Description

An animal cracker cookie crust? Yep. Then it is topped with a creamy, rich tart lemon curd. But don't be in a hurry to make and serve this wonderful, heavenly dessert. All good things take time and this one certainly does. So be sure to make it well in ad

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 5 oz. animal crackers
• 3 T. sugar
• 4 T. unsalted butter, melted and kept warm
• Filling:
• 1¼ c. sugar
• 1 T. grated zest
• ¼ c. freshly squeezed juice from 1-2 lemons
• 3 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch chunks, at room temperature
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• ¼ t. salt
• ½ c. heavy cream
• Lemon Curd:
• ⅓ c. freshly squeezed juice from about 2 lemons
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
• ½ c. sugar
• 2 T. cold butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 T. heavy cream
• ¼ t. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Steps

1. Place the oven rack in the lower half of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Place the animal crackers in a food processor; pulse until they're fine crumbs. Add in sugar; pulse. Add butter in a steady stream; continue to pulse until mixture starts to come together, about 10 one second pulses.
3. Transfer the crumb mixture to a 9-inch springform pan; press evenly into the bottom. Bake until it's golden brown, about 13-15 minutes. Remove from the oven; cool. When cool, wrap the pan with two 18 inch pieces of foil. Set in a roasting pan; set aside.