Name: Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 85 min
Total time: 110 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups Vanilla Cookie Crumbs or Graham Cracker Crumbs; 1 ½ tbsp Granulated Sugar ((if using cookie crumbs, omit the sugar)); 5 tbsp Butter; 2 cups Sliced Strawberries; ½ cup Sugar; 3 Eight ounce Blocks of Cream Cheese Softened at Room Temperature; 1 ¼ cups Sugar; 4 Large Eggs Room Temperature; 2 tsp Vanilla Extract; 1 cup Sour Cream; ½ cup Heavy Cream

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Cheesecake is a popular dessert. Rich and sweet with countless variations, cheesecake is a dessert that is perfect for celebrations and special occasions. Some people are intimidated at the idea of making a cheesecake from scratch. Cheesecakes can be a bit fussy since the batter mixture is prone to cracking. Of course, cracked cheesecakes are still delicious to eat–the cracks are merely an aesthetic problem.

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Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

April Freeman

A gorgeous cheesecake that includes vanilla cheesecake and beautiful swirls of strawberry sauce, our recipe for Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake is a dessert that is as tasty as it is nice to look at.

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Prep Time 25 mins

Cook Time 1 hr 25 mins

Total Time 1 hr 50 mins

Cuisine American

Servings Slices of Cheesecake

Equipment

Spring Fan
Oven
Mixing bowl
Paper Towel
Spatula
Blender or Food Processor
Electric Mixer
Saucepan

Ingredients

Ingredients for crust

1 ½ cups Vanilla Cookie Crumbs or Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 ½ tbsp Granulated Sugar (if using cookie crumbs, omit the sugar)
5 tbsp Butter

Ingredients for Strawberry Sauce

2 cups Sliced Strawberries
½ cup Sugar

Ingredients for Cheesecake Filling

3 Eight ounce Blocks of Cream Cheese Softened at Room Temperature
1 ¼ cups Sugar
4 Large Eggs Room Temperature
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Sour Cream
½ cup Heavy Cream

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a nine inch springform pan with cooking spray.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, microwave the butter for about 30 seconds to melt it. Add the cookie crumbs or graham cracker crumbs and the sugar if needed. Stir the mixture until the butter lightly coats the crumbs.
Press the mixture into the bottom of your springform pan until it is in an even layer. Put the pan into the fridge to chill as you prepare the rest of the recipe.
Now, you can move on to making the strawberry sauce. Put the sliced strawberries in a small saucepan along with the sugar.
Cook these for about 10 to 12 minutes, mashing and stirring the strawberries as they cook. Remove the mixture from the heat and puree in a blender or food processor to make a puree. Set this aside to cool and move on to make the cheesecake filling.
Use a paper towel to wipe out the mixing bowl that you used to prepare the crust mixture. Put the softened cream cheese into the bowl and beat it with an electric hand mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla, beating on medium speed until they are incorporated.
Add the eggs one after a time, beating after each addition. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sour cream, beating the mixture again before blending in the sour cream with the mixer.
Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour the cheesecake filling into the crust, spreading it into a smooth layer.
Drip spoonfuls of the strawberry on the top of the cheesecake filling in a pattern.
Use a toothpick or skewer to swirl the strawberry mixture into the cheesecake. Do not go too deep with the swirling or it may cause cracks in the top of the cheesecake.
Put the cheesecake into the preheated oven.
Underneath the cheesecake, you can place a pan filled with warm water to help keep the humidity up in the oven. This will help keep the cheesecake from cracking.
Bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. The edges of the cheesecake should be set and the center should be slightly jiggly.
When the cheesecake seems done, do not take the cheesecake out of the oven. Just open the oven door slightly and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the oven turned off. This will allow the cheesecake to slowly cool to room temperature after baking, leading to fewer cracks.
When the cheesecake is completely at room temperature, put it in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap to cool for about 4 hours before serving.

Notes

If you want to make a cheesecake, chances are that you want it to look good as well as taste good. To have a perfectly smooth cheesecake surface, you have to understand why cheesecakes crack.

The first reason that your cheesecake might crack is that the cake can be dry and overcooked. That is why we add a pan of water to the oven along with the cheesecake. That will raise the humidity to help prevent cracking.

Also, you don’t want to overbake the cheesecake. Cheesecakes should be just set on the edges and kind of jiggly in the center, like Jello. As you get to the end of the baking time, keep an eye on the cheesecake to prevent it from being overbaked.

The other reason that a cheesecake can crack is that it can shrink as it cools. Grease the pan very well before you add the batter to keep the edges of the cake from sticking to the pan and causing cracks. Another way to prevent cracks is to allow the cake to cool very gradually. If you follow our instructions for cooling the cake in the oven with a cracked door, it will help prevent or reduce the cracking of your cheesecake.

Keyword Cheesecake Recipe, Strawberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake, Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Recipe

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Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Recipe