Why recepie famous for?
A light-yet-rich cheesecake, creamy but not dense-creamy like New York cheesecake. Topped with the most utterly incredible Strawberry Sauce topping - it's a match made in heaven! Don't be daunted by the number of steps - they are straightforward, I've just broken it down.
Ingredients
CHEESECAKE BISCUIT BASE:200 g Arnott's Marie crackers or other plain biscuit (Aus) or 28 Graham Cracker squares (Note 1)
120 g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
CHEESECAKE FILLING:
1 lb / 500g cream cheese , softened (Note 2)
2 tbsp plain flour (all purpose flour)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup / 125g sour cream (full fat, sub sour cream)
1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
Zest of 1 lemon
3 eggs , at room temperature
STRAWBERRY TOPPING FOR CHEESECAKE:
500 g / 1 lb strawberries , half diced and half halved
2 tbsp lemon juice OR water (Note 3)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (110g) white sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 160C/320F (standard) or 140C/295F (fan/convection).Get a 20cm/8" springform cake tin. Turn the base UPSIDE DOWN (Note 4), butter lightly and place a square piece of parchment/baking paper on the base. Then clip into the springform pan - excess paper will stick out, see photos in post and video.
Butter and line the side of the pan.
CHEESECAKE BISCUIT BASE:
Break up biscuits roughly by hand and place in a food processor.
Blitz until fine crumbs (Note 5). Add butter, briefly blitz until dispersed and it resembles wet sand.
Pour into the prepared cake tin. Use a spatula to roughly spread it out over the base and up the walls.
Use something with a flat base and vertical edges (I used a measuring cup) to press the crumbs up the wall almost to the top of the sides, and flatten the base.
FILLING:
Use a mixer or beater to beat the cream cheese until smooth - about 30 seconds on medium high,.
Add flour, beat until just combined (10 sec).
Add vanilla, sour cream, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until just combined (10 - 15 sec).
Add eggs one at a time, beat in between until just combined (10 sec each). Don't over beat, do not want to aerate the batter.
Pour into prepared crust.
Bake for 55 minutes. The top should be a very light golden brown, not cracked, and near perfectly flat. It should jiggle slightly when you gently shake the pan.
Cool the cake in the oven with the door open 20 cm / 8" (Note 6), then refrigerate for 4 hours+ in the pan.
Remove sides. Use overhang paper to slide cheesecake off the cake pan. Then slide the cheesecake off the paper.
STRAWBERRY TOPPING FOR CHEESECAKE:
Place chopped strawberries, vanilla, sugar and lemon juices in a saucepan. Stir then bring to simmer over medium heat.
Simmer for 10 minutes until strawberries breakdown.
Add cornflour and stir - it will thicken quickly.
Add halved strawberries and cook for 1 minute to soften.
Sauce should be syrupy - remove from stove and cool. Will thicken as it cools.
Once cool, stirl. Adjust thickness to make it the right "oozing" consistency (see video, Note 7) with a tiny touch of water (be careful!).
Spoon onto cheesecake so it's covered with a single layer of strawberries. Flip strawberry halves so they are facedown. Refrigerate 2 hours+.
Slice and serve with remaining Strawberry Sauce!
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