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!
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.
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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 (My local store is in Chelsea). 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 1/4 cups 13 cookies digestive cookie crumbs
- 1 T. granulated sugar
- 4 T. butter melted
Cheesecake:
- 3 (8 oz.) bricks cream cheese room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 T. Torani strawberry syrup
- 1 tsp. strawberry extract
- 7 - 9 Lindt strawberry cream white chocolate truffles
Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 T. powdered sugar
- 11 Lindt strawberry cream white chocolate truffles
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Mix the cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until it resembles wet sand and can be packed down.
- Press the crust into a 9 inch springform pan.
- Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Cheesecake
- In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese. Beat 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 bottom of the springform pan with heavy duty tin foil. I like to do two layers of tin foil to keep the water out of the cheesecake. Place the cheesecake into a slightly bigger pan and fill with an inch to two inches of hot 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, 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. I kept mine in the oven for about 4-5 hours and then placed it in the fridge.
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.
Brandy Myers says
Guess who will be eating all the edge pieces to get those truffles? I’m a sucker for Lindt truffles and this cheesecake is no different. It reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream which could always be found in my grandparents freezer. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
Happy Anniversary….a few days ago. For Valentine’s Day (we have been married for 40 years), we just make a nice dinner at home (on the closest weekend to the day). This year on Valentine’s Day we are actually attending a gourmet cooking class where a professional chef will guide each couple to cook a wonderful dinner. This looks like a delicious cheesecake…and I do like cheesecake.
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
This cheesecake looks amazing!! I love how you topped it with Lindt chocolates!!
Sarah says
What a yummy and decadent idea to add truffles to the top of cheesecake! It makes for a gorgeous presentation! And I love that layer of pink underneath- YUM!
Amanda says
I love the gorgeous layers of this cheesecake, and how you’ve decorated it with the whipped cream swirls and truffles! It’s so delicate-looking and pretty. What a fantastic dessert this would be for a special occasion, like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. I’m going to have to pick up that Torani Strawberry syrup, it sounds great!
Bonni says
Beautiful cheesecake but instead of using Torani Syrup I mixed 2 tsp of real strawberry syrup with 1 tsp of cold filtered water. I tasted the Torani Syrup prior to adding it to the cheesecake mixture. The syrup tasted horrible! It contains all chemicals. Completely artificial. I poured the liquid down the drain. Complete waste of money. The cheesecake tasted delicious with my substitution.
Annemarie @ justalittlebitofbacon says
Happy anniversary! We usually have a nice meal in on the day and get a fire going in the fireplace. Pretty lowkey. 🙂
What a yummy looking cheesecake! I love the pink color from the strawberry syrup. I can see making this for Easter too with the pretty colors.
Tracy Koslicki says
Oh this is GORGEOUS. And I LOVE that you’re returning the borrowed pan with someone delicious in it! That’s perfect – you can borrow anything from me anytime! 😛
Tin says
Oh my gosh, I had heard of digestives but never knew what they were talking about exactly. I guessed it was some sort of new age cleanse, i had no idea about the history of this. Funny. By the way, this cheesecake looks amazing!
Britt @ A Lil' Sweet, Spice, & Advice says
I am LOVING the crunchy chocolate surprise in this cheesecake. Gonna have to try this out! I go to Cost Plus World Market pretty often so I will be looking for that strawberry syrup the next time I go. Most positive I will end up buying up half the store when I go because that’s usually what happens. LOL
Amy Nash says
Mmmm, I love cheesecake and Torani syrups. This looks like such a decadent, wonderful dessert! I might have to try this with the Torani raspberry syrup that I have in my cupbaord right now!
Lisa | Garlic + Zest says
This is positively a stunning dessert! Love the layers — and oh-ma-gawd– truffles inside and on top! This is perfect for a special Valentine’s Day or Galentine’s day because there’s no way my sweetie and I could polish off that whole cheesecake! It looks divine!
julia says
Happy anniversary!
This cheesecake looks so pretty and elegant! Almost like a neopoletan icecream. I love the idea of adding syrup to the cheesecake layer. I’ve seen these bottles of syrup at Starbucks but I’ve never been able to find them anywhere. I wish we had World Market store here in Canada. I saw some really pretty dishes there online.
Mrs Major Hoff says
Looks delicious! I love the pretty colors!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
I love the use of strawberry syrup here! So delicious! This cheesecake is beautiful!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
I love those truffles and that strawberry syrup is such a pretty pink colour! Love digestives too – such a useful ingredient. I so need to make this for my lovely tomorrow!
Courtney Lopez says
Such a darling cheesecake. I love the bright and happy colors. Absolutely delicious!
Joy King says
You owe me an oven!!! I cracked the oven door like the instructions say, it was a TERRIFIC job as the glass did not want to crack. I eventually got an industrial hammer and that worked beautifully. The oven door and glass cracked immediately!!! But it seemed to make NO difference at all, in fact the cake took forever to cook and I now sit with a broken oven door!! Couldn’t resist that …. sorry!!! Recipe looks great and look forward to making it.
Miranda says
Nice! lol
Sharon says
This cheesecake looks so pretty and delicious! Can gluten-free cookie crumbs be substituted for the digestive cookie crumbs? If so, should they be sweet-tasting since I am not familiar with the taste of digestive cookies? Thanks so much.
Miranda says
Yes, gluten-free cookie crumbs can be used. Digestive Cookies taste similar to graham crackers.
Francesca says
I have a question, in your ingredients…its say 1 T. of sugar….whats the T stand for?
Miranda says
Tablespoon
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!