Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
This Classic Cheesecake sings with creamy perfection and is topped with and easy and delicious strawberry sauce. Your guests will be singing all night long!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 6 tbsp butter melted
- 2 tsp sugar
Cheesecake
- 4 x 8oz full fat cream cheese bars room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1.25 cups full fat sour cream room temperature
- 2 tsp clear vanilla
Strawberry Sauce
- 1 lb fresh strawberries
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 lemon
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Tin Foil and Spray Oil
- Kettle
- Medium Bowl
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Spatula
- Medium Saucepan
- Lemon Juicer and Zester
Crust
- Heat oven to 350° and spray the 10" springform pan with cooking oil. Wrap the bottom with tin foil to prepare it for the water bath. See my Cheesecake Tips post for more info on water baths.
- Mix the melted butter with sugar and graham crumbs in a medium bowl then press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool.
Cheesecake
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl, add the sugar and whip until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and mix in the cornstarch, salt and vanilla. Mix in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl in between each addition. Stir in the sour cream.
- Heat a kettle full of water and place the springform pan inside the roasting pan. Pour the cheesecake batter into the graham crumb crust and once the water has boiled, fill the roasting pan until the water comes halfway up the tin foil. You do not want the water to get inside the tin foil so be sure not to add too much water.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until the edges are puffy but the center still looks jiggly. Shut the oven off and hold the door open just a crack with a wooden spoon, allowing the cheesecake to sit inside the slowly cooling oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set on the counter until it completely cools to room temperature then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Strawberry Sauce
- Start by washing and trimming the strawberries. Slice them all up, the small berries into half and the larger strawberries into three or four slices. Add them to a medium sauce pan then juice and zest the lemon.
- Add 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp lemon zest to the saucepan along with the sugar. Mix and heat on medium high. Soon the strawberries will begin to create juice and come to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the strawberry juice is lightly simmering and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes.
- Pour into a heat safe bowl and cool the strawberry sauce in the refrigerator until completely cold. Just before serving, remove the springform edge and cover cheesecake with strawberry sauce.
Notes
Expert Tips
Once you know a few helpful tips and tricks your cheesecakes will turn out perfect every time! It took me years of cheesecaking to learn all of these, with a lot of flops along the way. Check out my ultimate list of Cheesecake Tips post!- Make sure the tin foil comes up the sides of the springform pan, as high up the sides as it can go, without cracks, so that the water cannot find its way inside.
- Other than whipping the cream cheese and sugar, try not to over mix the rest of the ingredients into the batter. We don't need extra air bubbles inside the batter!
- Scrape in between each addition, all the way down to the bottom of the bowl, to make sure nothing is stuck at the bottom of the bowl.
- When pouring in the boiling water, be sure not to add too much water! You don't want the water level to reach the top of the tin foil.
- Be careful not to over bake the cheesecake! The edges will be puffy but the center will still look jiggly.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!