Lemon Cream Cheese Pie
Why I Love This Recipe
A great double-layered pie for summer with lemon topping covering a creamy cheesecake filling. Make the crust from scratch like the pros, or take the easy route with a pre-made graham cracker crust found in the baking aisle. Either way it's pie heaven. I prefer an un-baked pie crust for my pie.
Ingredients You'll Need
1 9-inch pie crust, unbaked
CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 plus 1/8 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
LEMON FILLING:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
dash and a half of salt
1 1/2 cups water
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
zest from lemon
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Press the crust into an 9-inch pie pan. Place in refrigerator until filling is completed.
Prepare the cream cheese filling by mixing cream cheese with sugar, vanilla and eggs using an electric mixer. Mix well until smooth. Pour cream cheese filling into graham cracker crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is cooked. A knife stuck in the middle of the filling should come out mostly clean.
As the pie cools, make the lemon filling by combining the sugar with cornstarch, salt and water in a small saucepan. Set mixture over low heat and bring to a simmer, stirring often.
Whisk in egg yolks, then add lemon juice and butter. Add zest to mixture. When mixture simmers again remove it immediately from the heat.
Pour the lemon filling over the cream cheese filling, and let the pie cool. When cool, chill pie in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight before serving. Slice into 6 pieces to serve restaurant-size portions.
Yield: 6 servings