Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Thoroughly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch-square metal cake pan or other 10-cup, square-cornered pan. (Do not use a spring-form pan or the cheesecake may leak, spelling disaster for the cake and the cook!) Pour in the graham cracker crumbs.
Tip pan in all directions to coat well with crumbs.
Turn pan upside down and tap lightly to release excess crumbs.
Set aside.
Using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, whip together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Pour in lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon rind.
Mix approximately 1 minute longer.
Finally, stir in the cream.
Mixture will be quite loose.
Slowly pour cheesecake mixture into the crumb-lined pan.
Set in a much larger, shallow baking pan and place in preheated oven.
Fill large baking pan with 3/4 to 1/2 inch of hot water.
Close oven door and bake cheesecake approximately 1 1/2 hours, until pie is firm in the center and nicely browned on top.
Remove cheesecake from the oven and set it aside on a wire rack to cool.
When cool, refrigerate until well chilled, several hours or overnight.