This Strawberry Cheesecake is a stunner! Based on my classic Baked Cheesecake which I describe as a magically rich-yet-light, finished with a gorgeous strawberry topping that tastes as amazing as it looks.
You’ll love how the sauce slowly drips down the cheesecake with every bite, and how the filling is creamy and rich, but it’s a bit fluffy rather than heavy and dense. And because I love the biscuit base so much, I’ve made it go aalll the way up the sides….
Strawberry Cheesecake
This has been my go-to cheesecake recipe for many years now. It’s the cheesecake that rendered a group of girls silent when we were on a weekend away. And that’s saying something with my friends!
I’ve shared this cheesecake recipe in all its naked glory. Because it really is the sort of cake that’s rich enough and so good (and that BISCUIT BASE!!) that you don’t need to trick it up with anything – just serve a plain slice and it will be devoured.
But it’s that time of the year for excesses. Where we take a cake that’s already perfect as it is, and take it over the top with a glossy Strawberry Topping for Cheesecake….
PS You’re going to go a little bit bonkers when that Strawberry Sauce is on the stove. The smell is outrageous!
I did say that this Strawberry Cheesecake is pretty straightforward, but I never said it’s a quick and easy recipe! It takes time but it’s not complicated. I’m going to walk you through each part, there are process photos and a recipe tutorial video too.
Here are the 3 main components:
Cheesecake biscuit base and walls: blitz and press. No baking required;
Cheesecake filling – plonk and mix. The easiest part!
4 ingredient strawberry sauce – couldn’t be easier (hardest part is trying not to “taste test” too much)
The Cheesecake Biscuit base
Oh that buttery base!!! I love it so much, I make an entire wall of it for this Strawberry Cheesecake. Actually, the practical reason for the biscuit wall is to hold the Strawberry Topping in. But even without topping, I always make my cheesecakes with biscuit walls!
It’s as simple as blitzing (or bashing) biscuits into crumbs then stirring in melted butter. The biscuit base can be made with pretty much any type of plain biscuit – or even plain flavoured biscuits (like gingersnaps!). Arnott’s Marie Crackers or Nice biscuits (Australia), digestives (UK), and in the States, Graham Crackers are ideal.
PRO TIP: Inverted base & paper overhang
To make it easier to remove finished cake: Flip the base of the springform pan. Grease then top with a square sheet of paper. Secure sides of pan so excess paper is sticking out. Then you can easily move the cheesecake as follows:
use the paper overhang to grip, and slide the cake off the base onto the cake stand;
finished cake will slide safely off the inverted base (because it has no lip); then
once the cake on the paper is on the cake stand, slide the paper out from under the cake. Voila!
Cheesecake Filling
The easiest part! The ingredients in the cheesecake filling are simply cream cheese (Philadelphia all the way!), sugar, lemon zest (this really gives it a special touch), vanilla, a tiny amount of flour (for stability – keeps it fluffy) and eggs. It’s a plonk-and-mix deal.
This cheesecake has sour cream in it which lightens it up a bit. While rich, it has a slightly aerated texture which is quite different from a New York cheesecake which is much denser and calls for twice as much cream cheese as this Strawberry Cheesecake recipe!
PRO TIP: Don’t overbeat, it can cause craters
No need for water bath
Some recipes say to bake cheesecake in a water bath, swearing that this a) makes the cake more moist; and b) is the secret to avoiding cracks.
Out of curiosity (because some people are so adamant!) I made this exact cheesecake with and without a water batch just to compare. Logistical issues aside (because no springform pan is 100% leakproof, it requires double layers of heavy duty foil and even then, I was still wary).
Both cheesecakes looked exactly the same – no cracks, and tasted exactly the same. Except one was a heck of a lot more of a hassle to get in the oven.
So it’s confirmed. NO WATER BATH!
PS Santa, may I please have new matching oven mitts for Christmas?
