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This Lemon Meringue Cheesecake is a creamy lemon cheesecake that is tart and refreshing. Pile yours high with marshmallow fluff for an epic dessert!
My Lemon Meringue Cheesecake is a go-to crowd pleaser! Melt-in-your-mouth smooth and creamy, and perfectly tart, with just a hint of crunch from the graham cracker crust. I basically tried to see how much fresh lemon juice I could get in a cheesecake without breaking the cream cheese or making it too loose. To make it extra tangy, I folded in some sour cream!
It is perfect unadorned or even with a simple blueberry sauce, but the absolutely epic mound of meringue topping is overwhelming in the best way. The ideal balance of tart and sweet, this cheesecake joins other favorite lemon recipes like my perfect lemon bars, lemon olive oil cake and lemon coconut cupcakes!
Table of Contents
- Why this is the best lemon meringue cheesecake recipe:
- Professional Tips for Lemon Cheesecake:
- Ingredients
- Cheesecake Layer Variations
- How to bake cheesecake without cracks?
- How to Make Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
- Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Lemon Meringue Cheesecake Recipe
- Before You Go
Why this is the best lemon meringue cheesecake recipe:
- Unabashedly lemon. Lemon at her best: bright, tangy, and refreshing!
- Rich, New York style cheesecake texture. This cheesecake texture is everything. It is rich, thick and silky smooth just like a slice of perfect New York cheesecake. I tested and retested to add the perfect amount of lemon juice.
- Perfected by a professional pastry chef. Transparent step-by-step process with the perfect ratio of ingredients, by weight and by volume. Bake confidently for a smooth, crack-free cheesecake every time!
Professional Tips for Lemon Cheesecake:
- Use fresh lemon juice. Just as with my tart lemon curd and lemon posset, fresh lemon juice is essential because it is the dominant flavor. If you use store bought, if it looks dark in color, then it is no longer going to taste fresh.
- Make sure your cream cheese is cold. Unlike in my chocolate chip cheesecake or chocolate cheesecake, where room temperature ingredients are critical for perfect consistency, you want your cream cheese to be cold. Cold cream cheese helps keep the batter from curdling when you add the lemon juice.
- Allow the cake to cool and then refrigerate. Refrigerate the cheesecake after cooling completely to room temperature. This keeps the cake from cracking, improves its texture, and it also helps it release from the pan!
Ingredients
- Cream Cheese: I use original Philadelphia Cream Cheese for all my baked goods, including cheesecakes. For a dense, set cheesecake you need the texture of full fat brick-style cream cheese to help stabilize the rest of the ingredients.
- Granulated Sugar
- Whole Egg
- Egg Yolk: Egg yolks in a baked custard are also thickeners like the whole eggs but they add more fat than the whole egg without the added moisture from the whites. This makes a thick, rich cheesecake.
- Sour Cream: I use full fat sour cream because the fat helps stabilize the custard when there are acidic ingredients like lemon juice. You can substitute low fat sour cream, but the resulting cheesecake will not be as firm.
- Heavy Cream
- Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is the flavor in this lemon cheesecake with meringue, so aim for fresh. You can sometimes get fresh squeezed lemon juice in the freezer or refrigerator section! You can also flavor this cheesecake using my easy lemon curd!
- Graham Crackers: Once I learned that you could buy graham cracker crumbs, I put away my food processor and never looked back.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter for baking to control the amount of salt.
- Light Brown Sugar
- Kosher Salt
- Egg Whites: Freshly separated egg whites will produce a silkier, shinier, more stable marshmallow frosting. You can use pasteurized whites from a carton but the resulting meringue will be less stable, weep sooner, and the texture will be less satiny.
- Water
- Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar is just extra, cheap insurance for the meringue. You can omit it if you don’t have it on hand.
- Vanilla Extract: Add the vanilla extract after the meringue is at stiff peaks to preserve the flavor and allow the meringue to reach its full volume potential.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Cheesecake Layer Variations
- Marshmallow Topping: You could leave the topping off and still have a fantastic cheesecake or top it with a lemon curd whipped cream or a vanilla whipped cream instead. It is also delicious with my marshmallow fluff frosting recipe mounded on top.
- Lean into the lemon zest: You can use citrus peel for a delightful candied citrus peel topping or infuse your sugar with lemon zest like I do for my lemon blondies.
- Crust Swap: Feel free to use your favorite crust here. An oreo cookie crust would be delightful as would a lemon oreo or vanilla wafer crust!
- Different citrus: Why not mix it up, and try a lime meringue or orange meringue cheesecake? Be careful with oranges, as they’re generally sweeter, so you’ll need to adjust the sugar. For lime, start out with my Easy Key Lime Pie, to get acquainted. Or, you could go in a whole different direction and make a lemon meringue pie! I would use this mango meringue pie as inspiration (it’s one of the best!).
How to bake cheesecake without cracks?
The surest way to bake a cheesecake without cracks is to bake it in a water bath. This allows for a slow, even heating process, which keeps the custard from boiling. The eggs will set the custard without needing high heat. If you want to make a no-bake cheesecake, head over to my No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Bars instead!
How to Make Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below!
Prepare the crust:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) conventional. Wrap your cake pan in aluminum foil so that no water can enter.
Step 2: In a small saucepan melt the butter and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the melted butter has browned and smells nutty like hazelnuts.
Step 3: Combine all ingredients for the crust and mix well. Press into the bottom of the springform pan.
