last.
- Chill dough before rolling into desired shape.
- Bake at 325° F for 8 minutes or until golden.
Procedure for Meringue
- Place sugar in a pot and add enough water to make the sugar wet. Wash down the sides.
- Bring sugar to soft ball 248° F. While sugar is coming to temperature, start whisking whites on the mixer on medium speed.
- When the sugar is just about at the temperature, turn the whites to high speed to reach stiff peaks.
- When the sugar reaches 248° F, turn the mixer to low/medium speed and slowly pour the sugar down the side of the mixer. Increase the speed and mix until cool.
- When the meringue is cool, remove the frozen cheesecake and insert a fork into the bottom.
- Dip the cheesecake into the meringue and pull out creating a peak on the top of the cheesecake. Place the cheesecake on top of the graham cracker cookie.
- To create a more stable peak, torch the meringue as soon as it is dipped.
