Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake

Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake 🍓

A beautifully layered, creamy cheesecake infused with strawberry flavors and featuring delightful surprises of strawberry cream truffles inside. Perfect for special occasions like Valentine’s Day!

Ingredients

• Crust:

• 1¼ cups digestive or graham cracker crumbs (about 13 cookies)
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 4 tbsp butter, melted

• Cheesecake:

• 24 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp Torani strawberry syrup
• 1 tsp strawberry extract
• 7-9 Lindt strawberry cream white chocolate truffles

• Whipped Cream Topping:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 11 Lindt strawberry cream white chocolate truffles (for decoration)

Instructions

1. Make the Crust:

Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease the sides of a 9-inch springform pan and line it with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until it resembles wet sand.

Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing the filling.

2. Prepare the Cheesecake Batter:

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add sugar and beat until combined. Scrape the bowl, then add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla extract, and beat until smooth.

3. Layer the Strawberry and Vanilla Batter:

Divide batter in half. Set aside one half.

In the other half, mix in Torani strawberry syrup and strawberry extract until fully combined, creating a light pink batter.

Pour the strawberry batter over the crust. Place a circle of 7-9 truffles in the batter, leaving space near the edges.

Gently pour the plain batter over the pink layer, covering the truffles.

4. Bake in a Water Bath:

Wrap the springform pan in two layers of heavy-duty foil and place it in a larger pan.

Pour 1 inch of water into the larger pan and bake for 1 hour 16 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes, until only the center of the cheesecake slightly jiggles.

Turn off the oven, crack the door, and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 1-2 hours. Then, chill in the refrigerator overnight.

5. Whipped Cream Topping:

Before serving, beat heavy cream and powdered sugar with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.

Transfer whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip, then pipe swirls around the top edge of the cheesecake.

Place a truffle on each swirl for decoration.

6. Serve:

Cut into slices and serve. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Enjoy this dreamy cheesecake, bursting with strawberry and cream flavors!