Mom has been making this recipe for many, many years. It’s very, very rich and you only need a thin slice, but you’ll be back for more. It’s great for breakfast cold from the fridge. I’ve never made it with the original zwieback, but I think it’s still available in the baby food section of the store. I think it’s denser than New York Cheesecake.
Ingredients
- 24 slices (6oz.) zwieback, finely crushed (about 2 2/3 cups)
- or graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 2 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, softened
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 4 eggs (about 1 cup), slightly beaten
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream
Suburbia Today
Directions
Make sure the eggs and cream cheese are at room temperature.
Combine the crumbs, confectioners’ sugar and half of the lemon peel in a bowl; blend thoroughly. Using a fork, evenly blend in the butter or margarine.
Reserving 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture (optional, I don’t), turn remainder into a buttered 9-in, spring-form pan. Press crumbs very firmly into an even layer on bottom and sides of pan to the rim. At this point I like to pre-bake the crust in a 350°F oven for 12 – 15 minutes. This will make a crispier crust than the original recipe. Reduce the oven to 250°F.
Combine the cream cheese, sugar flour, remaining lemon peel, and extracts in a large bowl. Beat slowly until smooth. (Don’t beat for a long time or your cake will crack. It may anyway.)
Add the eggs and egg yolks in thirds, beat-thoroughly after each addition. Blend in the cream. Turn mixture into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle reserved crumb evenly over the top, if you reserved them. I don’t.
Bake at 250°F 2 hrs. Turn off oven. Let cake remain in oven about 1 hr. longer. Remove to cooling rack to cool completely in spring-form pan (4 to 6 hrs.).
Chill several hours or overnight before serving.
Notes
You may bake this in a water bath which will help prevent cracking. However, the crust doesn’t get as crunchy. It’s a trade off. My last one didn’t crack at all without the water bath.
Over beating the mixture may promote cracks.
One half the recipe will fill a 6″ springform pan very nicely. Which is what you see in the pictures of Mom’s 90th birthday. We celebrated just the two of us under 2020 Covid-19 Social Distancing rules.
Elizabeth
J’adore lemon cheese cake! I’ve never made it with zwieback either (in fact, I had to look up “zwieback” to find out what it is) – but always with crushed chocolate wafer crust and lemon juice instead of lemon extract. Your mom’s recipe is quite similar otherwise, except that I add a chocolate swirl as well. Just in case the cake isn’t already decadent enough….
What a wonderful photo of your mother! Happy birthday!