Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, ground

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

2 pounds creamcheese, room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

5 large egg yolks

3 large eggs

1 table spoon vanilla extract

1 table spoon lemon zest, finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream, room temperature

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375 degree. To make crust: Stir crumbs, ground nuts and sugar with a whisk together, then pour the melted butter over and combine well. Press the crumbs onto a pan both bottom and sides. Bake 10 mins. or until deep golden brown. Let it cool on a rack while you make the filling. Meanwhile boil the water in 2-quart size pan. To make filling: Reduce heat the oven to 325 degree. In a large mixing bowl, cream creamcheese and unsalted butter together until well blend. Gradually add sugar and beat until the color turned light and pale. Add the eggs and yolks in 3 stages, each stage scrape down the bowl to get an equal mixxing result. And stir in vanilla and heavy cream slowly until the mixture is smooth. Pour it into the cooled crust pan. Tap the bottom of the pan a little to get rid of any bubbles. Put the pan on a bigger pan or a baking sheet, then put them in the oven and add the boiling water. Bake 1 hour or all the edge look firm and golden brown, yet the middle of the pan still jiggling. Turn of the oven and let it set in the oven for another hour. Then cool it on a rack to the room temperature. Then wrap the pan with plastic wrap and freeze it over night or keep it until the day of your party.

To unmold the cake: Take the pan from your freezer (of course), unwrap the plastic and warm it in hot water bath for 15 second or put a pan over the heated stove quickly for 5-10 second. Turn the pan over and knock it on a large flat surface. Once the cake come out put a serving plate over the bottom of the cake (which now should be on top) then turn it up side down to the right side up. If you wanna pre cut the cake, it’s time to do it now. Let the cake thaw in the fridge for 4 hours or at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.