Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake

Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you,

Embrace me, you irreplaceable you

                                                   Embraceable You, George and Ira Gershwin

Unless you have been walking around with your eyes closed, you will know that Friday this week is Valentine's Day.  Love it or hate it, the shops are filled with red cards, and ads for chocolates, flowers and jewellery abound.

A dessert that would be fun to make for Valentine's Day is this Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake from Coles magazine.  I did not make it for that reason, but its gorgeous pink and white hues make it the perfect dessert for V Day.  It also sings of summertime.

This baked cheesecake contains real strawberries, but the pink colouring is enhanced by a splosh of pink liquid food colouring (OK, in my case, a bit more than a splosh).

I made three quarters of the  recipe and used only Granita biscuits in the base.  While my cheesecake is not as tall as the original as a result, it was enough for me.

To make this cheesecake (3/4 recipe), you will need:

1 x 250g packet Arnott's Granita biscuits, crushed
100g butter, melted
75g strawberries, halved
3/4 tablespoon sugar
500g cream cheese, softened
90g sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
pink liquid food colouring

Grease and line a 20cm round springform pan. Put the biscuits in a food processor and process into fine crumbs.  Add the butter and process until well combined.  Press the mixture evenly into the base and up the sides of the springform  pan, using the base of a flat-bottomed glass to assist you in doing so.  Place the base in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.

Put the strawberries and 3/4 tablespoon sugar into a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries collapse and the syrup reduces by half.  Allow the mixture to cool off the heat, then transfer to a blender and process until smooth.  Sieve the mixture, keeping the liquid and discarding the solids.

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

Put the cream cheese, sour cream and remaining sugar into a food processor and process until smooth.  Add the eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract and process until well combined.  Add the flour and process until combined.  

Divide the mixture evenly into two bowls.  To one half, add the strawberry mixture and two or three drops of pink food colouring, and stir to combine.

Into the biscuit base, place alternating spoonfuls of pink and white filling mixture. (I found that the filling mixture was more liquid than solid, so I poured portions of each mixture in alternating pours into the middle of the base instead, creating alternating rings of colour.) Using a flat bladed knife, gently swirl the mixture to marble it.

Place the cheesecake on a baking tray and place in the oven to bake for 1 hour or until set.  Turn of the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven, with the door jar, for 2 hours.

Put the cooled cheesecake into the fridge to chill.

Slice and serve the cheesecake as desired.