America's Test Kitchen

Although some would never dare to adulterate plain cheesecake, variations abound - some good, some bad, some ugly. Lemon is the one version that serves a function by cutting through the cloying nature of this rich dessert. We discovered a host of different lemon cheesecake styles, but most of the lemon flavor was either too fleeting or too harsh. We wanted our cheesecake to be both light and creamy, with great lemon flavor.