Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Move the bottom oven rack to the lowest place in the oven. Place the second oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Grind the graham crackers in a food processor or roll them in a large Ziploc bag with a rolling pin until they're finely crushed.

Combine together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a medium bowl until it forms together.

Place a parchment paper round in the bottom of the 9" springform pan (optional) to prevent sticking.

Pour your graham cracker mixture on top of the parchment round and spread it evenly. Press down firmly with a flat measuring cup to compress the crust into the bottom and edges.

Bake the crust for 8 minutes at 350ºF and then let it cool. You should be able to smell the toasty crust near the end of the baking time.

Wrap the cheesecake pan in two layers of heavy duty tinfoil to prevent leaking. Or if you have a 10" cake pan you can put that around the cheesecake pan as a barrier.

Fill the pan with your cheesecake filling.

Place the cheesecake pan into a larger pan with at least 2" of space around the cheesecake pan. Place them into the preheated oven in the middle of the baking rack.

Carefully pour water into the outer pan until its 3/4 of the height of the cheesecake pan.

Lower the oven to 335ºF and place a sheet pan or roasting pan on the bottom rack and fill it 3/4 of the way with hot water. Your cheesecake will sit on the rack above the water.

Place your room-temperature cream cheese into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or you can use an electric mixer. Beat the cream cheese on low until extra smooth and no longer lumpy.

Sprinkle in your granulated sugar while mixing on low until combined. Mixing the cream cheese and sugar until super smooth will make your cheesecake texture extra creamy.

Add in the room temperature sour cream and heavy cream while mixing on low.

Pour in your room temperature eggs one at a time, on medium speed, letting each one combine fully before adding in the next.

Next, add the salt, honey and vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all of the cream cheese is incorporated.

Pour the cream cheese mixture into your cooled graham cracker crust.

Bake the cheesecake at 300ºF for about 60 minutes and do not open the oven door during baking. The cheesecake should be set, but still slightly jiggly in the center and have an internal temperature of 150°F. It will continue to firm up as it sits and cools down.

If it hasn't hit 150ºF yet or still is too jiggly in the center, continue baking in 10 minute increments until it's done baking.

Turn off the oven and crack the oven door open. Let the cheesecake cool inside the oven for 60 more minutes. This prevents cracking.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven and place it into the fridge to cool for 6 hours or ideally, overnight. Wait to cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap until it is fully cool, so it doesn’t condensate and drip moisture onto the top of the cheesecake.

Run a knife around the outside of the cheesecake to separate it from the pan, or use a kitchen torch to lightly warm the outside and remove the springform pan.

Combine together the frozen strawberries, water, salt, and sugar, lemon juice and zest in a large saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has thickened and reduced by 1/3.

Use a whisk to crush the strawberries and make the mixture into more of a sauce.

Combine together the ClearJel (or cornstarch) in a separate cup to make a slurry.

Add the ClearJel mixture to the simmering strawberries and cook for 1 minute while stirring constantly until thickened.

Let the strawberry topping cool before placing it on top of your cheesecake in an even layer.

Chop a bar of chocolate that contains cocoa butter in the ingredients (I like the brand Lindt) into small pieces and place it into a medium sized, microwave safe bowl.

Microwave the chocolate for 1 minute and stir.

Continue microwaving the chocolate until it is 75% melted.

Stir the chocolate without heating until it is fully melted. If you have a few un-melted bits its ok.

Spread the chocolate in a even layer on your stone countertop (granite, quartz or similar) or on the back of a metal sheet pan.

Wait until the shine disappears from the surface. This should only take about 30 seconds to happen.

Use a bench scraper at a 45º angle to push into the chocolate and create your chocolate curls.

Top your strawberry cheesecake with chocolate curls right before serving.