Recipe #14 April 5, 2013

Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping

Ingredients for cheesecake:

1-1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

3 Tbsp.  sugar

1/3 cup  butter or margarine, melted

4 pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened to room temp.

1 cup  sugar

1 tsp.  vanilla

4 eggs

Ingredients for strawberry topping:

2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cornstarch or potato starch (for Passover, use potato starch)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325°F.
2. Mix graham crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
3. Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
4. Bake 55 min. or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Directions for topping:

1. Put chopped strawberries and sugar into a small saucepan. Add 1/3 cup water to cover, stir to blend. Heat mixture over medium high heat until it boils. Stir, then reduce heat to medium.

2. Mix cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water until a thick liquid forms.

3. Pour the liquid into the pan, stirring continuously, and continue to stir until well blended. Cook the strawberry mixture over medium for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until it becomes thick and syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

4. You can serve the topping as-is with a chunky texture, or puree it smooth with an immersion blender. You can also puree it halfway, so that it’s almost smooth but still has some texture.