One of our favorite spring fruits is the Strawberry. Beautifully red and sweetly juiced, they are hard to resist. No matter how use them, berries are nature’s perfection. Why not create a gourmet dessert that is simple yet mouthwatering? Take the Strawberry Cheesecake with Sugar Art for example. A cheesecake that even a beginner can tackle and add a bit of flare on top with pinched sugar. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get to baking!
Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups graham crackers crushed
- 4 T melted butter
- 3 8oz packages of cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ Tsp vanilla
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
Directions:
- Prepare your 9” springform pan by spraying with anti-stick baking spray.
- Mix crushed graham crackers with melted butter and press firmly into 9” springform pan.
- Place in oven heated to 325 degrees and bake for 7 minutes.
- Blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with hand mixer on medium speed 1-2 minutes until well mixed.
- Add the sour cream and blend 1 minute.
- Add the eggs one by one, mixing on low just until all ingredients are blended together.
- Pour over crust and bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to completely cool before cutting.
- Cut 1/4 of your cheesecake and remove the bottom crust.
- Whip the baked center filling just until light and fluffy.
- Put the cheesecake filling into a piping tool or bag.
- Using large fresh strawberries quarter them, being certain to not slice completely through the top of the strawberry.
- With one hand hold open the quartered strawberry and fill starting at the bottom and piping out of the top.
- Crush 1 cup of fresh strawberries just until you have some strawberry juice and thick chunky pieces.
- Spoon over cheesecake and place the filled strawberry atop the cheesecake.
- Add a dollop of whipped cream.
- Decorate with sugar art (optional)
To make the Sugar Art:
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups of water
- 3 cups of sugar
- 1 cup of corn syrup
- 1/4 Teaspoon cream of tarter.
Directions:
- Bring the water and sugar to a rolling boil.
- Add the corn syrup and cream of tarter, then reduce the heat to low medium.
- Slowly bring the ingredients up to a boil and and heat to 298 degrees using a candy thermometer. This process takes about an hour, so do not try to rush the sugar.
- Once the sugar mixture reaches 298 remove from the heat and pour onto a prepared cookie sheet, sprayed liberally with cooking oil. The mixture cools rapidly, however it will burn skin very quickly. Lightly and slowly mix the sugar to maintain a consistent cooling temperature.
- When the sugar has cooled to point that you can touch it, that is when you can start pinching off small pieces. As you pinch the sugar, it will make long strings that are extremely fragile.
- Roll the strings slowly around and place them on another cookie sheet to harden. They will harden in seconds.
- Once completely cooled you can use them to top your beautiful strawberry cheesecake! Do not worry if they break, just place them in a nice abstract arrangement on the top. they taste like cotton candy, and have a consistency of hard tack candy.
