Shelly's Recipe

STRAWBERRY VANILLA CHEESECAKE

Category: Cheesecake

Crust
2 cups crushed graham crackers or vanilla wafers
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp butter, melted

Filling
3 (8-oz) pkg of cream cheese, softened
3 large eggs
3/4 cup pkg sugar
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup whipping cream
Topping
3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar (omit if using sweetened, frozen berries)
1 tbsp cornstarch
2-3 drops of red food coloring
1 cup of fresh or individually frozen berries, cleaned and hulled (use whole or if preferred, cut into smaller pieces)


Crust: Crush the graham crackers. Mix the crumbs with the cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter in a nine or ten-inch springform pan. Press the mixture into a crust across the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Put the crust in the refrigerator to set up while you prepare the filling and the topping.

Topping: Puree the strawberries in a blender with the lemon juice. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of puree. If you would like to remove the seeds, run the puree through a sieve. Place the puree in a small saucepan. Add the sugar, food coloring, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heart, stirring often, until thickened and bubbly. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325. Mix the cream cheese until smooth and creamy, about five minutes. Add the eggs, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla, and gently cream together until smooth. Do not over beat. Too much air in the filling will cause the cake to sink and crack. Poor one half of the cream cheese filling into the crust. Spoon about 2/3s of the strawberry sauce onto the filling then spoon the remaining cream cheese over the strawberry sauce. Refrigerate the remaining sauce.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top just starts to turn golden and the center of the cake is just barely jiggly. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Remove the ring and let the cheesecake cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours.

To serve, stir the berries into the sauce and spoon over the cheesecake. Note: Other fruits such as raspberries, blueberries, peaches, mangoes, are great for the topping.