Strawberry Topping for Cheesecake
5 simple ingredients – strawberries, sugar, cornflour/cornstarch, lemon juice (or water) and vanilla. Plonk in saucepan, simmer for 10 minutes, stand over stove and inhale the incredible smells. Stir through halved strawberries (nice to soften them a bit), cool then spread on cheesecake.
Don’t fret about getting the strawberry sauce consistency 100% right straight off the stove. Cook the sauce until it’s the thickness you want for your cheesecake (ie slow ooze – watch the video!), then it will thicken more as it cools. THEN use the teeniest touch of water to loosen it up to the desired consistency – as in, 1/2 teaspoon at a time. That’s the safest way to get the sauce consistency perfect. 👍🏼
That Strawberry Topping for the cheesecake…. it is unbelievable. Not only does it make the cheesecake look stunning, it tastes incredible. The addition of a sauce to an already amazing cheesecake really does take it over the top.
As regular readers know, I specialise in “brown foods”. Think – stews, roasts, curries.
So when I make things as beautiful and colourful as this Strawberry Cheesecake, the immature child within can’t help getting overly excited and sending these photos to everyone in the RecipeTin family and more friends than she cares to admit.
And their reactions made my head swell. 😂
Make this. You WILL be praised for days on end! – Nagi x
Strawberry Cheesecake
Watch how to make it
Accidentally forgot to include adding cornflour/cornstarch in the strawberry topping in the video! Whisked it in off camera. 🙂
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Strawberry Cheesecake
Ingredients
Cheesecake Biscuit Base:
- 200g / 7oz Arnott’s Marie crackers or other plain biscuit (Aus) or 28 Graham Cracker squares (Note 1)
- 120 g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 lb / 500g cream cheese , softened (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat, sub sour cream)
- 1 1/2 cups caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 eggs , at room temperature
Strawberry Topping for Cheesecake:
- 500g / 1 lb strawberries , half diced and half halved
- 2 tbsp lemon juice OR water (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 160C/320F (standard) or 140C/295F (fan/convection).
- Get a 20cm/8″ springform cake tin. Turn the base UPSIDE DOWN (Note 4), butter lightly and place a square piece of parchment/baking paper on the base. Then clip into the springform pan – excess paper will stick out, see photos in post and video.
- Butter and line the side of the pan.
Cheesecake Biscuit Base:
- Break up biscuits roughly by hand and place in a food processor.
- Blitz until fine crumbs (Note 5). Add butter, briefly blitz until dispersed and it resembles wet sand.
- Pour into the prepared cake tin. Use a spatula to roughly spread it out over the base and up the walls.
- Use something with a flat base and vertical edges (I used a measuring cup) to press the crumbs up the wall almost to the top of the sides, and flatten the base.
Filling:
- Use a mixer or beater to beat the cream cheese until just smooth, no longer than 20 seconds on speed 4. (You do not want to aerate cheesecake filling as it causes cracks when it bakes)
- Add flour, beat for 5 seconds on speed 4 until just incorporated.
- Add vanilla, sour cream, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until just combined (10 sec max, speed 5).
- Add eggs one at a time, beat in between until just combined (5 sec each), and after the last one, beat just until the egg is fully incorporated.
- Pour into prepared crust.
- Bake for 55 minutes. The top should be a very light golden brown, not cracked, and near perfectly flat. It should jiggle slightly when you gently shake the pan.
- Cool the cake in the oven with the door open 20 cm / 8″ (Note 6), then refrigerate for 4 hours+ in the pan.
- Remove sides. Use overhang paper to slide cheesecake off the cake pan. Then slide the cheesecake off the paper.
Strawberry Topping for Cheesecake:
- Place chopped strawberries, vanilla, sugar and lemon juices in a saucepan. Stir then bring to simmer over medium heat.
- Simmer for 10 minutes until strawberries breakdown.
- Mix cornflour with water, then add into saucepan and stir.
- Add halved strawberries and cook for 1 minute to soften.
- Sauce should be syrupy – remove from stove and cool. Will thicken as it cools.
- Once cool, stirl. Adjust thickness to make it the right “oozing” consistency (see video, Note 7) with a tiny touch of water (be careful!).
