Strawberry Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of my all-time favorite foods. One of my favorite variations is strawberry, so obviously, this is what I decided to make for our last cookout! I made a brown sugar-graham cracker crust and topped it with Chantilly cream and fresh strawberries. It was a hit! 🍓🍰💕

Strawberry Cheesecake

1. The first thing we are going to do is make sure our cream cheese is out of the fridge to soften. Then preheat your oven to 300℉. To make this recipe, you’ll need a 9-inch pan. You can either use a springform pan or just a high sided cake pan. You will need a larger pan to hold your cake pan because cheesecake should be baked in a water bath to prevent the sides from cooking too quickly.

2. Mix up your graham cracker crust. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, melted butter, and salt and then press it into the bottom of your cake pan. I like to use a flat bottomed measuring cup to pack it down. Then place it in the oven for about 10 minutes.

3. Put your cream cheese into the bowl of your stand mixer and use the beater attachment. On medium-high speed, beat your cream cheese until it is very smooth! Be sure to scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl periodically.

4. Once the cream cheese is soft and smooth, add in the sugar and flour, and beat on medium speed. Be sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl. Your cream cheese mixture will start to look a little shinier and smoother.

5. Add half of your eggs to the mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until they are well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of your bowl with a spatula. Add the other half of your eggs and the vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of your bowl again to make sure you don’t have any clumps of cream cheese.

6. At this point you have a vanilla cheesecake base – you can really flavor it with almost anything – but we’re going to use strawberry preserves for this post. Add in your strawberry preserves and beat on low speed until incorporated fully into the cheesecake base. Use your spatula and make sure to scrape those sides again!

7. Pour the cheesecake batter into your cake pan with the partially baked graham cracker crust. Place the pan inside a larger pan, and fill the outer pan with water. Carefully place it into your 300℉ oven and bake it for about 1 and a half hours. Your cheesecake will change color slightly on top and when you shake the pan, the cheesecake will still have a slight jiggle to it, but the whole cake will move together, rather than a section in the middle moving on its own.

8. Carefully remove the cheesecake from the oven. Let it cool off slightly and then put the whole pan in the freezer. Your cheesecake needs to be very cold to get it out of the pan. I like to make my cheesecake a day ahead of time, and leave it in the freezer overnight.

9. Once your cheesecake is nice and cold, run a knife or offset spatula along the edges to loosen it from the pan. If you have a springform pan, just remove it! If you used a regular pan, invert it onto a plate or cake board, and then place another plate or stand on the bottom and flip it back over (much easier to do this while it’s frozen)!

10. Now, whip your heavy cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla until you have a medium-stiff peak. I pipped my Chantilly cream on top of the cheesecake, but you could spread it with a spatula as well.

11. Once you’ve topped your cheesecake with the Chantilly cream, slice up your strawberries. Artfully arrange the strawberry slices on top of your cheesecake and you’re done!

12. Now it’s time to relax and enjoy a slice!

Print Recipe

Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust, Chantilly Cream, and Fresh Strawberries

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time2 hrs

Course: Dessert

Keyword: cake, cheesecake, strawberry

Servings: 12

Equipment

• Stand Mixer

Ingredients

Strawberry Cheesecake

• 2.5 lbs Cream Cheese Softened
• 1.5 cups Sugar
• 3 tbsp Flour
• 5 each Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 cup Strawberry Preserves
• 6 each Strawberries Sliced

Graham Cracker Crust

• 1.5 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1.5 cups Brown Sugar
• 1 stick Butter Melted
• .5 tsp Salt

Chantilly Cream

• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• .5 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 300℉. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, melted butter, and salt. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes and then set aside.
• Beat the softened cream cheese in your stand mixer until it is soft and smooth. Be sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl frequently.
• Add the sugar and flour to your cream cheese. Beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
• Add half of the eggs to your cream cheese mixture and beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of your bowl with a spatula. Add the other half of your eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed again until combined. Scrape down the sides of your bowl again.
• Add the strawberry preserves to your cheesecake base and mix on medium speed.
• Pour the cheesecake mixture into the pan with your graham cracker crust. Place your cheesecake pan into a larger pan and fill the larger pan with water. Carefully move this into your oven and bake for about 1.5 hours.
• Remove your cheesecake from the oven and move it to your freezer. You want the cake to be very cold when you remove it from the pan. I like to leave it overnight, but a couple hours will do the trick.
• Loosen your cheesecake from the pan with a knife or offset spatula and remove it from the pan. Place it onto a cake board, cake stand, serving platter… whatever you plan on serving it on!
• Whip together the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it has a medium-stiff peak. Either pipe or spread the whipped cream on top of your cheesecake.
• Slice up your fresh strawberries and artfully arrange them on top of your cheesecake.
• Enjoy!

bake the world a better place