Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake

I still remember my very very first Strawberry Cheesecake. I was in Form 1 / Year 9 / Upper 3 and a few of us got together at my place to make my friend a birthday cake. And we used the wrong cream cheese, cheated and used those pre-made cheesecake bases, and it didn't set. But oh well. It (the cake base) was good. And we were only about 12 or 13, god I can't remember ever being so small. But there we go.

A, seeing how jobless I am every day and how I got a Hummingbird Cake Days cookbook for my birthday, suggested I make him a cake to take to work with so here we are: Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake.

I actually got excited over chopping strawberries. But seriously. I've never smelt such sweetness and freshness of strawberries as while I was chopping them up, inhaling in the summery fruitiness; normally the strawberry just goes into my mouth and down my throat and all is left is a satisfied smile and red-stained fingers.

The second layer of the cake, right out of the oven

one of the ramekins I devoured without even waiting for it to set properly, mm.

So there we go. Almost ten years later, the perfected strawberry cheesecake.


Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake
(from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days)

Ingredients
For the Base
220g digestive biscuits
100g unsalted butter, melted

For the Topping
400g fresh strawberries (200g chopped, 200g halved for decoration)
180g caster sugar
600g full-fat cream cheese*
2 large eggs
100g mascarpone cheese
20g icing sugar**
100ml double cream

and a cake tin


Preparation
1.    Line the base of the tin with baking parchment. Crush the digestive biscuits by blitzing through a food processor or placing them into a plastic bag, sealing and crushing with a rolling pin.***
2.    Pour the biscuit crumbs into a bowl, add the melted butter and stir together, then tip into the lined tin and press into the base with the back of a spoon. Place the tin in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to allow the base to set.
3.    Meanwhile, place the strawberries into a saucepan with 80g of sugar and 30ml water, bring to boil. Reduce the head and cook until the strawberries are soft and the liquid has reduced by half. Take off the hob and set aside until completely cold.
4.    Preheat oven to 160°C, Gas Mark 3. Prepare the topping by using an electric whisk to beat together the cream cheese and remaining sugar on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl now and then. Tip in the cooked strawberries and stir in by hand, also mix well.
5.    Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Place in a roasting tin (first wrap the cake tin in foil to avoid water seeping in) and fill up with water up to 5mm below top of cake tin.****
6.    Bake for approx 30mins, until firm on top with slight wobble in the middle. Allow cheesecake to cool to room temperature still in the tin, then place in the fridge to chill and set for 1-2 hours.
7.    Using the electric whisk, beat the mascarpone and icing sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip the double cream until soft peaks form, then fold into mascarpone.
8.    Remove the chilled cheesecake from the fridge and pour the mascarpone cream on top, spreading evenly. Place back in fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight to set.
9.    When serving, remove the cheesecake from tin and top with fresh strawberry halves.

*I grew up in a place where cream cheese was called cream cheese. In the UK, they call it soft cheese. Pah.

**There was no icing sugar in the house, I used a tsp of caster sugar instead. A doesn't like overly sweet things anyway.

***Or, my way, bash the packet of biscuits on the kitchen counter til it lost its cylindrical shape and I could hear the crumbs. Then further crushed it with a potato masher. Still worked.

****Roasting tin, in student accommodation, really? I was lucky enough to find a disposable aluminium tray and wedge the cake tin in. DIY water bath.