Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe
Fresh basil perfumes this creamy strawberry cheesecake. What grows together goes together.
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 fresh basil leaves, plus additional for garnish
Crust
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 cup crushed chocolate cookie crumbs*
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
Filling
- 3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, reserve 9 berries for garnish and puree the rest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325F.
- In a microwave safe measuring cup heat heavy cream on HIGH for 1 minute. Bruise basil leaves lightly with your fingers and submerge in hot cream; set aside to steep.
- Mix cookie crumbs, sugar and butter until crumbly; press over bottom of 9-inch spring-form pan; bake 8 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
- In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in eggs, strawberry puree (you should have about 1 cup), vanilla, ¼ cup of basil infused heavy cream (cover and refrigerate the remaining basil-cream mixture) and yogurt until well mixed.
- Pour batter into crust.
- Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until center is just set. Do not over bake.
- Cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to chill completely.
- Run a knife around the pan sides. Remove sides of pan.
- Remove basil from chilled cream. Add powdered sugar and beat with an electric mixture to stiff peaks.
- Garnish top of cheesecake with basil-whipped cream, reserved strawberries and basil sprigs, if desired.
Notes
- use a flat bottom cup to pat the crumb crust into place and the back of a spoon to smooth around the edge
- place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl of your food processor before securing the top to keep the top from getting dirty (since I hate washing the top)
- 18 Nabisco Chocolate Wafer cookies or other cookies
Nutrition
Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 234kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 3gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 83mgPotassium: 108mgFiber: 1gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 497IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 33mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
