Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

If you need encouragement to make this Lemon Meringue Cheesecake, consider this praise from the Southern Living Test Kitchen Professional who tested this recipe: "Every element tastes like it’s made with love, so zesty and sugary and pillowy and good."

That's high praise indeed, and it's the only excuse we need to make this decadent dessert, which is a cross between a silky, creamy cheesecake and a tart, pillowy lemon meringue pie. 

Learn how to make lemon meringue cheesecake, and discover your new favorite dessert.

What's in a Lemon Meringue Cheesecake?

The many layers of lemon meringue cheesecake require several ingredients, but these are all classic:

• Thick, silky lemon curd is rich, acidic, and subtly sweet.
• The meringue is pillowy, sugary, and soft.
• The cheesecake is bright, creamy.
• The crust is aromatic, buttery, and subtly lemony thanks to a brilliant ingredient: lemon cream-filled sandwich cookies (we mean Lemon Oreos). It’s wonderful to behold, and the drama of the layers and height is undeniable.

In short, we didn't shy away from lemon in this recipe. We used those lemon sandwich cookies in the crust. There's lemon zest and juice in the cheesecake filling, and there's lemon more lemon zest and juice in the lemon curd.

If you wanted, you could skip making the lemon curd and use store-bought curd, but we purposely designed this recipe to use egg whites in the meringue and the yolks in the curd so you won't have any waste.

Ingredients for Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Here are a few of the key ingredients you'll need from the grocery store. Exact measurements and the full list are further below:

• Cream-filled lemon sandwich cookies: To be sure there is lemon flavor in every bite, we made sure the cheesecake's cookie crust has lemon flavor. We tested with Oreo's lemon variety.
• Cream cheese: Essential for a cheesecake. Make sure you give the cream cheese plenty of time to soften. Mixing it when cold can prevent the ingredients from blending well and interfere with the texture of the final dish.
• Sour cream: Adds tang and helps make the cream cheese filling more rich and tangy.
• Eggs: Eggs are used in every layer except the crust. You'll use whole eggs in the cheesecake filling, egg yolks in the lemon curd, and egg whites in the meringue topping.
• Lemons: Zest and lemon juice are used, so make sure you grab a few extra in case you need them.
  

How To Make Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

This recipe takes a little bit of time, which is why it's a good make-ahead option—up to a point, which we discuss below.

• Make the crust: First, you'll make a crust out of almonds and lemon sandwich cookies. You could also use a graham cracker crust if you wanted; that's fairly traditional for this recipe. We just wanted more lemon flavor, which is why we went with the cookie crust.
• Make the cheesecake layer: The cheesecake filling itself is made super creamy by whipping on low. This won't allow much air to get in there. Sour cream adds richness, too.
• Make the lemon curd: The lemon curd provides the surprise swirl of flavor and tang. Again, you could use store-bought, but we think it's truly worth the work to make a homemade curd. Just know the ice bath is critical on the curd so you don’t overcook it. You want to stop the cooking quickly. If you bring it to 170°F as instructed in the recipe, that is the point just before the egg white will cook to solid.
• Make the meringue: The topping is a creamy, billowy-soft Swiss meringue. Warming the egg whites and sugar stabilizes the mixture and makes it less grainy and more creamy. It also makes the meringue more stable and prevents the sugar from weeping out of the meringue while it sits.
  

How To Make Cheesecake Ahead of Time

This Lemon Meringue Cheesecake is best when served immediately. But you can refrigerate overnight if needed. However, the meringue may become slightly weepy.

Instead, if you need to get a head start on this cheesecake, make all the layers up to the lemon curd, then pop it in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

When you're nearly ready to serve the cheesecake, make the meringue, spread it, and torch it just before serving.

Our Tips for the Best Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Follow the directions, and you'll have great success. Know these tips, and you'll have even better luck:

• We like the curd nestled between the cheesecake and meringue, but you could also swirl the curd into the cheesecake before baking if you want to save a step.
• If you do mix the curd into the cheesecake filling, you can toast the meringue in the oven. The curd won't hold up well in the oven if it's its own layer, but swirled into the cheesecake, it will be just fine.
• Pressing the crust up the sides of the pan adds some character and dimension to the cheesecake slices. It also helps contain the curd.
• Be careful not to walk away from the curd before it's cooking. If you combine your sugar and eggs too early, the sugar can cook the yolks. So it's important to combine and cook immediately.
• Again, it's important that no fat from the egg yolk end up in the meringue. If they do, the meringue won't fully whip to peak.
  

More Lemon Recipes

Love the flavor of this citrus fruit? You'll like these recipes, too:

• Lemon Pound Cake
• Lemon Lush
  
• No-Bake Lemon Icebox Pie
• Lemon Tiramisu
• Meyer Lemon Cheesecake Bars