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?!)
I used half the weight of sugar both for the filling and the strawberries and it’s just sweet enough. All my guests found it delicious.
That’s awesome Colette, I’m so glad it turned out!
This strawberry cake is amazing…
Thanks so much Jett!
Hi Nagi! I made this for Christmas and it was AMAZING!!! I ended up using Scotch Finger biscuits for the base as that’s all I had on hand and it turned out beautifully. After we ate all we could, I cut up the rest and froze it in portions so I didn’t end up face first in to the whole cake on Boxing Day 😉
Sounds great Sally! You have better self control than I do!
Hi Nagi. Thank you for this recipe. I have never baked before so my first time. Everything tasted delicious and was a hit with the family. My cake did crack whilst cooling in the oven and collapsed a little but manage to mush it back together. What is the general reason for this? Xx
Nagi, I can’t wait to make this strawberry cheesecake! The concern that I have is leaving the oven door open to cool the cake. I have several curious cats and I’m afraid for their safety. Any suggestions? Could I bake at 350 for less time and cool on rack?
I had to laugh!!! I have a greedy dog and my oven is under the bench. What I do is leave the door open about 15 cm / 6″ while it’s hot when my dog wouldn’t dare go near it then I only leave it open a jar using the handle of a wooden spoon so it would be too hard for him to open it with his fat nose. But if you are concerned, then after the oven cools down a bit, then super carefully remove onto rack to cool. Don’t increase the oven temp! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. Made this for Christmas and it was a hit.
Was wondering if I could make it with biscuits just on the base?
Hi Nagi, this looks amazing. Would I need to scale the recipe up for a 9″ springform pan or will the original recipe work just as well? Thanks!
Hi Priscilla! Recipe will be fine for a 9″, won’t be quite as tall but not so low that it’s worth scaling the recipe 🙂 N x
I made this for Christmas day and it was a hit! I couldn’t get my hands on any strawberries so I substituted them with blackberries instead. Sensational!!
Hi Nagi,
As usual your recipe is spot on. I made this today for Christmas and everyone loves it. Thanks so much for sharing such awesome recipe.
This looks amazing.. would love to play around with it. Love the new design.
This look delicious! I’m thinking substitute the strawberries for some stone fruit for Christmas day here in Oz 🙂
P.S. Your new website looks fantastic!
Great idea – I hope you love it!
If you sub the chopped strawberries with stone fruit (peaches or nectarines ideal) then spoon the sauce on top and top with slices of the fruit I think it would look stunning! I wouldn’t stir in sliced fruit, they won’t hold their shape 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi I’ve not been able to write anything for a long time,grandma duties……. but this cheesecake of your …..wauuuuu. Finally a cheesecake you can bake without the water bath.I want to make this for New Years but only one problem they don’t have sour cream here where I live [small village in Corfu Greece] so my question is what can I substitute it with?
Hi Barbara!! Given where you live, you will love the sub – GREEK yogurt! 😂 I’ll pop this tip in the recipe! N x
Hi Nagi, your note for sour cream says sub sour cream? Is it a typo?
Oops! Let me fix that! Thanks for picking it up!
Nagi,
Can you provide some tips on how to avoid the cake collapsing? Mine rose beautifully in the oven then collapsed later on whilst cooling in the oven. Thanks.
Nooooo! You definitely added the flour?? And you cooled it in the oven?? It definitely does lose height after cooling in the oven (I couldn’t show the height fresh out of the oven in the video because I didn’t want it to collapse by moving it). You can see in the video that it’s pretty full when it goes in the oven and you don’t actually gain that much height once cooked. How tall was it?? N x
What happened to the print button? Difficult to print now. Bring back the print function!
Hi Cindy – There is a print button still. It’s the right-most icon of the five at the top of the recipe card.
Hi Nagi,
I tried the recipe last night. The cake lost all its height overnight as I cooked it in the oven. What do you think caused the filing to collapse?
Look forward to trying this recipe but have to say, the best cheesecake base I’ve created came from using butternut snap biscuits (I’m Australian) – just delicious!
OMG that would be amazing!!! I think I’ll try that when I make this for Christmas!! N xx
Oh man, I can’t wait to make this for Christmas. This is my son’s favorite desert. But he doesn’t like lemons and can tell if I add even a tsp of lemon. Do you think I could make this with Lime? Secondly, can this be frozen? I’m worried that it would last for dinner as I would have to make this a couple days in advance.
Thanks Nagi, love love your recipes.
Skip the lemon Gayle! Freezing is a no go for this. It lasts up to a week so you’re fine! N x
Oh this looks soooooo good!!
I’m on a stupid diet currently for a friend’s wedding but this is TOP of my post diet cooking list!
OMG I hear you Adi!! The things we do for our best friends’ right??? 😂
Simple and easy to follow,
deliciously yummy
Thanks Howard!
OMG I need to make this! Anything cheesecake is always delicious but who wouldn’t love THAT STRAWBERRY sauce. Oh lordy YUM. I cannot wait xx and ps thank you for your *make ahead* notes. They are FAB
I hear you Tamarra! Cheesecakes are my weakness! N x