Prepare a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, and preheat an oven to 200c (400f).
In a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese, kosher salt, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, and mix with an electric hand mixer until the cream cheese is creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, and mix until combined. Don't overmix.
Add the heavy cream and sift in the flour. Mix until combined and there are no lumps of flour.
Pour the cheesecake batter into the parchment paper-lined baking pan and release air bubbles by tapping the pan onto a flat surface.
Bake the cheesecake in a 200c (400f) preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake is burnt and there is a slight jiggle to the cheesecake.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature. Remove the cake from the pan and serve either at room temperature or cool from the fridge!
Notes
Make sure that you are using room-temperature cream cheese in this recipe, this step makes it easier to mix the cream cheese with no unnecessary lumps, we don’t want that.Use a springform tin. We use springform tins for all of our cheesecake recipes. This makes sure that your cake will be easy to release from the pan.Use high-fat cream cheese or the well-known Philadelphia cream cheese. Using full-fat cream cheese ensures you that your cheesecake will be stable and will not crack.Let your cheesecake cool in the fridge for at least 5 hours. We know it’s very hard to resist eating this delicious cheesecake right away, but you have to let the cheesecake cool and set in the pan. We like to let the cheesecake sit in the fridge overnight.For a smooth and creamy cheesecake, make sure that you are using room-temperature ingredients. Before you begin to make this cheesecake, make sure that your cream cheese is completely soft, and that your eggs are at room temperature.Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to ensure that you have a homogeneous mixture that has no cream cheese lumps.Don't open the oven door before the cake is fully baked or about to be baked! Drastic changes in the temperature of the cake while baking can cause the cake to collapse or to crack.