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Prize Winning Cheesecake with Strawberries

Cheesecake strawberries  

Prize Winning Cheesecake with Strawberries 

Download Prize Winning Cheesecake with Strawberries recipe

This is my favorite classic cheesecake recipes. It’s a combination of several favorite elements from a variety of sources. I love the buttery crunch of Lorna Doone cookies, but feel free to use the traditional graham crackers. I think the mascarpone cheese gives a softer texture to the cheesecake, but all cream cheese will work just fine.

For shortbread crust
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup finely ground Lorna Doone cookies

For cheesecake
2 pounds cream cheese
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
 ½ cup heavy cream

Make crust:
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes. Add flour and ground Trefoils to the mixture and blend for 3-4 seconds until fully incorporated. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake the crust at 350° F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the crust to cool completely. When cool, wrap the outside of pan with 2 large sheets of aluminum foil and set in a roasting pan.

Make cheesecake:
Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and smooth. Add the mascarpone cheese and sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping bowl. Blend in the vanilla, lemon zest and juice; add the heavy cream and mix just until incorporated. Pour mixture into the cooled crust.

Set the cheesecake pan into a roasting pan, and add enough water to the roasting pan to reach halfway up sides of the cheesecake pan. Place in a 325° F oven for approximately one hour or until the cake is set, but still a bit wobbly in the center and the top is golden brown. Turn off oven and prop open oven door slightly; allow cake to continue to cool in water bath for 45-60 minutes. Remove the cake from the roasting pan and place on a wire rack.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Sour Cream Topping:

1 pt. sour cream

1/3 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Blend until smooth. Pour over the cheesecake and return to 425 degree oven for 5 minutes until sour cream is set. Cool on rack for at least 2 hours.

 

To Serve:

Arrange whole fresh strawberries around edge of cheesecake and let cake stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Serve with Strawberry Topping.

 

Strawberry Topping

2 pounds fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-to 1/8-inch slices

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

Pinch table salt 

1 cup strawberry jam (about 11 ounces)

2 tablespoons lemon juice from 1 lemon

Instructions

 

1. Toss berries, sugar, and salt in medium bowl; let stand until berries have released juice and sugar has dissolved, about 30 minutes, tossing occasionally to combine.

 

2. Process jam in food processor until smooth, about 8 seconds; transfer to small saucepan. Bring jam to simmer over medium-high heat; simmer, stirring frequently, until dark and no longer frothy, about 3 minutes. Stir in lemon juice; pour warm liquid over strawberries and stir to combine. Let cool, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours or up to 12 hours. To serve, spoon a portion of topping over each slice of cheesecake.

Comments

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Sal Casley

Even just by looking at the picture, you'll be sure that it'll be the cheesecake that you won't regret eating. Back in to my childhood in Lakeland, my mother bakes a lot of cakes to sell at the neighborhood to help the family financially, and I am her taster. Also, there are times that she bakes cakes that are especially for me, as a reward for my accomplishments, especially when I soldiered through the extraction of my wisdom tooth by the dentist.

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