Key Lime Cheesecake

Yup... Key Lime Cheesecake... made with REAL Key Limes! :o)  Not the juice you can find in the store, but cute, little limes.  See....

That is a handful of cute, little Key Limes!  :o)  They smell so wonderful!  Especially when you throw some of the rinds in the sink when you are finished with them!

Here is a cute, little Key Lime cut in half.... forgive me, I was playing with my camera :o)  And, no, I don't fancy myself another Pioneer Woman or Bakerella... I don't intend to make my blog a cooking/photo blog... this is just what I was doing yesterday.

See those limes up there?  See how they're all sqwozen?  Yup, I sqwoze thoze... I mean those.  By hand.  Seriously, have you ever sqwoze a key lime?  Its smaller than a KIWI!  And do you know how many of those little limes it takes to make 1/2 cup of lime juice?!?  I do... more than 20!  My hands were KILLING me!  LOL  :o)

Okay, so I was being 'artsy' again :o)  I totally wanted to lick the beater after this!  And because there were no eggs in it... I COULD!  (and I did!)  :o)

Oooh, ooh... artsy again! :o)  Check out my timed photo!! :o)  See how the beater looks all ethereal and hazy?  And the mixer is in focus?  Oh yeah, that was cool :o)  Hehe

Do I have a finished picture of this lovely creation?  Nope.  But I can eventually :o)  It won't be whole though, because last night, I couldn't be patient  :o)  I ate a piece of my cheesecake, and so did Rick.  It was YUMMY!  Tart, sweet, CREAMY!  It does need some whipped cream to balance the tart, so I'll be heading to the store today to buy some heavy whipping cream to make my own... it just calls for it!  :o)

Want to know how easy this was??

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Deirdre's Key Lime Cheesecake

Preheat oven 375 degrees...

CRUST

1/2 box Nilla wafers (demolished in food processor, or beaten within an inch of their lives with                                        a rolling pin)

1 cup sweetened flake coconut (about a cup anyway)

1 stick butter (melted)

~Mix it all together in a bowl, press into the bottom of a springform pan and up the sides.  Bake in oven for about 8 - 10 minutes.  Take out, let it wait for the yummy filling...

FILLING

4 bricks cream cheese (room temp)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup Key Lime juice (you totally don't have to squeeze them, they do sell it bottled, I'm just a                                            glutton for punishment!)

Lime zest (the amount is pretty much up to you, I only did a little, but I'd say between a                                   teaspoon and a tablespoon... the more you use, the more limey...)

                    NOTE:  I don't have a zester, so I just used the tiny, hard cheese part of my grater...                                     it worked for me :o)

~Beat the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together... well :o)  Start out slow, turn    it up high, beat the heck out of it :o)  With the beater on LOW, mix in the Key Lime juice.            Add in the lime zest, beat it some more.

~Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, lower the oven to 250 and bake for 50 more   minutes.  Turn off oven, leave the oven door open a crack and let cool for another hour or so.  Remove from oven, remove the outside of the pan, let cool to room temp.  Cover and chill in fridge for at least 4 hours (I didn't do this... I ate a slice right before I covered it to put in the fridge... YUMMY, but even yummier when you chill it!)