cheesecake in the making with lindsey & katie.

on a wednesday night, lindsey, katie, & i gathered in the kitchen to cook up a sweet treat for our coworker's birthday. the requested confection? strawberry cheesecake.

technology mavens that we are, a strawberry cheesecake recipe tutorial was retrieved from youtube, which katie is so arduously consulting in the photo above (please do not let my appearance as a serene housewife who bakes cheesecakes every other day fool you - i'm no expert in the kitchen. i'm still learning).

i thought i'd share this recipe, both to benefit anyone in search of a cheesecake recipe, & to keep it in 'my files' in case i ever get a hankering for the fluffy, creamy goodness that is cheesecake (ha - if? more like when i allow myself to succumb to said craving).

strawberry cheesecake.

ingredients for the crust:

1 cup crushed graham crackers

3 tbsp. sugar

(we used sugar & brown sugar)

3 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

(be sure to let it soften naturally first - we just straight up melted it in the microwave, which caused our crust to crumble, as it didn't have that cohesive, semi-sticky quality that most crusts have)

ingredients for the batter:

5 8-ounce packages of cream cheese

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

ingredients for the topping:

box of strawberries

1/3 cup sugar

directions:

1. topping: the night before, slice up your strawberries, add sugar, stir, & place in the fridge over night. this creates that yummy, juicy, strawberry mixture that complements the creaminess of the cheesecake so well.

2. crust: day of, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, & melted butter. mix well. 

3. empty crust contents into your pan & spread it out evenly. we used 13x9-inch baking pan. place in the oven (preheated to 325 degrees), for 10 minutes. then, set aside.

4. batter: soften cream cheese to room tempterature, cut into chunks, & place in a bowl.

5. combine with sugar, flower, & vanilla, & beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until well-blended.

6. add sour cream & beat again until well-blended.

7. add eggs one-at-a-time, beating on low speed to blend.

8. pour over crust.

9. bake for approximately 40 minutes, or when the center is almost set. 

10. refridgerate for at least 4 hours. we refridgerated over night.

11. add topping before serving.

et voila! yummy, creamy, strawberry cheesecake!

and, on the off chance (ha) that my directions were a bit confusing, here is the tutorial:

i should note, this tutorial is for cherry cheesecake. as mentioned above, we used chopped strawberries, with sugar added for sweetness.

p.s. please feel free to send me recipes! i am always looking for something interesting to cook up in the kitchen. leave them in the comments, email me, facebook me, tweet me, etc. thank you.