For Savannah's late birthday and return from an amazing-looking Bahamas cruise (lucky girl), I baked her a cheesecake in a brand-new 8" Wilton springform pan. I wanted to start out with something pretty simple, as I had never baked a cheesecake before, and also, that crazy girl is the only woman in all the world who doesn't like chocolate. After baking it and letting it set, I added a strawberry compote. Strawberries were on sale at Hyde Park Produce, which was great because strawberries happen to be Savannah's favorite fruit. I then added picture on Facebook with the plan of telling Savannah that her boyfriend ate all of it the night before she came back from her cruise, having her be really crazy disappointed, and then whipping out a full, lovely cheesecake. Max (the aforementioned boyfriend) ruined those plans by telling her we hadn't touched it. Ruined all the fun.
Regardless, she was super happy when she got back, and for good reason. The crust was buttery and crunchy (the walnuts really did the trick) and the filling was just sweet, creamy, and slightly tart.
One thing I really hate about strawberry topping on cheesecake is that it normally tastes really fake and way too sweet. Why? It's normally canned pie filling. Yeah, even at the fancy bakeries, sometimes. It was much better to make a fresh one with just two ingredients: strawberries and sugar.
Well, here's the recipe:
New York-Style Cheesecake:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 c. crushed graham crackers
- 1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 c. melted butter
- 3 8-oz. packages cream cheese (Philadelphia, preferably)
- 1 c. sugar
- 2 tbsp AP flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 c. heavy cream
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
Directions:
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| The unbaked cheesecake filling |
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine graham crackers, walnuts, 1 tbsp sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Press the mixture down into the bottom of the springform pan, making sure the bottom of the pan is covered. Try to press some of the mixture up the sides of the pan as well, as far up as you can get. Set the pan aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add in the flour and vanilla, and combine well.
- Beat in heavy cream until smooth. Add in more if the texture isn't smooth enough. Mix in lemon zest.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes. The cake is done baking if it jiggles a little in the middle and is set along the edges when you shake it a bit.
- Remove the springform pan from the ovefn, and let it cool on a wire rack for about 15-20 minutes.
- Loosen the walls of the cheesecake from the sides of the pan with a knife. Take off the wall of the springform pan carefully, making sure not to screw up the edges too badly.
- Let the cake cool completely on the rack. Cover the cake and chill for at least four hours (mine was overnight).
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| The finished cheesecake. Note the huge crack in the surface. This is usually prevented by a bain-marie, which I chose not to do. |
The crack in the cheesecake was fixed at least on the surface using this tutorial. Super easy and fixes it enough to make it look alright. Regardless, it's much better-looking with the compote on top. Here's how to make that:
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| Starting to cook down and bubble |
Ingredients:
- 2 c. hulled and quartered strawberries
- 1/4 c. sugar
Directions:
- Combine the strawberries and the sugar in a saucepan.
- On medium-high heat, cook the strawberries in the sugar, stirring occasionally. The strawberries should start to release lots of juice.
- Turn off the head when the mixture thickens. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
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| The finished compote |
Once that's cool, just spoon it over the cheesecake. This recipe will basically work with any kind of berry or juicy fruit. You may have to adjust sugar levels based on how much water the fruit contains.