Strawberry cheese cake served with a nice dollop of vanilla icecream and fresh strawberry.
Baking has always spelt disaster for me. I never ever follow the measurements given in a recipe and always end up with what cannot even closely be described as a "royal mess". Finding fresh strawberries the other day urged me to find a recipe in which to use them and so began the hunt for a great recipe. All search results pointed towards cheesecakes and i gave up, wise that i was from past experiences. As the strawberries were fast moving towards decay, i gave myself a now or never motivation and began. I found the following recipe on http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,196,152170-245199,00.html
1 3/4 c. fine graham cracker crumbs (about 20)1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts (opt.)1/2 c. butter, melted1/2 tsp. cinnamon
FILLING:
3 well-beaten eggs 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 2 c. dairy sour cream ,2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, 2 tsp. vanilla,1/4 tsp. salt
GLAZE (opt.):
2 c. fresh strawberries
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
Make crust and press to sides and bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Sides should be 1 3/4 inches high.
FOR FILLING: Combine eggs, cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, almond extract and salt. Beat until smooth. Blend in sour cream. Pour in crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or just until set. Chill thoroughly 4 to 5 hours. Filling will be soft.
GLAZE: Crush 1 cup strawberries. Add water and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture is thick and clear. Cool room temperature. Halve remaining berries. Place atop chilled cheesecake. Pour glaze over. Chill 2 hours.
Serves 10.
As usual, i didnt follow the recipe exactly and made a few modifications and behold...surprise..surprise...it turned out well...
These were the modifications i made...
- I used marie biscuits to make the base. I put the biscuits in the grinder to get a smooth powder and then mixed this with the butter. Kept it on low flame till the butter melted and was well incorporated with the biscuit crumbs. This ensured that the base set well.
- I had purchased cottage cheese and not cream cheese. I also added some 250ml of cream to the mixture.
- The cake did not set well after 30 minutes, so i kept it in the oven for another 15 mts.
- Some recipes call for adding 1/4 tbsp of cornstarch to the glaze, to make it thick, but i avoided this as i felt it would change the taste of the glaze...
