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How
to Make a Fruit-Topped
and Fruit-Filled Cheesecake Recipe
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A
vanilla cheesecake paired with cherries, strawberries, or other fruit
is the classic combination. But cheesecakes are so rich that we like
plenty of fruit with our cheesecakes. Rather than pile the cheesecake
high with fruit, consider putting part of the fruit in the filling.
In the following recipe, we’ll show you how.
Strawberry Vanilla Cheesecake
The following recipe uses fresh strawberries but frozen
strawberries work well. We made this cheesecake with graham cracker
crumbs; a nut crumb crust and a crust made from crushed vanilla wafers
would pair well also. And of course, you can use raspberries, blueberries,
peaches, mangoes, or other fruit for the topping.
You will need a nine or ten-inch springform pan for this recipe. The
cheesecake pictured was baked and served in a nine-inch glass-base springform
pan.
Additional Recipes and References
- Free! How to Bake, a free 250 page baking book
- Free! Easy Cheesecakes from A to Z (Includes “A Cheesecake Troubleshooting Guide)
- Free! A Manual for No-Bake Cheesecakes
- Springform Pans from Round to Square
- Click to see the Cheesecake Recipe Index with over 40 additional recipes
For the crust
2 cups crushed graham crackers
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted
For the filling
3 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
3 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup whipping cream
For the topping
3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar (omit if using sweetened, frozen berries)
1 tablespoons 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)
Directions
- 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.
- Make the topping. Puree the strawberries in a blender with the lemon
juice. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of purée. 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 degrees. Mix the cream cheese with the paddle
attachment of your stand-type mixer set at medium speed until smooth
and creamy, scraping the bowl once. Slowly add the sugar, flour,
salt, vanilla, and whipping cream one at a time making sure the batter is smooth before adding the next ingredient. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time until smooth.
Do not over beat. Too much air in the filling will cause the cake to
sink and crack.
- Pour one half of the cream cheese filling into the crust. Spoon about
2/3’s 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 remaining sauce and spoon over the cheesecake.
