Cherry Cheesecake w/ Cherry Topping
This cherry cheesecake is a creamy New York-style cheesecake topped with an incredible cherry cheesecake topping.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 cups Graham crackers crumbs
- ½ cup Butter
For the cheesecake filling
- 28.2 oz Cream cheese room temp
- 1 ¼ cups Granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon Lemon zest
- 2 teaspoon Lemon juice
- ⅔ cup Sour cream
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Egg yolk
- 2 ½ tablespoon Cornstarch
For the cherry topping
- 1 lbs Cherries pitted
- ¼ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup of water
Instructions
Make the cheesecake
- Prepare a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, and preheat an oven to 180c (350f).
- Pulse graham crackers or digestive biscuits in a food processor until fine crumbs form. If you don’t have a food processor on hand, place the crackers in a Ziplock bag and smash them with a cup until fine crumbs form.
- Into a small to medium mixing bowl, add the crumbs, and melted butter. Mix with a spoon until the crumbs are coated with butter.
- Transfer the crumbs into a prepared 9-inch springform pan, pressing evenly and firmly into the pan.
- Bake the crust in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 8 minutes. Keep an eye on the crust and make sure it doesn’t burn.
- Remove the crust out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature while you make the cheesecake filling.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the room-temperature cream cheese, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and mix with an electric hand mixer until is creamy.
- Add the sour cream and mix until creamy and smooth.
- Whisk the eggs in a small bowl add them to the cheesecake mixture gradually, and mix until the mixture is smooth.
- Sift the cornstarch into the mixture and mix until combined and there are no lumps of cornstarch showing. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure there are no lumps of cream cheese or unmixed batter.
- Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust, and release air bubbles by gently tapping the pan onto a flat surface.
- Bake it in a 140c (280f) preheated oven for about an hour or until the edges of the cheesecake are set, but the middle is a bit jiggly.
- Open the oven door halfway, and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature for 1-2 hours.
- After the cheesecake is cooled, wrap the cheesecake with plastic wrap tightly, and place the cheesecake in the fridge to cool completely for at least 5 hours.
Make the cherry cheesecake topping
- In a medium saucepan, combine the pitted cherries, lemon juice, and sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cherries release their juices and the mixture starts to simmer.
- In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with water until smooth. This creates a slurry that will help thicken the cherry topping. Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the simmering cherries, stirring constantly.
- Continue cooking for about 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to your desired consistency. Remember that it will thicken further as it cools.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, spread the cherry topping over your cheesecake or serve it on the side.
Notes
- Make sure that you are using room-temperature cream cheese in this recipe, this step makes it easier to mix the cream cheese with no unnecessary lumps, we don’t want that.
- Use a springform tin. We use springform tins for all of our cheesecake recipes. This makes sure that your cake will be easy to release from the pan.
- Use high-fat cream cheese or the well-known Philadelphia cream cheese. Using full-fat cream cheese ensures that your cheesecake will be stable and will not crack.
- Let your cheesecake chill in the fridge for at least 5 hours. We know it’s very hard to resist eating this delicious cheesecake right away, but you have to let the cheesecake cool and set it in the pan. We like to let the cheesecake sit in the fridge overnight.
- For a smooth and creamy cheesecake, make sure that you are using room-temperature ingredients. Before you begin to make this cheesecake, make sure that your ingredients are at room temperature like eggs, sour cream, and cream cheese.
- Don’t overbeat the mixture! It's really easy to overbeat the mixture, and that is one of the most common mistakes. To avoid overbeating your mixture, make sure that you lower the speed of the hand mixer and add each egg at a time.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to ensure that you have a homogeneous mixture that has no cream cheese lumps.
- Don't open the oven door before the cake is fully baked or about to be baked! Drastic changes in the temperature of the cake while baking can cause the cake to collapse or crack.
Nutrition
Calories: 651kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 9gFat: 43gSaturated Fat: 24gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 183mgSodium: 468mgPotassium: 286mgFiber: 2gSugar: 44gVitamin A: 1580IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 127mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!