- 1/2 cup hot water
- 6 Bigelow® Lemon Lift™ tea bags
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 1 (8 ounce) package low fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar plus
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest plus
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 8 x 8 inch baking pan (glass or metal)
- For crust:
- 1 (11 ounce) package chocolate wafer cookies
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- Combine hot water and tea bags and steep for 5 minutes. Thoroughly squeeze the tea bags and remove. Allow tea to cool completely.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Meanwhile, prepare the crust. Place wafers into a large ziplock bag and crush into crumbs (alternatively, put them in a food processor fitted with the metal blade to crush). Place in a bowl with melted butter and use a fork to combine. Press firmly into the bottom of the baking pan in an even layer.
- Using an electric mixer beat the whipping cream to medium peaks. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth. Add egg and beat to incorporate. Add 1/4 cup of the tea and the zest and beat until combined. Please note this is only half of the prepared tea. Remainder can be discarded.
- Fold in the whipped cream and pour entire mixture over the chocolate wafer crust.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until set, golden brown, and slightly firm to the touch. The sides will begin to come away from the sides for the pan. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
- Remove from pan by inverting onto a cutting board, then inverting again to another board so the cheesecake is on top.
- Make topping by mixing the remaining 2 tablespoons of zest with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the cheesecake and cut into 16 squares.