Perfectly creamy cheesecake topped with a delicious strawberry sauce?
Yes please!
At no additional cost to you, I make a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
Yes, I have a very large obsession with cheesecake. It’s so much fun to play around with different flavours and who doesn’t like a rich, creamy dessert? Every single bite is like a little taste of heaven and this Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce is no exception.
Most of my cheesecake recipes are based off of this Classic Cheesecake recipe, which happens to be my mom’s favourite flavour. Because it was her birthday, I spoiled her tastebuds with this beauty for dessert. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Why it works
- The cheesecake is deliciously rich and creamy with a hint of vanilla, which pairs perfectly with the graham crumb crust. The addition of strawberry sauce amplifies this classic dessert.
- Cheesecake made easy with tips and tricks along the way to build perfection, every single time.
- Make it your own by switching out the strawberries for any other berry of choice!
Ingredients
Crust
- graham cracker crumbs
- sugar
- butter
Cheesecake
- cream cheese
- sugar
- vanilla
- cornstarch
- salt
- sour cream
- eggs
Strawberry Sauce
- strawberries
- sugar
- lemon juice
- lemon zest
How to make Classic Cheesecake
Crust
Heat oven to 350° and spray a 10″ springform pan with cooking oil. Wrap the bottom with tin foil to prepare it for the water bath. See my Cheesecake Tips post for more info on water baths.
Melt some butter in a medium microwave safe bowl, then mix with sugar and graham crumbs. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool while you are making the cheesecake layer.
Cheesecake
In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat some cream cheese until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl a couple of times during this process to ensure all of the lumps are gone. Add sugar and whip until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and mix in the cornstarch, salt and vanilla. Mix in some eggs, scraping the bowl in between each addition. Stir in sour cream.
Heat a kettle full of water and place the springform pan inside a deep baking tray. Pour the batter into the graham crumb crust and once the water has boiled, fill the baking dish until the water comes halfway up the tin foil. You do not want the water to get inside the tin foil so be sure not to add too much water.
Bake for 50-60 minutes. The edges will be puffy but the center will still look jiggly. Shut the oven off and hold the door open just a crack with a wooden spoon, allowing the cheesecake to sit inside the slowly cooling oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set on the counter until it completely cools to room temperature, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Strawberry Sauce
Strawberry sauce is super easy to make! There is no straining involved like in raspberry sauce, it’s just simmered, then cooled!
Start by washing and trimming the strawberries. Slice them all up, the small berries into half and the larger strawberries into three or four slices. Collect the juice and zest from half of a lemon.
In a medium saucepan add the sliced strawberries with sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix and heat on medium high. Soon the strawberries will begin to create juice and come to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the strawberry juice is lightly simmering and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes.
Pour into a heat safe bowl and cool the strawberry sauce in the refrigerator until completely cold. Just before serving the cheesecake, remove the springform edge and cover the cheesecake with strawberry sauce. Slice into 16 and enjoy!
Expert Tips
Once you know a few helpful tips and tricks your cheesecakes will turn out perfect every time! It took me years of cheesecaking to learn all of these, with a lot of flops along the way. Check out my ultimate list of Cheesecake Tips post!
- Make sure the tin foil comes up the sides of the springform pan, as high up the sides as it can go, without cracks, so that the water cannot find its way inside.
- Other than whipping the cream cheese and sugar, try not to over mix the rest of the ingredients into the batter. We don’t need extra air bubbles inside the batter!
- Scrape in between each addition, all the way down to the bottom of the bowl, to make sure nothing is stuck at the bottom of the bowl.
- When pouring in the boiling water, be sure not to add too much water! You don’t want the water level to reach the top of the tin foil.
- Be careful not to over bake the cheesecake! The edges will be puffy but the center will still look jiggly.
How to store Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
If you want to make this Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce a couple of days ahead, no problem!
Both the cheesecake and the strawberry sauce will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, however, you should only add the strawberry sauce to the cheesecake the day you want to serve it.
Do you have leftovers? When I actually manage to have some leftover cheesecake, I slice the cake into single portion slices, line them up on baking sheets and freeze! Once the cheesecake slices have been completely frozen, wrap each slice individually in tin foil and place inside freezer safe ziplock bags. Cheesecake will keep well in the freezer for 6-8 months!
Love this recipe? Try these Cheesecake recipes next:
Quadruple Chocolate Cheesecake
Lemon Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake
Subscribe to Mama Bear’s monthly newsletter to be kept up to date on the latest and greatest!
Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
Crust
- 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 6 tbsp butter melted
- 2 tsp sugar
Cheesecake
- 4 x 8oz full fat cream cheese bars room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1.25 cups full fat sour cream room temperature
- 2 tsp clear vanilla
Strawberry Sauce
- 1 lb fresh strawberries
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 lemon
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Tin Foil and Spray Oil
- Kettle
- Medium Bowl
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Spatula
- Medium Saucepan
- Lemon Juicer and Zester
Crust
- Heat oven to 350° and spray the 10" springform pan with cooking oil. Wrap the bottom with tin foil to prepare it for the water bath. See my Cheesecake Tips post for more info on water baths.
- Mix the melted butter with sugar and graham crumbs in a medium bowl then press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool.
Cheesecake
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl, add the sugar and whip until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and mix in the cornstarch, salt and vanilla. Mix in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl in between each addition. Stir in the sour cream.
- Heat a kettle full of water and place the springform pan inside the roasting pan. Pour the cheesecake batter into the graham crumb crust and once the water has boiled, fill the roasting pan until the water comes halfway up the tin foil. You do not want the water to get inside the tin foil so be sure not to add too much water.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until the edges are puffy but the center still looks jiggly. Shut the oven off and hold the door open just a crack with a wooden spoon, allowing the cheesecake to sit inside the slowly cooling oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set on the counter until it completely cools to room temperature then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Strawberry Sauce
- Start by washing and trimming the strawberries. Slice them all up, the small berries into half and the larger strawberries into three or four slices. Add them to a medium sauce pan then juice and zest the lemon.
- Add 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp lemon zest to the saucepan along with the sugar. Mix and heat on medium high. Soon the strawberries will begin to create juice and come to a boil. Turn the heat down so that the strawberry juice is lightly simmering and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes.
- Pour into a heat safe bowl and cool the strawberry sauce in the refrigerator until completely cold. Just before serving, remove the springform edge and cover cheesecake with strawberry sauce.
Notes
Expert Tips
Once you know a few helpful tips and tricks your cheesecakes will turn out perfect every time! It took me years of cheesecaking to learn all of these, with a lot of flops along the way. Check out my ultimate list of Cheesecake Tips post!- Make sure the tin foil comes up the sides of the springform pan, as high up the sides as it can go, without cracks, so that the water cannot find its way inside.
- Other than whipping the cream cheese and sugar, try not to over mix the rest of the ingredients into the batter. We don’t need extra air bubbles inside the batter!
- Scrape in between each addition, all the way down to the bottom of the bowl, to make sure nothing is stuck at the bottom of the bowl.
- When pouring in the boiling water, be sure not to add too much water! You don’t want the water level to reach the top of the tin foil.
- Be careful not to over bake the cheesecake! The edges will be puffy but the center will still look jiggly.
My niece asked me to make her a cheesecake for her 8th birthday so I thought I would give this recipe a try. It was a huge hit!! Everyone loved it. They couldn’t believe how incredibly creamy and light it was compared to the dense cheesecakes they are used to. Even my wife who doesn’t like cheesecake had two pieces!
Yay!! I am so happy everyone enjoyed it so much, Thanks for the comment Alysse 🙂