Nothing impresses your dinner guests more than a beautiful cheesecake. And, this fabulous Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping and Fresh Strawberries will bring you all kinds of “Ooohs! and Ahhhs!” !
Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping and Fresh Strawberries
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
PREP TIME
35 mins
COOK TIME
1 hour 15 mins
TOTAL TIME
1 hour 50 mins
INGREDIENTS
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker (crushed-about ½ box)
⅓ cup butter (melted)
⅓ cup granulated sugar
Filling:
2-8 ounce packages cream cheese (softened)
½ cup sugar
3 eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1-8 ounce package
Sour Cream Topping: ¼ cup butter (softened)
1 ½ cup sour cream
⅓ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pint fresh strawberries (washed and left whole for decoration on top)
5-6 individual meringues (optional-can be bought or homemade for decoration)
Strawberry Sauce: 1 pint fresh strawberries (washed, hulled and finely chopped-keep juice)
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Crust: Preheat your oven to 375ᵒ.
Pulse the graham crackers in your food processor until nicely ground. (Or place the graham crackers in a plastic zip lock bag. Close the top and crush by rolling with your rolling pin.)
In a medium-sized bowl, add the 1 ½ cups of crushed crackers, sugar, and melted butter and stir until blended. Then, in your 9-inch springform pan, press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and about an inch or so up the sides of the pan. Now, set this aside while we make the filling.
Filling: Get out a large mixing bowl and add the softened cream cheese and sugar together on medium-high with your hand mixer until fully incorporated. Now, using the low speed on the hand mixer, add the vanilla and the eggs, one-at-a-time until nice and smooth.
Pour the mixture into the crust and smooth the top with a spatula. You can gently tap the outside of the pan to bring up any air bubbles. Then, place the cheesecake in your 375ᵒ preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until it doesn’t jiggle when gently shaken. When done, remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool on a rack while we make the sour cream topping.
Sour Cream Topping: Turn your oven up to 400ᵒ. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the sour cream, softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Using a spatula, evenly spread the sour cream mixture over the top of your cooled cheesecake and place the cheesecake with topping back into the 400ᵒ oven and bake for 10 minutes. Then, remove the cheesecake from the oven and place on a wire rack to completely cool. Once the cake is completely cooled, you can place it in the refrigerator overnight to set.
Strawberry Sauce: Get out a sauce pan and add the chopped strawberries and cook over a medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly. Once the strawberries begin to heat, stir in the sugar and lemon juice and vanilla and gently boil, whisking for about 10-15 minutes. If you like the sauce more liquified, turn off the heat and using your immersion blender, blend until smooth. (You can also just strain the mixture through a strainer, or place in a blender or food processor.) If you like your sauce more on the chunky-side, just leave the sauce as is.
Remove the springform pan to release your cheesecake. Pour some of your strawberry sauce into a little bowl to place on the table for your guests, and drizzle the rest over the top of the cheesecake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Then, arrange some fresh, whole strawberries, along with a few of the little meringues, on top. Now, impress all your guests with this fabulous and delicious cheesecake!