Lemon Cheesecake with Strawberries

Strawberry shortcake is my all time favorite spring/summer dessert.  It's quick and easy and delicious.  But you can really only bring strawberry shortcake to a dinner party so many times before they start to think that's the only thing you know how to make.  My parent's have a lemon tree in their backyard, it's like the most amazing thing in the world to be able to go out and pick lemons for free.  I stocked up on lemons when I went to visit last week so I decided I wanted to make something with lemons for dessert.  I had seen a few things on Pinterest lately and decided to mesh a bunch of them together.  It was pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  I LOVE lemon so of course it was a winner to me, but the people we had dinner with loved it and even Lucas and the other kid went back for seconds.  So here you go,  Lemon Cheesecake with Strawberries!

Lemon Cheesecake with Strawberries

Crust:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 tablespoon ground cinnamon
9 graham crackers
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup sugar

Lemon Curd:
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 egg


Directions: 
Crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease the bottom of a 9 by 9-inch baking pan. In a food processor, process the sugar, cinnamon and graham crackers until you have the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate. Pour into the baking pan and firmly pat down with the bottom of a glass. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until set.

Cheesecake: Add cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest (try to make as fine as possible), lemon juice, and sugar to the food processor and pulse until well combined. It should have a smooth consistency. Pour onto the cooked graham cracker base.  Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before Refrigerating for at least 3 hours.

Lemon Curd:  This is just the recipe for lemon curd that I used, but you could use any lemon curd recipe. Add zest and sugar to a food processor and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the egg, and then add the lemon juice (about 2 -3 tablespoons). Mix until combined. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool.

When the cheesecake is set and the lemon curd is cooled, pour the lemon curd over the top of the cheesecake.  Serve with sliced strawberries on top.  You can add a little sugar to the berries to sweeten them.  You could use any type of berries on top of this.  I might try raspberries or blueberries next time.