National Whipped Cream Day

January 5 is not only my oldest son's birthday but it's also National Whipped Cream Day. So in honor of both Tyler and National Whipped Cream Day I made Luscious Lime Cheesecake. This cheesecake was amazing (if you like your desserts a little sour, which my son does)!

So here is the recipe and a picture...

Luscious Lime Cheesecake by Paula Deen

(Sorry about this picture. I will try and get a better one today)

1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons grated lime zest
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups heavy cream, whipped with 1/2 cup sugar (I used powdered sugar) until stiff. (IT HELPS IF YOU HAVE CHILLED YOUR BOWL AND BEATERS IN THE REFRIGERATOR . I usually chill mine for at least an hour)
Lime slices, for garnish (I forgot those)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Reserve 1/2 cup dry cake mix. In large bowl, combine remaining cake mix, 1 egg, and oil. Mix well (mixture will be crumbly). Press evenly in bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of greased 13 x 9-inch pan. In same bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in condensed milk until smooth. Add remaining eggs and reserved cake mix and beat 1 minute at medium speed. Stir in lime zest, lime juice, vanilla. Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until center is firm (mine took 50 minutes). Cool to room temperature. Chill thoroughly. Spread whipped cream over top. Cut into squares to serve. Garnish with lime slices. (I didn't spread the whipped cream over the entire cake because I was not sure it would hold up. I am going to spread it over today and see how it does.)

The crust on this cheesecake was amazing! And the fact that you do not have to use a Springform pan appealed to me too. This is a very easy recipe and you can substitute cool-whip for the whipped cream if you want to make it even easier.

This is the birthday boy licking the beater (after I made the homemade whipped topping). He loved his birthday meals and dessert!
One of our family traditions is that on your birthday you get to pick everything we eat that day. So for his 15th birthday Tyler picked Eggs for breakfast, fish sticks for lunch, and orange chicken with homemade egg rolls for dinner. He didn't get to pick dessert because I wanted to try this new recipe out (and I knew that he would love it). YES, the recipes for orange chicken and egg rolls are coming!

I had a lot of lime zest left over so I did a goggle search to find out what to do with it and this is what I found out.
Zest lime peels and allow the zest to dry at room temperature for several days. Place the dried lime zest in a small glass jar and keep it at room temperature in a cupboard. (Found this information on ehow.com).
I have the lime zest sitting out right now and I will let you know how it goes.