A beautiful, summery key lime cheesecake that will make you think of the tropics! Enjoy with a fun frozen drink for an extra special treat!
I recently shared that I made a dark chocolate cheesecake for my family. Well, I have to admit that we were sad that we weren’t able to take some home with us to enjoy (we live several hours away from my parents so it would have been difficult to take home in a hot car).
When we returned home, we quickly went grocery shopping to replenish our refrigerator. It was empty. I thought that it would be nice to make our own family a cheesecake to enjoy. While I was browsing the produce section, I saw a bag of key limes and decided that a key lime cheesecake would be perfect for the hot summer days we were experiencing.
I only baked my cheesecake for 50 minutes and then had to rush to an appointment. So I left the door of the oven closed and returned back after 2 hours. The cheesecake was perfect, and it didn’t even require a water bath (hooray!). I chilled it in the refrigerator overnight and then made the key lime whipped cream the next day.
You will have leftover whipped cream, so feel free to halve the recipe below or just enjoy it with a spoon (or give yourself an extra dollop with each slice). I loved the slightly tart taste of the whipped cream on its own but really enjoyed it with the cheesecake.
The only way to make this even better is to pair the cheesecake with a nice fruity adult beverage! Right?
Key lime cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 and 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs about 14 crushed/pulsed graham cracker rectangles
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Filling
- 3 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup key lime juice can substitute with regular lime juice
- zest from 1-2 key limes
- 3 eggs
Key lime whipped cream
- 1 cup cold whipped cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- juice from 2 key limes
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together until it resembles wet sand. Transfer it to a 10" round springform pan and press the crumbs on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes or until set.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and corn starch together on medium speed until well blended. Add the key lime juice and zest. Add the eggs, one by one, until everything just comes together. Do not over mix or else your cheesecake may crack.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. The center may be slightly jiggly, and that's OK. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 1-2 hours.
- Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow to cool slightly before chilling completely in the refrigerator overnight.
- Finally, make the whipped cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat the cream and sugar on high speed until stiff peaks form. Add in the key lime juice and beat until blended. Do not over beat or else your cream may turn into butter.
- Pipe rosettes or spread the whipped cream on top of the cheesecake. Garnish with additional lime slices if desired.