Violet's Lemon Cheesecake and Lemon Meringue Pie

unrelated photo from a spring walk in the woods yesterday :)

I'm not a huge fan of rich cheesecake, and I haven't made one for many years. The trouble is you think you'd like a slice of cheesecake, but if you make one you have to eat the whole thing. My mom used to make a wonderful cheesecake that was very light. My family never had "real" cheesecake (only this one), and we all thought this cheesecake was what they were supposed to be like. I remember distinctly having a slice of cherry cheesecake when I was at a party of a family friend, and it almost made me ill because it was so rich. I couldn't face any cheesecakes for a long time after that. Mom's recipe is a very light, and it isn't bake, so not a true cheesecake. The lemons and cottage cheese make it! I've renamed these desserts in honour of my mom who loved to bake them for her family.

Violet's Lemon Cheesecake

Crust *see note at bottom of this recipe

1/4 cup butter

1 1/4 cups Graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Melt butter in saucepan. Mix in crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Pack into bottom and sides of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Chill briefly before adding filling.

Filling

2 tbsp plain gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

2 lemons (juice & rind of each)

2 egg whites, beaten stiff

1 tsp salt (or less)

1/2 cup milk

1 lb. cottage cheese (Mom used the large curd cottage cheese, but the recipe calls for cream-style cottage cheese) 

2 tsp vanilla

Soften gelatin in cold water. Beat egg yolks in double boiler together with salt, milk and sugar. Cook until mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add to hot mixture lemon rind and gelatin. Stir until all is dissolved. Beat in cottage cheese, lemon juice, vanilla, egg whites and whipped cream. Pour cheese mixture on top of crumb shell. Let chill overnight. 

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*Note:  There were no ingredients listed for the crumb base, so I have copied ingredients from another cheesecake recipe. I just guessed on the amount of cinnamon, so be warned.

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My dad used to claim that Lemon Meringue Pie is the reason he came to live in Canada. I don't doubt it! He was very food motivated (and still is) ;)  Apparently Lemon Meringue Pie is a Canadian invention (as are Butter Tarts!).*see update below You can dispute me if you like, but that's what I've heard. I'm sticking with this claim because it ties in perfectly with my dad uprooting himself from the UK and travelling across the seas in a ship to live here in Canada for 60 years! The pie made him do it. Mom made this pie all the time ... for Dad. I think he loved the pie more than he loved Mom, but maybe that's going too far. He no longer remembers his wife, but he does remember pie :[  ha ha!

*update: I thought I'd better do a little research on my claim ... it seems a chef in Philadelphia, Elizabeth Coane Goodfellow, has been credited for a similar lemon pudding/pie way back in the early 1800s. Some claim she did invent lemon meringue pie, while others say she created a prototype to it.

Violet's Lemon Meringue Pie

Pie Filling

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/8 tsp salt

6 tbsp cornstarch

2  cups boiling water

grated rind of 1 lemon

1/4 cup butter (Mom told me she didn't add butter to hers)

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup lemon juice

Meringue Topping

3 egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon juice

6 tbsp sugar

Baked 9-inch pastry shell

In medium saucepan, mix sugar, salt and cornstarch. Add water and lemon rind. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly; simmer 10 minutes. Add butter, but do not stir. Mix egg yolks with lemon juice; gradually whisk into hot mixture. Pour into pastry shell and bake in 400'F oven for 10 minutes.

Beat egg whites till stiff peaks form. Add remaining ingredients. Pile meringue on top of baked filling, spreading to edges. Reduce heat to 350'F and bake for 18 minutes until lightly browned on top.

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I'm joining up with Jemma, Laura, Stacey and Laura for ...

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Thanks for hosting ladies!

Thanks for stopping by folks,

Wendy