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Slice of New York cheesecake

New York Cheesecake with Lemon

This New York style cheesecake is made with cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, and a subtle hint of lemon that does not dominate its flavor.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cheesecake, cream cheese,, eggs, Graham cracker crust, lemon juice, sour cream
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 42 minutes
Refrigerate until chilled. 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 8 hours 42 minutes
Servings 12 slices
Calories 584.64 kcal

Ingredients

Graham cracker crust

  • 1-3/4 cup Graham cracker crumbs Made from 15 whole sheets of graham crackers
  • 6 Tablespoons melted butter

Cheesecake filling

  • 3 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice from 2 lemons
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 eggs

Sour cream topping

  • 3 cups sour cream
  • 6 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring

Instructions

Graham cracker crust

  1. Break up half of the Graham crackers into pieces and place in a blender. Whirl at low speed for about 15 seconds. Place a colander over a large bowl and pour the blended Graham crackers into the colander. Repeat for the remaining crackers.

  2. Use a large spoon or soup spoon to stir the Graham cracker crumbs in the colander so that they fall into the bowl below. Return the large pieces that remain to the blender and repeat the process. Please note: You can skip these first two steps by buying Graham cracker crumbs in a box. Check your local grocery store. They will cost more but save a little time.

  3. Measure the Graham cracker crumbs to make sure that you have 1-3/4 cups. Add the 6 Tablespoons of butter to the Graham cracker crumbs in the bowl. Stir until well blended.

  4. Coat the sides and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with butter. Simply rub the pan with the end of a stick of butter until thoroughly coated. Add the Graham cracker mix and spread evenly along the sides and bottom of the pan. Use a large spoon to press the crumbs up against the side of the pan. Leave the bottom for last. Set aside until ready to use.

Cheesecake filling

  1. The cream cheese should be at room temperature. Place the three blocks of cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at a low speed for about 1 minute until the cheese is creamy without any lumps.

  2. Add 1-1/2 cups sugar, 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Beat again until sugar has been mixed into batter.

  3. Add the eggs, two at a time, and beat for about 30 seconds after each addition. Do not beat too long after adding the eggs. You do not want to beat a lot of air into the batter.

  4. Pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared graham cracker crust. Bake in a preheated 325° oven for 65 minutes (1 hour and 5 minutes). Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Let cool for 25 to 30 minutes. The amount of time you wait before adding the sour cream topping is critical. If you do not wait for the recommended 25 minutes, then the weight of the topping will cause the center to collapse, causing the filling to have a concave appearance. If you wait more than 30 minutes, you increase the chances that the filling will crack. This is not a real issue because the topping will cover any cracks in the filling.  However, if you wait too long, the crust around the top may begin to collapse and fall onto the filling.

Sour cream topping

  1. In a large bowl combine the 3 cups sour cream, 6 Tablespoons sugar, and 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring. Stir together until well blended.

  2. Gently spoon the sour cream mixture over the top of the cheesecake filling.

  3. Spread over the top to an even thickness. Bake in a preheated 325° oven for exactly 12 minutes. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before placing in the refrigerator to cool.

  4. Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 6 hours. You want the cheesecake to be completely chilled before you cut into it. Remove the outer ring so that you can cut the cake into 12 equal size pieces.

Recipe Notes

  • A word of caution: When mixing the ingredients in the electric mixer, always use a low speed and do no over-beat. You do not want to beat any air into the batter. This could cause the cake to rise in the pan and spill over the sides.
  • Can I use a regular cake pan in place of the springform pan? I would not recommend it. First of all, I have never tried it so I am not familiar with any potential problems. Secondly, regular cake pans are not as tall as a springform pan, which is about 2-3/4 inches tall. Regular cake pans are only 2 inches tall. So there would not be enough room for all of the cake filling. And finally, cutting the cake and getting it out of the pan undamaged, especially the first piece, would be very difficult.
  • Can I freeze cheesecake? Yes, you can. If Sarah Lee can do it, you can do it too. Cut your cheesecake into twelve equal size pieces. Place the pieces of cheesecake on a cookie sheet that is covered with plastic wrap. Make sure that they do not touch each other. Place in the freezer for about 12 hours or until frozen solid. Remove from freezer and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Place the pieces in a plastic bag and store in the freezer. I usually put 6 to 8 pieces in a plastic bag. To serve, remove from freezer, remove plastic wrap, and place on a plate. Allow to thaw (defrost) on the counter for about two hours or keep in the refrigerator overnight.
  • How many calories?! If you are concerned about the number of calories in a slice of this cheesecake (585 calories), you can cut the cheesecake into 16 pieces instead of 12. This would mean that each piece of cheesecake would have only 439 calories.