- Spoon onto cheesecake so it’s covered with a single layer of strawberries. Flip strawberry halves so they are facedown. Refrigerate 2 hours+.
- Slice and serve with remaining Strawberry Sauce!
Recipe Notes:
Australia: Arnott’s Marie Crackers, Arrowroot and Nice are ideal, I’ve made it with all these.
US: Use 28 squares / 14 full sheets, yes I measured it with my last Graham Cracker packet I brought back from my last trip.
UK: Digestives are ideal, I LOVE digestives! The crumb should be like wet sand so when pressed, it stays packed firmly, especially up the wall. It’s delicate when uncooked but once the filling is cooked, it becomes much more stable. 2. Cream Cheese – In the UK and some parts of Europe, block cream cheese isn’t available. If you can only get spreadable cream cheese in tubs (softer than block), skip the sour cream. 3. Lemon Juice or Water – Depends on sweetness of strawberries. If they aren’t that sweet, use water instead. 4. Inverted cake pan with overhang paper: The base of springform pans have a slight ridge. By inverting it, there is no ridge which makes it easier to slide the cheesecake on a serving platter without ruining the crust. There is no risk of batter leakage as the crust is thick enough to hold it all in. 5. Crumbs: OR crush in a ziplock bag using a rolling pin or large can. 6. Cool in oven: This helps stop the surface from cracking. 7. Strawberry topping should be like jam consistency, not a set jelly. It should ooze slightly when cut. 8. Different measures: Cups and spoons vary slightly between countries (US and CAN are different to most of the rest of the world). I have made this recipe using both US and Australian measures, using Australia Marie crackers and US Graham Crackers. The Graham Cracker crust is slightly crunchier because the biscuit doesn’t crush to a fine sand like Marie Crackers do. Both are delicious! 9. Make Ahead / Storage: Cake is at its best consumed within 4 days, after that I feel like it starts getting denser but still really fab, most people wouldn’t notice a difference! Ideal to top the day or or day before. After 2 to 3 days, the top does start to “sweat” but it’s not very noticeable.
Nutrition Information:
More Cheesecake recipes
And more strawberry goodness …
Life of Dozer
He’s been waiting all year for a moment like this – when a whole piece of Strawberry Cheesecake fell on the floor!!
(But no, he didn’t get the whole thing. Can you imagine the other mess I’d have to deal with if I did let him?!)
Amazing cheesecake!! I made with spreadable cream cheese and without sour cream as notes state and it was amazing. Although it did crack slightly I covered it up with strawberry and raspberry sauce! Definitely will make again
OMG this is the best cheesecake recipe. Hubby and his family literally fell in love with this cheesecake. Thank you very much Nagi.
Well Well Well What can I say Nagi! A winner first time I made it(and and my first cheesecake) for a group of friends and it was demolished in minutes!!
I feel really confident that your recipes will always be a hit. That you soo much .
P.S. Boo Boo my Spoodle was drooling the whole time and ended up with a the crumbs
What a fantastic recipe Nagi! The most delicious cheesecake i have ever tasted! Your recipe is perfect. Every part of this cheesecake was spot on, I was amazed i could do it. Making your blueberry muffins tomorrow then to prepare the marinade for your Chicken Donor Kebab recipe which we love. It never stops does it!
I can’t see cooking times on the receipe? Have I missed something?
Hi Steven, step 6 under the filling heading – N x
Baked a cheesecake for the first time. The recipe was simple, quick and delicious.
I’m so glad you gave it a go Ruby ❤️
Hi! Im planing to make this for my husbands birthday… only one question… what size pan did you use how many inches or centimeters diameter you use…. thank you
Hi Vivianna – it’s all in step 2 ☺️
Hi Nagi. Thank you for another great recipe. Would you happen to have a low calorie low sugar option of the cheesecake?
Made this several times already, tried it on its own, with strawberry topping, and with blueberry topping. My man loves it! Been recommending this to my friends too because it’s simple to make and comes out soooooo good. Thanks, Nagi!
