Dessert! Or breakfast! Or any time eats! Lemon Supreme Cheesecake

One of my all time favorite desserts is Lemon Meringue Pie.  A close second is Lemon Supreme Pie.  They have one thing in common:  the lemon filling.   Once in a while I crave lemon.  This year, I made a Lemon Supreme Cheesecake.  Really, it’s probably the Lemon Supreme Pie I remember from high school (Baker's Square in Carpinteria) and college (Village Inn in Ft. Collins) - made low carb.  By the way, the plate in this picture is part of a set I bought in college in 1994 from Pic-n-Sav.  They have lasted!

These cheesecake and curd recipes result in something that is absolutely positively yummy!  The lemon curd is a bit more tart that I’d like - still absolutely positively yummy!  I’ll see if I can fix that next time.  I got this recipe from Linda Sue's website.  I give it 4.5 wing flaps (because of the tartness and graininess of the curd). 

Lemon Supreme Cheesecake

Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 packet unflavored gelatin

1 cup cold water

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

Liquid Splenda equivalent to .5 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Lemon Curd (see recipe below)

Step-by-step instructions for the cheesecake:

      1.     Put the water in a small microwave-safe bowl; sprinkle the 

              gelatin over the surface and let stand 5 minutes to soften.

       2.    Microwave on HIGH about 1 minute or just until the water 

              comes to a simmer.  Stir until the gelatin is completely 

              dissolved; set aside.

      3.     In another bowl, beat the cream cheese, Splenda and 
              vanilla until creamy. Gradually beat in the gelatin.

      4.     Pour into a greased 9-inch pie plate.

      5.     Chill 3-4 hours or until set.  Spread the chilled lemon curd 

              over the completely set cheesecake.  Serve with whipped 

              cream, if desired (not included in the counts).

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

Liquid Splenda equivalent to 1 cup sugar (add more if you want it sweeter)*

Liquid Sugar Twin equivalent to 1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup fresh lemon juice (you'll need 8-9 small lemons)

2T lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

.5 cup unsalted butter, cut in 1/2" cubes

Step-by-step instructions for the lemon curd:

      1.     In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk the sweetener and eggs. 

      2.     Whisk in the lemon juice and zest. Add the butter and stir 

              just to coat.

      3.     Microwave on HIGH in 1 minute intervals, whisking after 

              each minute. Do this until the mixture is thick enough to 
             coat the back of spoon. This will take about 3 minutes. 

      4.    Strain the curd to remove any cooked egg.

      5.    Cool, then chill, then spread on your cheesecake OR store              
             the curd in a glass jar and serve as needed.  See Note 2!

Makes 8 servings (More like 12-16 servings, depending upon your serving size)

*This lemon curd will be very tart, even with the equivalent of 2 cups of sweetener.  Next time, try using only 1T lemon zest.

Note:  When chilled, the lemon curd will become a little grainy.   Supposedly, that’s because of the butter.  If you lower the amount of butter, the curd will not be a grainy but it will be less rich as well.

Note 2:  The lemon curd does not set up.  It WILL drip all over the sides of the cheesecake.  I stored the curd in a glass jar and spooned it one each piece of cheesecake as I ate it. 

Nutritional info:

Fat:  264g (84%)

Protein:  64g (10%)

Carbs:  36g (6%)

Calories: 2,512 calories