Here it comes again - another sweet and delicious DB treat. The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. Abbey is Jenny’s friend. She tweaked and played with a basic cheesecake recipe and perfected it. Well, what can I say? Abbey, you did an excellent job. This was.
My cake baked beautifully and didn’t have any cracks on top. I really loved the texture and the taste of this cheesecake - it was baked well but was still somewhat soft and creamy inside and was really really delicious. I served this cheesecake at hubby’s B-day and received a shower of compliments for it. I would like to share these compliments with Abbey, the creator of this recipe and Jenny who shared it with us, the Daring Bakers. Thank you, ladies, for the fantastic challenge!
Dear readers, here’s your chance to take a gastronomic tour to the land of delectable cheesecakes baked by my fellow daring bakers.
STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE
Recipe based on Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake
For the Crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the Cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz), at room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
For the Topping:
2 cups (16 oz / 450 g) sour cream
¼ cup (2 oz/60g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
thinly sliced fresh strawberries
Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your spring form pan. Press the crust just into the bottom (you can also press it up the sides of the pan too). Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. Cover bottom of your spring form pan securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake for about 50 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, sugar and vanilla and stir well. Remove the cheesecake from the oven after 30 minutes of cooling, then using a spatula, gently and evenly spread the sour cream mixture over the entire surface of the cake. Put the cake back in the oven to continue to cool for another 30 minutes. During this time the sour cream will slightly set. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. When completely chilled, remove the sides of the spring form pan and leave the bottom part under the cake. Top the cake with fresh strawberry slices and serve.