Strawberry Cheesecake – Recipe Girl®
This Strawberry Cheesecake recipe turns out an impressive cheesecake with a creamy, rich filling and a delicious fresh strawberry topping. The cheesecake starts with a buttery graham cracker crust and a silky, smooth filling. The strawberry topping is quick to make, and it creates a stunning visual for the perfect strawberry dessert.
If you are a lover of strawberry cheesecake, you might also like to try my recipes for strawberry coconut cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake cake and strawberry cheesecake bars.
Completely made from scratch, this cheesecake is a classic dessert. Making a cheesecake is not all that difficult, but it’s easiest if you start the process the day before you want to serve it. Then it can chill in the refrigerator overnight, and you can add the topping the following day. Strawberry cheesecake is really not a fancy dessert, but it sure looks like it!
Ingredients Needed:
- Graham Cracker Crumbs: You can either buy these as crumbs already in the box (should be in your market’s baking aisle). Or you can buy graham crackers and use your food processor to process them into crumbs.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter since you’ll be adding salt.
- Cream Cheese: Use full fat, block cream cheese. Don’t try to lighten it up. It won’t be the same.
- Eggs: Use large eggs.
- Sour Cream: Use full fat sour cream.
- Cornstarch: This is used to help thicken the strawberry topping.
- Strawberry Jelly: I recommend using jelly so it’s nice and smooth. Jam tends to have chunks of strawberry.
- Orange Liqueur: Use Cointreau or Grand Marnier.
- Strawberries: Use fresh strawberries, not frozen.
- The Basics: All purpose flour, white sugar, salt and vanilla extract
How to make Strawberry Cheesecake:
The complete, printable recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post. Here’s a brief overview.
- Preheat the oven. Spray a 10-inch springform pan with nonstick spray.
- Combine the crust ingredients. Press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake, and let cool.
- Combine the filling ingredients. Pour the filling into the pan. Bake in a water bath (see recipe instructions). Let the cheesecake cool before transferring to the refrigerator.
- Before serving, prepare the topping. Remove the side of the springform pan before adding the topping.
Recipe Tips:
- Make sure you use room temperature dairy and eggs. Room temperature cream cheese helps to avoid lumps in the filling. Room temperature eggs assist with all ingredients being incorporated better. Sour cream does not really have to be room temp but you might as well pull it out with the rest of your ingredients.
- Greek yogurt may be substituted for sour cream.
- Make sure the strawberries that you are using are nice and sweet and flavorful!
- If you don’t want to deal with turning on the oven, you can make my no bake cheesecake recipe and just add the strawberry topping.
How to bake a cheesecake in a water bath:
This recipe calls for baking the cheesecake in a water bath. It’s not totally necessary, but it’s a nice way to avoid cracks (if you care about that sort of thing).
Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with heavy duty foil so that it comes up the sides of the pan. Place the wrapped pan into a roasting pan that has been filled with a couple of inches of boiling water. Transfer the pan with the cheesecake inside of it to the oven, and bake.
How to tell if a cheesecake is done:
Slightly shake the pan. If the sides are set and the middle jiggles slightly, it’s done! If the filling is too jiggly all over, it needs more time. No jiggles at all means that it has probably been over-baked.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe:
- It’s easy to make, yet it turns out a completely beautiful cheesecake.
- It’s a great recipe to use up sweet strawberries.
- If you love a rich and creamy, classic cheesecake with a simple topping, this is the cheesecake for you.
PREPARE THE CRUST:
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In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press ⅔ of the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Use the remaining mixture to press halfway up the sides of the pan. Use a straight-sided glass to press the mixture to an even thickness. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the crust from the oven and let it cool.
PREPARE THE FILLING:
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Preheat the oven to 325 ℉. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy (a full three minutes of mixing). Mix in the sugar, and then mix in the eggs. Then mix in the sour cream, flour, vanilla and salt. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with heavy duty foil so that it comes up the sides of the pan. Place the wrapped pan into a roasting pan that has been filled with a couple of inches of boiling water. Transfer the pan with the cheesecake inside of it to the oven.
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Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the edges of the cheesecake are set. The center will still be a little jiggly. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake stay in the oven for 40 more minutes. Then open the oven door slightly and let the cheesecake sit for 1 more hour. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath, get rid of the foil and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight.
PREPARE THE GLAZE:
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Several hours before serving (or the night before). In a small saucepan, whisk together the water and cornstarch. Whisk in the jelly and cook over medium heat until the jelly has melted. The glaze should be slightly more thickened. Stir in the liqueur, and let cool to room temperature. Or refrigerate until ready to serve.
READY TO SERVE:
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Loosen and remove the sides of the springform pan. Pile the strawberries evenly spread on top of the cheesecake. Spoon the glaze over the strawberries, allowing some to drip down the side of the cheesecake.
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