A rich, fine-textured cheesecake topped with a shimmering glaze of strawberries. Rose’s recipe calls for a liberal amount of lemon juice for she feels it offsets the richness of the cream cheese and sour cream and helps lighten the cake’s texture. After the cake bakes for one hour, she simply turns off the oven, leaving the cake inside to cool down gradually for another hour or so. Letting it cool off slowly helps prevent the top from cracking. During the final cooling period, she cooks the strawberry topping, then lets it cool enough to spread on top of the cake.
Yield:
Serves 12-14.Crust:
Ingredients
1 package plus 4 additional graham crackers, crushed
6 tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
Rub all ingredients together with your fingers until mixture is blended. In a 10-inch springform pan, pat the crust onto the bottom of the pan, and bring the edges up as far as possible.
Cheese Filling:
Ingredients
1 pound cream cheese
1 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1 pint sour cream
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Dash of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 scant tablespoons flour
6 egg whites
Instructions
Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Stir in egg yolks, sour cream, lemon juice, cinnamon, and vanilla. Add flour and stir until blended. Whip egg whites until they hold a peak, and fold in thoroughly. Pour into crust and bake in preheated 300 degrees F oven for 1 hour. Then shut off heat and leave cake in oven (keep door closed) for 1 hour longer. Open door and let cake remain in oven 15 minutes more. Cool thoroughly.
Topping:
Ingredients
1 carton (10 ounces) frozen strawberries in syrup (not fresh frozen in plastic pouch)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
Thaw berries and drain, reserving syrup. In a small pan, mix cornstarch, sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice, and gradually add 3/4 cup strawberry syrup. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and clears. Let cool about 7 minutes. Add strawberries and spread topping on cooled cake.
