Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake

So, this was my first major success in the kitchen. I spent six months living in Manhattan, and frequently my friends and I would meet up for our ritual slice of Devils Food Cake Cheesecake from Juniors, one of the best Cheesecakes in the world. So, I am ever in search of that perfect homemade cheesecake recipe. I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Cannelle et Vanille. The base was originally a pistachio base, but I discovered it was incredibly difficult to find pistachio paste in rural Idaho, so I adapted the recipe using something a bit easier to come by, strawberries. The result was a slightly dense cheesecake with beautiful coloring. I apologize in advance for the photography. My photographer friend recently moved, so my photos will be lacking for a while until I can find a replacement, or until Andrew decides to come back.

So, here's the recipe, from Cannelle et Vanille and adapted for us Idahoans


Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake

Cookie Crust

2 cups / 180 g short dough crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar

Cheesecake Base

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 bag frozen strawberries, sweetened
1 cup white chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache
10 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 c. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 320F. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

Mix together the crust ingredients and press into springform pan. Set aside.

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 to the cream cheese base and cream until smooth.

Divide the cheesecake base into two bowls. Add the strawberries to one and mix well.

Pour strawberry base half way up 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 pan that holds the ring molds.

Bake 15 minutes, until it is semi set but not completely baked. While base is baking, melt white chocolate over double boiler, stirring until smooth. Swirl white chocolate into vanilla cheesecake batter, but do not incorporate fully. Remove from oven and pour the remaining vanilla cheesecake batter on top of the. Tap gently and return to oven and finish baking for another 30 minutes or so. Set cheesecake aside to cool for 30 minutes.

For chocolate ganache, melt chocolate and cream over a double boiler. Pour mixture over slightly cooled cheesecake.

Let the cheesecake cool in the springform pan and refrigerate overnight before unmolding.