How to Make Luscious Lemony Sour Cream Cheesecake

The addition of lemon and orange zest, sour cream and lemon juice turn this classic New York cheesecake recipe into something altogether lighter and less cloying than the standard. You can also use lime zest and juice instead of lemon.

I’ve tweaked the crust by adding small amounts of cinnamon and ground nutmeg, plus 1/3 cup of coarsely chopped nuts. The sour cream topping gets poured over at the end, and the cake is then baked for a final 20 minutes.

The original recipe stated 1 cup of castor sugar for the filling but I really found that too sweet to my taste, so you can use either 1 cup (250 ml) or 3/4 cup (180 ml).

Make it the day before you plan to serve it, as it really turns out best after a good, long chill in the refrigerator.

Adapted from a recipe in Australian Women’s Weekly ‘Cheesecakes’ recipe book, published by ACP Books.

LUSCIOUS LEMONY SOUR CREAM CHEESECAKE

Serves 12

Crust: 

250g Tennis biscuits

1/2 t (2.5 ml) cinnamon

1/4 t (1 ml) ground nutmeg

1/3 cup coarsely chopped mixed nuts or plain hazelnuts

125 ml butter, melted

Filling:

750 g low fat cream cheese

2 t (10 ml) finely grated orange zest

2 t (10 ml) finely grated lemon zest

1 cup (220 g) castor sugar (I only used 3/4 cup)

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (180 ml) sour cream

1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice

Sour Cream Topping:

1 cup (250 ml) sour cream

2 T (30 ml) castor sugar

2 t (10 ml) lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/160 C if a fan-driven oven. Make the crust by processing the Tennis biscuits with the spices until fine. Stir in the melted butter and nuts until very well blended. Press into the bottom of a 24cm springform cake tin that you previously lined with baking parchment. Place the tin in the fridge for 30 minutes while you prepare the filling.
2. Make the filling by beating the cream cheese, citrus zest, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix the sour cream and juice and beat into the cream cheese.
3. Pour filling onto the crust and place cake tin on a baking tray. Put in the middle of the oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes until just set. Remove from oven without turning off the heat, and let stand for 15 minutes.
4. Make the sour cream topping by whisking together the sour cream, sugar and lemon juice. Pour over the cheesecake and return to the oven for another 20 minutes. When the baking time is expired, turn the oven off and leave the cake inside to cool down with the door slightly ajar.
5. Let cheesecake chill overnight before serving.