Saturday, July 2, 2011

Strawberry Cheesecake

For Father's Day I got a request from my Dad for a cheesecake. He always makes me laugh because he asks me "I want you to make me a good cheesecake." Of course it is going to be good--why wouldn't I give you something that tastes great? That's my Dad...

So I did some research on different recipes to see what common ingredients were used in each. I also read through the comments that other foodies posted about these recipes they made. After all that, I finally picked the cheesecake I wanted to try. It looked beautiful with a technique I have always wanted to try, the ingredients were easy and it had strawberries in it which my dad wanted. The only thing I would do differently next time I make this is not to make so much strawberry sauce--I would make a 1/3 of it. I only used the strawberry sauce on the top of the cheesecake and that was plenty. This recipe came out great though and it is definitely a keeper!


Strawberry Cheesecake
Serves 12 (I made 2 cheesecakes with this 1 recipe)
Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons white sugar -- my addition
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon water

Directions: Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom of an ungreased 9-in. springform pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. In a blender or food processor, combine strawberries and cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons white sugar; cover and process until smooth. Pour into a saucepan; bring to a boil. Boil and stir for 2 minutes. Set aside 1/3 cup strawberry sauce; cool. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce for serving. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in milk. Add lemon juice; mix well. Add eggs, beat on low just until combined. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture over crust. Drop half of the reserved strawberry mixture by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto cream cheese layer. Carefully spoon remaining cream cheese mixture over sauce. Drop remaining strawberry sauce by 1/2 teaspoonfuls on top. With a knife, cut through top layer only to swirl strawberry sauce. Bake at 300 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove side of pan. Thin chilled strawberry sauce with water if desired; serve with cheesecake. Store in the refrigerator.

Graham cracker crumb mixture pressed into bottom of one of my cheesecakes.
Strawberries, cornstarch and sugar after boiling.
Cream cheese mixture. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature to avoid lumps.
Cheesecake mixture goes into prepared pan.
Decorated and ready to go into the oven.

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