Experience the perfect summer treat with this key lime cheesecake. Made with a scrumptious graham cracker crust and topped with lime zest whipped cream, this creamy but juicy dessert is a refreshing delight! Each bite is the perfect combination of tart and sweet. Once you get the hang of making cheesecake from scratch, you won’t want it any other way. Looking for more ways to impress friends and family at your next get-together? Try making lemon cheesecake or Bailey’s cheesecake!
Key Lime Cheesecake Recipe
Key lime is the quintessential summer dessert flavor. I have quite a few key lime desserts already on the blog (no-bake key lime cheesecake and key lime cake are great!) but I thought that a classic cheesecake recipe needed to be added to the list. Key lime cheesecake is creamy, sweet, just a little bit tart, and everything that a summer dessert should be. The light and fluffy cheesecake filling sits on top of a buttery graham cracker crust. It’s then finished off with a homemade whipped topping, lime zest for some extra citrus flavor, and key lime slices for a picture-perfect presentation! If you want to bring a show-stopping dessert to your next potluck, this key lime cheesecake is the way to go. With how creamy, flavorful, and indulgent it is, everyone will want a slice!
Ingredients for Key Lime Cheesecake
This is everything you will need to create a bakery-worthy key lime cheesecake. Trust me, you’ll think the grocery trip is worth it once you try a bite of this creamy, tangy heaven. Looking for measurements? They can all be found below in the recipe card.
Crust
Graham Cracker Crumbs: Crushed graham crackers give the crust nutty flavor and delicious texture! Granulated Sugar: To add a touch of sweetness to the crust. Unsalted Butter: Adds a tasty richness to the crust. Butter also helps to hold everything together. Since we’re adding salt separately, I used unsalted butter here. Salt: You only need a pinch to make the crust even more delicious.
Cheesecake
Cream Cheese: It’s best if your cream cheese is at room temperature. This way, it mixes together smoothly with the other filling ingredients. Also, full fat cream cheese is the way to go. It will make your cheesecake nice and rich. Granulated Sugar: To balance out the tartness of the key lime juice and zest. Sour Cream: I know it seems out of place, but sour cream helps to make the cheesecake so soft and dreamy! Key Lime Juice: Freshly squeezed is best. Save the rind for some zest! Large Eggs: Give the cheesecake structure. Vanilla Extract: Adds warm, sweet flavor to the mixture. Key Lime Zest: A great way to add an extra pop of key lime flavor.
Topping
Heavy Whipping Cream: To whip up into light, fluffy goodness. Powdered Sugar: Helps to sweeten and stabilize the whipped topping. Key Lime Zest: Because you can’t go wrong with more lime flavor! Key Lime Slices: For that bakery-worthy finishing touch.
Let’s Get Cooking!
Making homemade key lime cheesecake isn’t as difficult as it seems. I know this is a lot to read, but I’ve included a lot of tips and tricks on how to get your cheesecake to turn out perfectly. Patience and attention to detail is key (or should I say, key lime) here!
Crust
Cheesecake Filling
Baking
Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Using room temperature ingredients will help you achieve a silky smooth key lime cheesecake batter. I usually get the cream cheese, sour cream and eggs out of the fridge a couple hours before I’m ready to start baking to ensure they have enough time to soften. Scrape Sides: Scrape down the bowl several times between each step. Doing this will prevent thicker batter from sticking to the sides and bottom of the bowl, only to end up making your batter lumpy. Wrap With Aluminum Foil: Heavy-duty 18-inch aluminum foil is one of the secrets to making cheesecake that not only bakes evenly in a waterbath, but prevents ANY water from getting in and making the crust soggy. I’ve tried with 2-3 layers of foil, but have found that this can still sometimes leak. Best to go with 4 layers of the foil, making sure it is a big enough piece to go ALL the way up each side of the pan. Cool in the Oven: Letting the key lime cheesecake cool in the oven as the oven cools will prevent it from cracking. You don’t want to poke it or stick a thermometer in it either! That will greatly increase the risk of the cheesecake cracking as it cools down. Use Regular Limes: If you can’t find key limes, they can be substituted for regular limes, although the flavor will be slightly different than actual Key limes. Use Bottled Key Lime Juice: Since juicing key limes is time consuming and takes a lot of limes, you can use bottled key lime juice if desired.
Yes! Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap then place in a large freezer bag. It will keep for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge when you’re ready to enjoy it. The texture may change slightly, but it will still be delicious!
Key Lime Tart
Key Lime Poke Cake
No-Bake Key Lime Pie
Key Lime Pie Bars
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
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