Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350° with a rack in the center. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until they become fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and sugar and pulse until combined, the mixture will look like wet sand.

Prepare a 9” spring-form pan by coating with cooking spray and then lining with parchment paper. Cut a 9” circle for the bottom of the pan, and then make a parchment paper collar for the sides, allowing the collar to extend 2” beyond the edge of the pan.

Next, place the pan on top of several (4 or more) layers of heavy duty aluminum foil and crimp the foil up around the bottom and sides of the pan to build a protective seal. Now you can press the graham cracker into the pan - there is enough crust to press an even layer on the bottom with some crust extending up the sides about ½ an inch or so, or, you can opt to create a thicker single layer bottom crust with no crust on the sides. Blind bake the crust for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325°. To make the cheesecake filling, start by whisking your egg whites to soft peaks in a stand or hand mixer. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients until creamy (cream cheese, egg yolks, condensed milk, sugar, lime juice, 1 tablespoon zest, vanilla extract). Gently fold the egg whites, a scoop at a time, into the cream cheese mixture.

Fill a large roasting pan with high sides (large enough to fit your springform pan) with about 1 inch of water. Place the unfilled springform pan in the water bath and then carefully move it to the centered oven rack. Carefully pour the cheesecake filling into the springform pan, while it is in the oven. You can extend the rack out a little bit to make this easier. The filling should come right up to the edge of the pan, but not up to the edge of the parchment collar. Gently push the rack back into the oven and bake for 1 hour.

The cheesecake will puff up into the parchment collar while it bakes. Once the cheesecake is lightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean, it is done. Leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar (you can use a wooden spoon to keep the door open) for at least 30 minutes. Allow the cheesecake to slowly cool down to avoid sinking.

Once cool, the cheesecake can be refrigerated. To serve, the parchment can be easily peeled off, and you can top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar (use a sifter for an even layer) and the remaining teaspoon of lime zest. Keep the cheesecake refrigerated when not serving.