Cheesecake

My mom makes an absolutely delicious cheesecake, which I decided to make last night. She typically tops it with a can of strawberry topping, but I wanted to try something a little more natural, since my goal was to make it all organic. I was just going to puree and heat some strawberries I had picked and frozen, but found Luverene's recipe and decided to try her strawberry sauce instead.

I merged the recipes, slightly modifying mom's cheesecake recipe and added Luverene's strawberry sauce, and the end result was delicious!

Pablo and I just had a slice for breakfast with some coffee. YUM!

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
[You can also use Speculaas or Pepernoten, no sugar and cinnamon)

Topping:
2 cups strawberry
1 tbsp cornstarch
[I didn't add this, but if you want a sweeter topping add 1/4-1/2 cup sugar]

Filling:
2 8oz packs of cream cheese (room temp)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:
1. Crust:
If you're graham crackers or Speculaas or still whole, blend them in the food processor to create crumbs. Mix in a bowl with other crust ingredients and press onto the bottom of a springform pan (9 inch is recommended). Store in fridge until ready to be used. If you want a cheesecake with a crust that covers the sides, double your ingredients and press crust onto the bottome and side of the pan.
Note: You probably won't be able to create perfectly linear side-crust, but that is okay because you can cut it away after the cheesecake has cooled.

2. Topping:
Puree strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Put all topping ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Separate 1/3 cup. Store remainder in the fridge.
Tip: If you want a few chunks for the topping, save those in a small bowl. After removing 1/3 cup, add the chunks to the remainder and store in the fridge. You want the 1/3 cup to be smooth, because you will be mixing it into the cheesecake batter.

3. Filling:
Make sure your cream cheese is at room temp or warmer so it is easier to blend. Cold cream cheese will stay clumpy and be impossible to get smooth.
Mix cream cheese, eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a blender or with a mixer until smooth.
Add the whipping cream and mix briefly!
Pour 2 cups over the crust. Drop half of strawberry sauce in 1/2 teaspoons onto cream cheese layer. Gently spoon remaining filling over sauce. Drop remaining strawberry sauce in 1/2 teaspoons on top. Use a knife to gently swirl the strawberry sauce.
Bake at 300 degrees for 45 min or until center is almost set.
*Tip: avoid opening the oven. If you can't see into your oven without opening it, bake for 40 min, then check on it. If it looks good, move on to the next step.
Turn off the oven and crack it open. Let the cheesecake cool there for ~30 min.
Remove from oven, carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen and cool 30 min. Refrigerate overnight (or at least a few hours if possible).
When ready to serve, remove side of pan. Serve with strawberry sauce (can be thinned with some water).

Have for dessert, breakfast, brunch or as a yummy snack!



09/17/10: I just made this cheesecake but used raspberries instead of strawberries. Follow the same directions, but add sugar to the raspberry sauce depending on the tartness of the raspberries. Delicious!