Recipe: Key Lime Cheesecake with Strawberry-Butter Sauce

KEY LIME CHEESECAKE WITH STRAWBERRY-BUTTER SAUCE

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs, separated
1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime rind
1/2 cup Key lime juice
Strawberry-Butter Sauce (recipe follows)

Combine first 3 ingredients, and firmly press mixture onto bottom and 1-inch up sides of a buttered 9-inch springform pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes; cool.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in sour cream, rind, and juice; set aside.

Beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form; fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour batter into crust.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 5 minutes; turn oven off. Partially open oven door; let cheesecake cool in oven 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and immediately run a knife around sides of cheesecake to loosen. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack; cover and refrigerate 8 hours.

Serve with Strawberry-Butter Sauce.

STRAWBERRY-BUTTER SAUCE
Makes 1 cup

1 1/4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime rind

Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add strawberries. Process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Servings: 10
Source: Southern Living Magazine