Full disclosure, I was fairly intimidated by the thought of making cheesecake.
The crust, the filling, the toppings. It was a dessert I’ve always enjoyed but never thought of making — until I came across this recipe.
The most time-consuming part is the 6 hours it takes to chill: 4 hours after you take the cheesecake out of the oven, then an additional 2 hours once you add the strawberry glaze.
Other than that, the crust requires only 2 ingredients and the filling will take less than 10 minutes to whip up.
The result? A light, creamy cheesecake with a sweet strawberry glaze that will test your temptation while it’s still cooking.
Prep time | 20 mins.
Bake time | 1 hr. 5 mins. (+ 6 hrs. chill time)
Yields | 12 slices
Source: RecipeTin Eats (with some adjustments)
INGREDIENTS
Crust
- 200g of graham crackers (any brand)
- 8 tbsp butter, melted
Filling
- 500g cream cheese, softened (leave out of fridge for 30 mins before mixing)
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 125g (1/2 cup) of sour cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 eggs, room temperature
Strawberry glaze
- 500g strawberries, half diced and half halved
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp cornstarch mixed in 2 tbsp water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 320°F.
- Prepare an 8″ springform cake pan. Butter the bottom and sides before cutting parchment paper and sticking it to the pan (to the bottom and sides).
- Place the graham crackers in a reusable bag and start breaking them up with your hands and against a hard surface. Then, add all broken cracker pieces to the food processor. Process until the crumbs are very small, like sand.
- Add butter to the cracker mix and blitz in the food processor (or stir by hand in a bowl) until the mix resembles wet sand.
- Add the crumbs to the cake pan, spreading it across the bottom and up the sides. I used the flat bottom of a measuring cup to flatten body and shape the edges against the sides. Make sure the crumbs reach about half way up the cake pan.
- Use a mixer or beater (if you don’t have either, use a fork) to mix the softened cream cheese. The softer the cream cheese is, the easier it will be to mix.
- Add flour to the cream cheese and mix until well combined. Then add the sour cream, vanilla extract, sugar and lemon zest. Mix until well combined.
- Beat in 1 egg at a time. Mix until well combined. Your filling should have a creamy consistency.
- Pour the filling into the crust until the filling is just below the top of the crust. Now here, we had some filling left over. Instead of throwing it away (we don’t like to waste food!), we actually made a smaller cheesecake in a square pan. If you have a cupcake pan, you can always make cheesecake cupcakes.
- Place the cake pan in the oven for 55 mins.
- When the cheesecake is ready, let it cool in the oven for 10 mins. with the door open. Just remember to turn off the oven.
- Then, remove the cake pan’s side, leaving the cake on the bottom part of the pan, and refrigerate for 4 hours.
- Just before you’re ready to take the cake out after 4 hours, start making the strawberry glaze. This takes about 10 mins.
- Dice half your strawberries and halve the other half of them.
- Add the diced strawberries, vanilla extract, water, cornstarch/water mix and sugar to a pan. Bring the pan to a simmer and and let it cook for 10 mins. The glaze should start to become gooey
- Just before you turn the burner off, add the halved strawberries for 1 min to soften them.
- Remove pan from the burner and let it cool for 5 mins. The glaze will thicken a bit more as it cools.
- Take out the cheesecake once it’s been 4 hours and, with a spoon, pour the strawberry glaze on top of the cake. Make sure the halved strawberries are face down for presentation (as shown in the photos above). If you don’t use all the glaze, you can add it to the slices you serve.
- Refrigerate the cake with strawberry toppings for 2 hours. Then, remove the cake from the fridge and serve. Add any additional strawberry glaze you have and enjoy!
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