I just had to share this strawberries and cream cheesecake with you. Valentine's day is right around the corner and strawberries are always a big hit! This cheesecake has a cookie crumb crust, a layer of strawberry cheesecake, and a vanilla cheesecake layer on top. Did I mention, there's a sweet truffle surprise inside too! For the big finish, I added tall swirls of whipped cream and strawberry cream truffles! Check out the rest of my cheesecake recipes too.
Thank you Cost Plus World Market for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.
Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake
Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day, or just want a tasty strawberry cheesecake recipe, this will rock your world. I'm a huge fan of the two different layers of flavor and color.
The bottom layer that has the gorgeous pink color thanks to the Torani strawberry syrup that you can pick up at your local Cost Plus World Market. For an extra pop of flavor, I added in strawberry extract too!
We loved this recipe so much that I thought I would make it for my bestie that lives down the road. I was already borrowing a springform pan because both of mine were already in use, what better way to return it than with a cheesecake in it! Right?
That family has tested all sorts of recipes for me including most, if not all, of them from my Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook.
My hubby and I combine Valentine's Day and our anniversary since they're both at the beginning of February. We go out to dinner (we bring our kiddo too), exchange a gift or two, and call it a day.
We typically do that the weekend closest to February 3rd, which is our anniversary. I can't believe we've been married for 8 years now. We've basically been a couple since the fall of '05 where we met in a freshman comp. class in college.
So what do we do on February 14th? To be honest, nothing really. Wesley typically brings me home flowers which I love. What do you do on Valentine's Day? I would love to hear!
I wanted to include some in process photos of creating my recipe. The first step is to pop these digestive cookies into a food processor and pulse them until they're all crumbs. You can also use a large storage bag and a rolling pin if you don't have a food processor handy.
Add the melted butter and sugar and stir to coat all the crumbs!
Next step is the cheesecake batter. You can see that I have the strawberry syrup on hand for what happens next!
I divided the cheesecake batter into two bowls. One is going to stay vanilla and the other is going to get a dose of strawberry syrup and extract. Stir until syrup and extract are incorporated and you have a pretty pink batter.
Add the pink into the pan or you could add white on the bottom instead. It's whatever you prefer. Next, add your Lindt strawberry cream white chocolate truffles. Don't overdo it with the truffles.
I was going for one truffle per a slice. You can leave them out of the center too if you don't want to bite into crunchy chocolate. Personally, I love a crunchy chocolate. I especially love a refrigerated cake pops with a chocolate coating.
Lastly, add the white cheesecake batter on top of pink in a slow and steady stream. Be sure to cover all of the pink with the white batter.
Do you still need Valentine's Day gift ideas? Maybe a little treat for yourself even. They have these adorable enchanted wildflower soap petals that I really want to get my mama for a little gift.
You can always grab some Valentine's Day candy too like these strawberry cream white chocolate truffles. *wink wink*
Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cups 13 cookies digestive cookie crumbs
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
Cheesecake:
- 24 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons Torani strawberry syrup
- 1 teaspoon strawberry extract
- 7 - 9 Lindt strawberry cream white chocolate truffles
Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 11 Lindt strawberry cream white chocolate truffles
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray the sides of the 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray. Wrap the sides of the pan with a strip of parchment paper.
- Mix the cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until it resembles wet sand and can be packed down.
- Press the crust evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while you work on the cheesecake filling.
Cheesecake
- In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until the cream cheese is smooth. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the sugar and beat on medium until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add in the eggs one at a time. Beat each egg in before adding the next. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add in the sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium until the mixture comes together.
- Pour half of the batter into a separate bowl. Set aside.
- Add the Torani strawberry syrup and strawberry extract into the remaining cheesecake batter. Stir until everything is combined and a light pink color.
- Pour the pink batter on top of the crust. The crust doesn't have to be cooled completely.
- Add a circle of truffles to the cheesecake. I would only add about 7 - 9 and leave plenty of room towards the outside of the pan.
- Pour the remaining cheesecake batter in a slow and steady stream, covering all of the pink batter and truffles.
- Wrap the outside of the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty tin foil. Place the cheesecake into a slightly bigger pan and fill with 1 inch of water.
- Place in the oven. Let the cheesecake bake for 1 hour 16 minutes - 1 hour 25 minutes until done. To make sure the cheesecake is done, gently give it a wiggle. If it slightly jiggles in JUST the middle like jello, then it's done. If it jiggles all over, it needs to bake longer. Turn off the heat and crack the oven door slightly. Let it cool in the oven for 1 to 2 hours until it reaches room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill overnight.
Whipped Cream
- Just before serving, make and add the whipped cream to the cheesecake.
- Place the heavy cream and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Add the whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip. Pipe swirls on top of the cooled cheesecake.
- Top each swirl with a truffle.
- Cut and serve. Store in the fridge.
Suzanne Makin says
Do you think you could purée actual strawberries to use for that layer instead of syrup?
Miranda says
Yes, that would work!
Amy says
This Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake looks and sounds fabulous. Your pictures are gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing at Waste Not Wednesday.
Michele says
Oh my goodness, this cheesecake looks over-the-top delicious! Loving all of those gorgeous layers!
Monica Labrador says
I cherish those truffles and that strawberry syrup is such a really pink shading! Love digestives as well – such a helpful fixing. I so need to make this for my flawless tomorrow!
Emmi says
So looking forward to this lovely treat.
My question is, is it okay to halve this recipe and bake it in a 9x5 pan?
Toni | Boulder Locavore says
This is so pretty!
Dorothy says
Can some one plz tell me what kind of digestive cookies are? I've never heard of them.
Miranda says
They're like a graham cracker. 🙂
Tina Tice says
I want to make these into mini cheesecakes. I have a christmas party and I need enough for 40 people. Is there any modifications or adjustments to the recipe that I should make?
Miranda says
I haven't tried it so I'm not sure what the adjustments would be. I'll definitely put it on my list to try. I would love to know if you were able to try it!
nancy dearman says
LOVE LOVE LOVE your recopies. T
Miranda says
Awww thanks!
Amanda says
I’d like to try this for Easter, which is three days away, I live in a small town where I can’t find strawberry extract or strawberry syrup (other than for strawberry milk), is there anything else I can use? Sweetened poured strawberries maybe? I hate to attempt it and modify with what I can find locally. Please help
Miranda says
I don't think you'll get the flavor you want using sweetened poured strawberries without adding too much liquid to the batter. If you could find freeze-dried strawberries, you could use them by adding them to a food processor and pulse them until they're a powder. I would add at least 3 tablespoons of the strawberry powdered and then substitute the 3 tablespoons of Torani syrup with 3 tablespoons of heavy cream. I hope that helps.
Jenna says
Hello!
Could you please tell me how I could go about baking this in a 8-inch pan rather than a 9-inch? I've read to leave out about one fifth of the batter, but I wanted to know your thoughts! Also, how should the baking time be adjusted? Thanks for your help!
Miranda says
Hi! I would leave about 1/4 of an inch of space at the top of the pan when pouring in the cheesecake so that the cheesecake doesn't overflow. You could always try baking the remaining batter in a small pan or in a cupcake pan with a cupcake liner. I hope that helps.
Sweta Tandon says
Without egg please recipe
Dianna says
What exactly are digestive cookies? I’m assuming good old autocorrect but it gave me a chuckle 😂
Miranda C. says
Hi Dianna! They actually ARE called digestive cookies! The brand I use is McVitieft's which I found in Whole Foods grocery store. They are called digestive biscuits because there is a lot of baking soda in the cookies which was said to help soothe the stomach back in the 1800's. Give them a try and let me know what you think!