Strawberry Cheesecake

I love cheesecake.  It's one of those decadent treats that you only make on a special occasion.  Or should only make on a special occasion.  Our special occasion was we had strawberries that needed to be used.  When I asked Andrew what I should make with the strawberries, he chose strawberry cheesecake.  So cheesecake it was.  I don't need much convincing to make cheesecake!  This recipe from bakerella was pretty good taste wise.  I thought the consistency was just a tiny bit grainy but I didn't let it sit overnight in the refrigerator like you're supposed to, so I'm sure that had something to do with it.

You can top it with this strawberry sauce (which, by the way, was amazing), chocolate sauce, caramel (oooh my that would be good..), whipped cream, or pretty much anything you like.  bakerella made some amazing white chocolate decorations for the top of hers that I would like to try at some point.

 

Strawberry Sauce

from all recipes

Ingredients

1 container of strawberries, hulled

1/3 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1.   Half about 1/3 of the strawberries and set aside.

2.  Quarter the other 2/3rd of the strawberries and combine with sugar and vanilla in a saucepan.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries break down.

3.   Puree the cooked strawberries in a food processor.  Mix in the fresh strawberries.  Cool and use.

Cheesecake

adapted from bakerella

Ingredients
2 & 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 (8oz.) packages cream cheese
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp flour
5 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions
1.  Preheat over to 325 degrees.
2.  Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar with melted butter.  Stir until moistened and pour into a 9-inch springform pan (the kind with 3 inch walls work the best).  Press the crumbs evenly onto the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides.  I find that the flat bottom of a glass works well for this.  Bake for about 10 minutes, remove, and cool to room temperature.
3.  For the filling, cream the sugar, cream cheese, and flour together in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla until combined.  Pour mixture on top of the cool crust and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes (still at 325 degrees).*
4.  When you pull it out of the oven, the center will still look a little wobbly and that's okay.  It will continue to cook in the pan to just the right doneness.  Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
5.  Once cool, run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cheesecake.  Chill in the refrigerator over night for best consistency.
6.  Decorate to your hearts content!

*There are many tricks to keeping the cheesecake from splitting down the middle.  I've yet to find something that works 100% of the time but the best method I've found is to place a casserole dish (like a 9x13) with about half an inch of water underneath your cheesecake pan in the oven while cooking.