I can't believe I never posted this recipe! Its been sitting in blogger waiting for me to hit post... patiently like a little angel.


Well thats what it is, and angelic tasting recipe. A total hit at the barbecue/dinner/fun times.

I went strawberry picking with my mother.  It was a little late in the season and there weren't a lot of strawberries but we bought so many and they were so good!

This is about half of what we picked.

We enjoyed munching on these little red berries but knew we had to do other things with them too.  We made preserves with a fair quantity of the berries as we do every year.  We were invited to a barbeque at a family friends house, so I decided I had to make a dessert with strawberries for us to enjoy.

I searched and searched for at least two days for the perfect recipe (you'd be surprised how many strawberry desserts there are out there).  I wanted something that wasn't too crazy or difficult, but it had to be appropriate for a mid summer dessert too.  I was a little bit worried that a cheesecake would be too heavy, but it was perfect!

The cheesecake was a hit! And SO delicious!  If you're looking for something to bake with strawberries, look no further!

Strawberry-Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 10-ounce package shortbread cookies (such as Lorna Doone)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 10 ounces frozen unsweetened strawberries (about 2 3/4 cups), thawed, juices reserved
• 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Topping

• 1/3 cup strawberry or currant jelly
• 3 1-pint baskets fresh strawberries, hulled, halved lengthwise

Preperation:

For crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Grind cookies in processor to coarse crumbs. Add butter and blend until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture over bottom and 1 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust until just golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Puree thawed strawberries and juices in processor until smooth. Measure 3/4 cup puree (reserve any remaining puree for another use); do not wash bowl. Add cream cheese and sugar to processor. Blend until smooth. Using on/off turns, blend in flour. Add eggs; process until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add 3/4 cup strawberry puree, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and almond extract; process until well blended. Transfer filling to prepared crust.

Bake cake until center is softly set and edges begin to color, puff and crack, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Place hot cheesecake on rack. Refrigerate uncovered on rack until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

For topping:
Using small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake; remove pan sides. Stir jelly in heavy saucepan over low heat until melted. Arrange berry halves atop cheesecake in concentric circles; brush with warm jelly to glaze. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.

Let me know if you try it! I'd love to hear your thoughts!