Though optional, I like to use cooking spray and line my springform pan with parchment paper as well.
Step 4: Bake in a preheated oven for 5 minutes. Cool completely.
Prepare the filling:
Step 5: In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and heavy cream.
Step 6: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with an electric hand mixer), beat the cream cheese until silky, creamy and smooth. Beat in vanilla extract.
Step 7: Add the sugar and beat until no granules are visible. It will begin to look shiny.
This step will take about 5 minutes. For the best texture, you don’t want to rush any of these steps.
Step 8: Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time and beat one minute after each addition. Add the sour cream mixture and beat to combine.
Step 9: Reduce mixer to low speed and slowly add the lemon juice. Increase mixer speed to incorporate well.
The mixture will be looser so be careful not to turn the speed up too high.
Step 10: Pour into the cooled crust. Place the pan in a large roasting dish and place in the preheated oven. Pour hot water into the pan approximately halfway up the sides of the pan.
Step 11: Bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until set but still wobbly. The top will puff a little and the whole cheesecake will move in one motion rather than like ripples of liquid.
Step 12: Allow to cool completely. Wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
Prepare your meringue frosting:
Step 13: Combine sugar and water in a sauce pot and boil over high heat. Scrape down the sides with a wet pastry brush, and clip on your candy thermometer.
Step 14: While the syrup boils, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a stand mixer using the whisk attachment until stiff peaks.
The most important thing to remember when making fluff is that you are in control! You control the speed of the mixer and the temperature of the stove under the sugar syrup. Adjust the temperature or speed as needed to allow the other component to catch up.
Step 15: Try to time the whites arriving at stiff peaks to the sugar syrup reaching soft ball stage (238-240°F).
Step 16: When the sugar syrup reaches soft ball stage, slowly pour the syrup into the whipping whites with the mixer on high speed.
Pour in one line down the side of the bowl and avoid hitting the whisk at all costs!
Step 17: Continue to beat until the meringue is stiff, shiny and cooled, about 7 minutes.
Assemble:
Step 18: Top your cooled cheesecake with frosting. If you like, torch using a kitchen torch or under the broiler.
If using a broiler, work quickly and move frequently to avoid burning or over-softening the cheesecake.
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
Sometimes I turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside with the door closed for 1 hour to cool gradually. Sudden temperature changes are one of the worst culprits when it comes to cheesecake cracking!
Frequently Asked Questions
The finished cheesecake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days before the meringue will begin to weep. It will weep sooner if it is untoasted. The cheesecake can be made in advance. It can be stored, well wrapped, for 7 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. Simply thaw, unwrapped in the refrigerator. Top with the meringue and serve!
The trick to making a cheesecake with acidic ingredients like lemon juice or passion fruit juice is to use cold cream cheese. Room temperature cream cheese breaks more easily and you could end up with a broken, soupy custard. Cold cream cheese yields a beautiful, sliceable cheesecake.
A cheesecake is done when it jiggles like Jello when shaken gently. The whole cheesecake should appear to move together when gently shaken. If the center still looks like ripples in a pond or doesn’t move with the sides, then it is not done.
She can stand on her own as the perfect dessert! This cheesecake would also be delightful with a simple blueberry sauce or my easy strawberry jam. You could lean into the lemon and serve it with a swoosh of lemon curd and fresh berries for a bright summer flavor, or with pomegranate arils for a tart winter dessert.
If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
Ingredients
Lemon Filling:
- 4 cups cream cheese cold
- 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 yolk
- ⅔ cups sour cream
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup lemon juice
Crust:
- 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 11 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
Marshmallow Fluff Frosting
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 3 egg whites
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) conventional. Wrap your cake pan in aluminum foil so that no water can enter.
- In a small saucepan melt the butter and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the melted butter has browned and smells nutty like hazelnuts.
- Combine all ingredients for the crust and mix well. Press into the bottom of the springform pan.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 5 minutes. Cool completely.
Prepare the filling:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and heavy cream.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with an electric hand mixer), beat the cream cheese until silky, creamy and smooth. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Add the sugar and beat until no granules are visible. It will begin to look shiny.
- Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time and beat one minute after each addition. Add the sour cream mixture and beat to combine.
- Reduce mixer to low speed and slowly add the lemon juice. Increase mixer speed to incorporate well.
- Pour into the cooled crust. Place the pan in a large roasting dish and place in the preheated oven. Pour hot water into the pan approximately halfway up the sides of the pan.
- Bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until set but still wobbly. The top will puff a little and the whole cheesecake will move in one motion rather than like ripples of liquid.
- Allow to cool completely. Wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
Prepare your meringue frosting:
- Combine sugar and water in a sauce pot and boil over high heat. Scrape down the sides with a wet pastry brush, and clip on your candy thermometer.
- While the syrup boils, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a stand mixer using the whisk attachment until stiff peaks.
- Try to time the whites arriving at stiff peaks to the sugar syrup reaching soft ball stage (238-240°F).
- When the sugar syrup reaches soft ball stage, slowly pour the syrup into the whipping whites with the mixer on high speed.
- Continue to beat until the meringue is stiff, shiny and cooled, about 7 minutes.
Assemble:
- Top your cooled cheesecake with frosting. If you like, torch using a kitchen torch or under the broiler.
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
Check out all our delicious, pastry chef-created Cake Recipes, or head straight to my favorite chocolate cheesecake recipe next!
