Lindy’s Cheesecake
Serves 8 – 12
For the Crust
1 cup flour
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. lemon zest
¼ tsp. salt
1 egg yolk
½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped and reserved
For the Filling
2 ½ lbs. cream cheese, softened
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1 ½ tsp. orange zest
1 ½ tsp. lemon zest
½ tsp. vanilla extract
5 whole eggs, plus 2 yolks
¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
For the crust: Combine flour, butter, sugar, zest, salt, yolk, and vanilla seeds in a bowl; rub with fingers until dough forms. Form dough into two rounds; wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill for one hour. Press one dough round onto the bottom of a 9” springform pan; pull off pieces from remaining dough and press around sides of pan. Set aside.
For the filling: Heat oven to 500 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, zest, and vanilla in a large bowl on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until smooth. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition, until smooth; stir in cream. Pour filling into ban, and bake until top begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 200 degrees, and bake until just set, about one hour more. Transfer to rack, and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight, Remove cake from pan and cut into slices to serve.
This cheesecake is the best I’ve ever had. My entire family loves it, and I’m sure you will too. Making the crust was really interesting, as all the crusts I’ve ever made before used water and very cold butter to hold them together, but for this one, you use an egg! You also have to use your hands for this, as for the dough to come together, the butter has to melt slightly from the heat of your hands as you are working it. When in the oven, make sure that the cake isn’t too close to the top burner so it doesn’t burn on top. Also, have a pan under it to catch the drips. To check if it’s done, stick a thermometer into the center of the cake, and when it is 160 degrees Fahrenheit, it should be done! Enjoy!