PS love the bgm in the tutorial. Can’t get it out of my head tho! 😂
Hi Miranda, does such a thing exist??? Using cheese is pretty much going to mean calories unfortunately, I think if you’re going to indulge you just need to bite the bullet 😉
Hi Nagi ive just found you! loving your recipes & many to try soon. can i use frozen strawberries? Im currently living in cambodia & strawberries definately not available. also lemons very expensive here but lots of limes so im going to sub. can i use yoghurt in place of sour cream too or will the taste be quite different? thankyou
Made 3 of these cakes for my family for Christmas. Best. Cake. I’ve. Ever. Made! I don’t know how to bake very well so I was scared it was going to be a disaster…. and then family members were calling me up asking for more!! Thank you so much for the delicious recipe!
YESSSS you nailed it Coral!
Can I use frozen strawberry’s to make the topping or does it need to be fresh ?
The butter amount at 125g was not enough. 8 tablespoons of butter would be 250g. I haven’t tasted yet, that’s tomorrow, but thought I should bring this to your notice. Regards
Hi Robyn, a tablespoon is 15g of butter so 8 is 120g – the recipe is correct 🙂
Hello! If I don’t have caster sugar (and I can’t seem to find it easily) what can I use instead ? Thank you! Can’t wait to try it.
Hi Moira, regular white sugar will be fine
This turned out absolutely delicious!! I’m someone who can’t eat a whole bar of chocolate in one sitting so I reduced the sugar in the filling to 260g and the sweetness was just right for me. I followed a recipe for homemade sourcream as well and figured just about any biscuit will turn out great when mixed with butter.
I didn’t let the crust go up the sides and it browned a smidgen and had this weird indented ring around the circumference, could it be uneven baking? Like, how the sides cook faster(even though the temp is low)?
Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Hi again Nagi! I noticed in the video it said either sour cream or yoghurt can be used. If I used yoghurt does it have to be the natural yoghurt or can it be a vanilla full fat yoghurt? Thanks!
Ps. Made the mango cheesecake last week and it was sooo delicious!
Hi Elizabeth, use natural yogurt 🙂
Thanks Nagi! Have you noticed that when using digestives the biscuit mixture ends up being very wet and somehow it doesn’t look like yours in the video! I usually end up trying to add in more biscuits so it’s a bit more sand like rather than a very wet mixture.., is that because digestives have more oil in it? Tastes good still but I think it is heavier and doesn’t look as nice as yours!
Hi Nagi,
I’m wondering whether I could use cherries as a replacement for strawberries? (Thinking of that Christmas flair!) – would the recipe need to be altered in any way? Thanks in advance 🙂
Sounds great Jess! I’d just do the exact same but replace the strawberries with cherries – N x
As a qualified baker I have tried many cheese cakes and I have now made this twice. It is by far the best recipe I have used and so easy . Family and friends love it . Off to get more ingredients to make the next one for my daughter’s baby shower
WOOT! That’s the best compliment, thanks so much Trevor!
Hi Nagi! This looks sooo delicious ! Just wondering whether the sauce can be made and frozen ahead of time? I have some strawberries that need to be used but planning to make the cheesecake for next weekend. Not sure if the composition chases the strawberry topping after it has been frozen though? Your thoughts would be much appreciated !:)
Hi Elizabeth, that should be fine, I hope you love it!
Hi Nagi!
This sounds really amazing and will try this out soon but
Would there be a no bake version for this recipe?
Hi Grace, this recipe requires baking – I do have a no bake Mango Cheesecake which is amazing!!
Hello Nagi,
I’m known as “Granny” around my house. I live with my son/daughter in law and 3 grandchildren. We love cheesecakes, especially for birthdays. Tomorrow is another birthday, so your cheesecake is in the oven as we speak. This is my go to for delicious cheesecake every time. If you email me your address privately, I will make sure Santa gets you some bright beautiful oven mitts for Christmas. Thanks again, Granny
Oh Granny how sweet of you! I’m so glad you love this cheesecake, it’s my no fail cake when I want to impress ❤️