Thursday, October 4, 2012

classic cheesecake decorated with whipped cream and strawberries


My daughter's daycare was throwing a surprise birthday party for her teacher Ms. Jerry, and on the sign-up sheet of things to bring was "cheesecake".  Not cake, or birthday cake, or even cupcakes ... specificially cheesecake.  Ms. Jerry must like cheesecake!  So of course I had to put my name down for it!

I decided to use a recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From My Home to Yours", a recipe which I had previously used for my red velvet cheesecake, except this time I would use a 9-inch springform pan.  So I started by making the graham cracker crust, which I pressed into the bottom and sides of my pan, and then baked it until golden brown (about 10 minutes).


Next up was making the filling.  The first thing to do was to beat the cream cheese until it became really light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Then I added sugar and salt, and beat it for another 4 minutes.


Then I added vanilla.


And then I added eggs and heavy cream (or you can use sour cream, but I used heavy cream because I almost always have it in my fridge for making ice cream!).


Once the filling was ready, I wrapped the outside of my springform tightly with aluminum foil, poured my batter in, and smoothed the top with an offset spatula.  Then I baked it in a water bath for 1 hour and 30 minutes, after which I turned off the oven and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another hour.


And out came a beautiful cheesecake, no cracks!


Then I unmolded it, decorated it with swirls of freshly whipped cream, and placed fresh strawberries on each swirl.



Happy birthday, Ms. Jerry!  Hope you liked the cheesecake!

23 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous cheesecake! And you have no cracks! I've made cheesecake countless number of times before and I always get the cracks - and I've tried almost every method out there! Well done!

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    1. @Chung-Ah - thank you! and yes i jumped for joy when i saw that there were no cracks! :)

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  2. Hi Michele,
    What a wonderful pics of Cheesecake you have here.
    Perhaps you're interested to submit your food photos on a food photography site that has tagline "Food Photography that will make you hungry" :)
http://www.foodporn.net
    It's free to submit, free to join, and a lot of members can enjoy your creation!

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    1. thanks @Hillary Miller! i will check it out!

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  3. Hi do you have the recipe for this!! I really want to make it! tara.tchen@gmail.com :) Thank you!!

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    1. @Anonymous (tara) - sure! i actually just sent you the recipe in my email for the red velvet cake with cheesecake middle, it's the same recipe for this cheesecake! let me know how yours turns out! :)

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  4. Wow! Just looking at the picture, makes me hungry for one. Would you mind sharing your recipe with me? I'd like to try it myself - would be my first! b123scarecrow@yahoo.com ~ Thank you.

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    1. @Anonymous - just sent you an email! enjoy! :)

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  5. This looks absolutely DIVINE! Would you please share this recipe with me? I'm throwing my niece a sweet-16 birthday party next weekend and she doesn't like sweets or cake much, but she LOVES cheesecake. My e-mail is: Eekachu@hotmail.com Thank you so much, in advance!

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    1. @Anonymous - sure, i just sent you an email! let me know how it turns out! :)

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  6. Hello there!! I really really love your cheesecake! It's very simple yet so beautiful :)) i'd really love to try to make it for a special person for his birthday. May i get the recipe for this lovely cake of yours? My email is ilma.rachmatika@gmail.com thank you so muchh!! Xx

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  7. Just found your website- and I love it!!!! Could you please email me the recipe- mon.weiss@hotmail.com Thanks so much!!!

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    1. @Anonymous - no problem, just sent you an email! let me know how it turns out! :)

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  8. Could you please share the recipe? I love it! And want to try it now,looks delicious.... :) thanks
    suxy888@hotmail.com

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  9. This looks amazing! Could you share the recipe please? theater_chik101@hotmail.com

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  10. Hi, do you mind sharing me the recipe? The cheesecake you'd baked is so beautiful! :D would like to bake one for my dad as Father's Day cake. My email is jl.joeling@gmail.com
    Please and thank you!

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  11. Hi, this looks amazing and my daughter loves cheesecakes alot!! Could you please email me the recipe elise2710@live.com, thank you so much :)

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  12. please send me the recipe as well,thanks.please send to lisha.dong@yahoo.com.au

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