Key lime cheesecake pie is a spring or summer sensation! Nothing hits the spot and satisfies that sweet tooth quite like this delicious, creamy, zesty Key lime cheesecake.
So, if you’re looking for the perfect dessert for those warmer months of the year, look no further!
Why you’ll love this Key lime cheesecake recipe
- The combination of the delicious velvety filling and the zesty lime is a marriage made in heaven
- It wonderfully fresh yet very decadent, making it perfect for birthdays and other big celebrations
- It’s an easy, straightforward recipe that never fails to impress
Special equipment needed to make this recipe
Every cheesecake maker needs a few key kitchen items to hand:
- Food processor – blitzing up your buttery biscuit base is made easy by a good quality food processor. Alternatively, you can place the digestive biscuits or graham crackers in a food bag and bash them up with a rolling pin, but using a food processor is a lot quicker and easier
- 9 inch springform cheesecake pan – the best pan for making cheesecake, a springform pan makes it very easy to remove your cheesecake once it’s set
- Weighing scales – whether you’re Key lime cheesecake pie, getting your measurements right is crucial. So, invest in some good quality weighing scales
- Mixing bowls – this easy Key lime cheesecake requires a quality set of mixing bowls to mix up the creamy filling
- Stand mixer – the best way to whisk your cream cheese mixture is to use a quality electric mixer
- Spatula – a baker’s best friend! A rubber or silicone spatula is great stirring up your mixture as it brings that extra flexibility needed to mix and also scrape down the sides, getting every last bit of the cream cheese mixture
What to serve with Key lime cheesecake pie
On the side
These Key lime cheesecake is delicious with a little helping of whipped cream on the side. You can also serve sweetened whipped cream or stir in some vanilla extract for extra flavour.
Wine
The best kind of wine to serve with a slice of Key lime cheesecake is a crisp dry white – something like a Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Chablis or a Pinot Grigio.
Tea or coffee
A nice cuppa is the perfect accompaniment for this cheesecake pie. If you want to try something different from your regular tea, go for an iced rooibos tea with raspberries and mint.
Of course, it will also go wonderfully well with your favourite type of coffee.
Popular variations to this recipe
Here are a few ideas when it comes to adding ingredients for this Key lime cheesecake:
- For an extra luscious filling, add a can of sweetened condensed milk.
- Use heavy whipping cream in place of double cream
How To Make This Recipe
Crumble the biscuits and stir in melted butter. Press it against pie tin's sides.
Mix all the ingredients of the luscious filling. Place in biscuit casing and chill.
Decorate with lime zest and slices.
Top Tips
- Make sure you use full fat cream cheese for your creamy cheesecake filling. The reduced fat kind of cream cheese is not the best kind to use, as the filling won’t set properly
- When filling the springform pan with your biscuit crumbs, make sure you flatten the biscuit base down properly. You can use the bottom of a large glass or a tamper
- Removing air from the cheesecake filling is key. Get rid of those bubbles by dropping the tin onto your kitchen countertop at least five times 5–10 times from a height of a few inches
Sometimes known as Mexican limes or West Indies limes, key limes are smaller than normal limes and are slightly yellow. While there’s a tiny flavour difference between the two, they're pretty much interchangeable. So, of course, you can use normal limes for this recipe.
For best results, use fresh Key limes. However, these fruit aren't readily available across the world, so you can use standard fresh limes as well. Bottled Key lime juice can be used.
Any kind, as long as it’s full fat cream cheese. A spreadable cream cheese, something like Philadelphia cream cheese, is fine. Just don’t use a low fat version, as your cream cheese mixture will end up too thin and your cheesecake won’t set properly.
Most likely because you didn’t pack the biscuit crumbs down firmly enough. It’s important to get a properly condensed base, otherwise the biscuit crumbs won’t hold together.
It could also be that you didn’t use enough melted butter in the mixture or that you’re using the wrong sized cheesecake tin. Just make sure you follow the measurements and instructions and you’ll be fine!
I like to decorate this cheesecake with lime slices and a sprinkling of lime zest. However, feel free to get creative! Try crushed pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts or pistachios, or pipe some whipped cream on top.
This key lime cheesecake is large enough to serve around 8-12 people.
Place your cheesecake in an airtight container – either sliced into individual portions and placed into a small container, or left whole and placed in a cheesecake storage container. Then, store it in the fridge.
This key lime pie cheesecake will last for around 2-3 days in the fridge. Just make sure you store it in an airtight container.
No, you’ll need to keep it in the refrigerator. Dairy shouldn’t be kept at room temperature, so don’t leave your key lime cheesecake out of the fridge for more than two hours.
Yes, you can freeze key lime cheesecake. You can either freeze the whole key lime cheesecake or slice it into individual portions first, then place a slice of parchment paper between each slice.
Make sure you store it in a freezable airtight container.
Defrost in the fridge overnight when you’re ready to eat it. This way, you’ll lessen the impact on the texture and taste.
The problem is, the recipe is made to fit the size of the tin. So, it can’t be scaled; although, you could double the ingredients and make two cheesecakes.
Yes! Make this no-bake cheesecake recipe up to two days in advance. Any longer than two days and you risk the biscuit base becoming soggy and losing that all important crunch.
More cheesecake recipes
- No bake salted caramel cheesecake
- No bake dulce de leche cheesecake
- Strawberry cheesecake
- No bake lemon cheesecake
- No bake cherry cheesecake
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 cups digestive biscuits or graham crackers
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup sugar
Cheesecake filling
- 2 cups cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- ¼ cup lime juice roughly 2 limes
- 2 limes zested
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- ⅔ cup heavy cream double cream
Decoration
- 1 lime
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 lime zest only
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Prepare your 9 inch/23cm pie dish, I used a loose bottom tin to be able to show it off a little but feel free to use any 9in/23cm pie dish you want.
- For the Pie Crust: Crush your biscuits. I used my food processor but you can just use a rolling pin, and then mix through the butter and the sugar.
- Tip the biscuits into your pie dish. Use the base of a glass to compact and push the biscuit crumbs evenly on the base and up the sides. Once evenly compacted, line the base with parchment paper that has been crumpled up and then straighten out again as this allows you to get it into all the corners. Fill with baking beans or rice and then transfer to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside and allow to cool.
- For the Cheesecake filling: In a mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. I used a KitchenAid.
- Sieve in your powdered sugar and whisk together until smooth.
- Add the lime juice, zest and vanilla paste and continue to whisk.
- Once all is combined pour in the heavy cream and whisk on high until the mixture thickens.
- Tip the mixture onto the pie base and even out with the back of a spoon. I lifted the spoon up and down on the surface of the cheesecake to create a textured look but if you’d like a smoother look feel free to just smoothen it out.
- Transfer to the fridge for 4 hours or even longer if you wish.
- To decorate: Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
- Cut a lime into 7 slices and then discard the outside slices. Place the slices on a baking tray and sprinkle over the sugar and then place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until browned on top. This may take longer depending on your oven. Alternatively, you can use a blowtorch to speed up the process a little. Let the lime slices cool down completely.
- Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and decorate with the lime slices and a sprinkling of lime zest.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!
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