Strawberry Cheesecake by Marianne

Marianne's beautiful Strawberry Cheesecake

A few notes about making cheesecake with fruit:

• All ingredients need to be room temperature or you will have a lumpy cake.
• The amount of sugar you add depends on the sweetness of the fruit you use.
• You can make a coconut cheesecake by substituting both the fruit and sour cream with coconut cream (and adding a cup or so of coconut shavings or flakes). If you use sweetened coconut flakes, add less sugar.
• The ratio between eggs/cream cheese/flour is really important. It is 1:1:1. This helps to keep your cake from cracking.

Preheat oven to180ºC (350ºF). Oil or line a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Don't forget the sides.

Crust

In a food processor blend:

1½ sleeves of Graham crackers, animal crackers, or whatever you prefer. This should make about 2 cups of crumbs

Add and mix in processor or by hand until the mixture transforms to pea-sized lumps:

½ C butter

Place the crust into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Filling

While the crust is baking, blend:

32 ounces cream cheese (907 grams)
¼ C white sugar

In a standing mixer on the lowest possible setting (or mix it by hand), add and mix until smooth:

4 eggs
1 T of vanilla
1 C sour cream

Mix again at a low speed until it is well combined.

Add:

2 C puréed fruit—Mango, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, or whatever. Frozen fruit is fine (but make sure it is room temperature so it will purée smoothly). If the fruit is tart, add more sugar to taste. If your fruit is really sweet, omit the sugar.

Sift in and blend until smooth:

4 T flour

Pour the cheesecake into the cooled crust. Bang the cheesecake pan hard on the counter a few times to get the top of the cake even and to eliminate air bubbles.

Put a pan of water into the oven on a lower shelf. (I use a glass pie pan. If you only have one rack, wrap the springform pan in foil to keep it watertight and put the cake in the pan of water. No one wants a soggy crust.) 

Bake for 15 minutes at 180ºC (350ºF), then turn the oven down to 135ºC (275ºF)—or 120ºC (250ºF) if your oven runs hot. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. 

The key to a crack-free cheesecake is to first bake it in a hot oven and to be sure not to overcook it. To check if your cake is done, use an oven mitt to lightly jiggle the pan in the oven. If the cake is generally smooth and it has a slight jiggle to the center, it is done. Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar for 20 minutes. Then move the cake to a counter to cool for an hour. When you can pick it up with a bare hand, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight.

About 2 hours before serving, take the cake out of the fridge and remove it from the pan. It should be firm enough that it easily slips out. Remove the parchment paper (if you used it). To get the paper off the bottom, place plastic wrap or parchment paper on top of the cake, put a plate on top of that, and turn it upside down. Peel the paper off the bottom crust, then place a serving plate on the base of the pan and flip it back over. Leave it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.