THE BEST STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE RECIPE

Bring all ingredients to room temp

Preheat oven to 350F (conventional)

Grind your Graham crackers, sugar and butter in a food processor until really smooth

Butter the bottom of a 9” springform pan and add the crust ingredients. Pack very tightly using a measuring cup. You can push a little up the edges. Bake the crust for 8 min, then set oven temp to 325F

For the cheesecake batter, first cream the cream cheese for 2-3 min until creamy. Keep scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure everything combines evenly. Add the sugar and mix again for 3-5 min until well combined

Break your eggs in a separate bowl and whisk lightly. Don’t overbeat because if the eggs get airy they will give a spongy texture to the cheesecake. Add them to the batter slowly and mix at a low speed until JUST combined

Add the cream, sour cream, lemon juice, salt, vanilla and cornstarch and mix at low speed until just combined. Keep scraping sides of the bowl

Pour the batter into the crust. Seal your pan tightly with aluminum foil on the outside (not on the top)

Place a large tray in your oven and fill it with 1-2 inches of boiling water. Place the pan in the water and bake for about 75-80 min. Don’t open the oven. When done, the cheesecake should have firm edges but be very jiggly inside

Cool at room temp for 2-3 hours. After this, place in the fridge and chill overnight

Mix the strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice in a nonstick saucepan. Stir and cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes until the mixture becomes saucy and thick (it will thicken up more as it cools). If you like compote to be very soft, you can cook for longer. If you want the strawberries to have a bite, you can cook for less time. Let the compote cool down fully

Transfer the cooled cheesecake to a serving stand, and cover with the strawberry compote

Decorate with fresh strawberries, serve, and enjoy!