Valentine's Day Strawberry Cheesecake

This Strawberry Cheesecake is a stunner! Based on my classic Baked Cheesecake which I describe as a magically rich-yet-light, finished with a gorgeous strawberry topping that tastes as amazing as it looks.

You’ll love how the sauce slowly drips down the cheesecake with every bite, and how the filling is creamy and rich, but it’s a bit fluffy rather than heavy and dense. And because I love the biscuit base so much, I’ve made it go aalll the way up the sides….This has been my go-to cheesecake recipe for many years now. It’s the cheesecake that rendered a group of girls silent when we were on a weekend away. And that’s saying something with my friends!

I’ve shared this cheesecake recipe in all its naked glory. Because it really is the sort of cake that’s rich enough and so good (and that BISCUIT BASE!!) that you don’t need to trick it up with anything – just serve a plain slice and it will be devoured. But it’s that time of the year for excesses. Where we take a cake that’s already perfect as it is, and take it over the top with a glossy Strawberry Topping for Cheesecake…. PS You’re going to go a little bit bonkers when that Strawberry Sauce is on the stove. The smell is outrageous!

Ingredients:

• 200g / 7oz Arnott’s Marie crackers or other plain biscuit (Aus) or 28 Graham Cracker squares 
• 120 g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
• 1 lb / 500g cream cheese , softened 
• 2 tbsp plain flour (all purpose flour)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat, sub sour cream)
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 eggs , at room temperature
• 500g / 1 lb strawberries , half diced and half halved
• 2 tbsp lemon juice OR water (Note 3)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
• 2 tbsp water