To the light and fresh summer strawberry cheesecake from New York!
With all the fresh strawberries out there, it was only a matter of time before I started thinking about using them for desserts and the first thing that came to mind was a strawberry cheesecake. Although a fresh, unbaked strawberry cheesecake is always good, I also like New York-style cheesecake, so I made this strawberry cream cheesecake with a pretzel crust. This cheesecake is a fairly simple cheesecake with cream cheese, eggs, sugar, cream, and strawberry puree, with the only real difference being that the added moisture from the fresh strawberries increases the baking time a bit. Instead of using the classic graham cracker cake, I opted for a slightly different and tasty variant with a touch of pretzel crumb crust. This strawberry and cream cheese pretzel crust cake are so beautiful and light, creamy, and smooth with a sweet and salty mix that goes perfectly with the strawberry flavor!

Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutes Total Time: 1-hour Servings: 9
Al light and summer-y fresh strawberry New York style cheesecake!
ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pretzel crumbs (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 24 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1 pound strawberries, hulled and pureed
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
directions
- Mix the crumbs, sugar, and butter and press into the bottom of an 8-9 inch springform pan.
- Beat the cream cheese, beat in the eggs, one at a time followed by the sugar, cream, strawberries, and lemon juice.
- Pour the batter into the springform pan, wrap the bottom of the pan in foil, place in a larger pan with a small amount of hot water and bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until set, about 90 minutes, turn off the heat and let sit in the closed oven for 15 minutes before removing and letting cool at room temperature.
Note: The cheesecake is set when the sides are solid and the center is still a little jiggly when you shake it.
Option: Replace the pretzel crumbs with graham cracker crumbs, vanilla wafer, crumbs, etc.
Nutrition Facts: Calories 637, Fat 38g (Saturated 21g, Trans 0.1g), Cholesterol 168mg, Sodium 765mg, Carbs 65g (Fiber 2g, Sugars 33g), Protein 10g