Cheesecake With Strawberry Jelly
Here’s a light vanilla cheesecake with a thin layer of white chocolate—and strawberry jelly on top!
Although a cheesecake with jelly on top would be more common as a ‘no-bake’ cheesecake, we developed this recipe for the ‘baked’ style. We love ‘baked’ cheesecakes due to their richer flavour and creamier texture.
With fresh strawberries, this is a perfect summer dessert to wow the crowd.
Ingredients
MAKES ONE 24cm ROUND CAKE
Base
8 oat biscuits, crushed
Cheesecake
400g cream cheese
100g sour cream
35g double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
15g plain flour
2 large eggs
150g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
50g white chocolate, chopped (for the top layer)
NOTE: All ingredients should be at room temperature.
Strawberry jelly
2 packs of strawberry jelly (to make 450ml of jelly)
200g strawberries
Steps
Cheesecake
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Line a round springform pan with parchment paper—it is sufficient to only line the bottom of the pan. Then wrap the outside of the pan in a layer of kitchen foil, covering the underside and coming up the edges. The foil will protect against water leaking into the cake during baking.
Crush the biscuits and distribute them on the bottom of the prepared pan, gently pressing them down with your hand or a flat spoon.
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese with the sour cream, double cream, vanilla and a half of the sugar. Mix until combined.
Take away 2 tablespoons of the cheese mix and put them in a separate bowl. Add the flour and mix until fully combined. Then, add the flour mix back into the main bowl with the cheese mix. This method will prevent lumps from forming when adding the flour to the cheese mix, therefore helping incorporate the ingredients with ease.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and the remaining sugar until just combined.
Add the eggs to the cheese mixture in three parts and finally add a pinch of salt.
Slowly pour the cheese mixture onto the prepared crust.
Carefully place the springform pan into a bigger baking dish. Add hot water to the baking dish, enough to come halfway to the top of the springform pan.
Bake in the water bath for about 30 minutes, until the top looks dry and the center is almost set. You can test this by tapping the side of the pan with a spoon. The centre should wobble slightly—don’t worry, the cake will continue to cook even when you take it out of the oven.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 2 hours. (Do not remove the ring).
To melt the white chocolate, place it in a small heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
Without removing the ring, cover the top of the cake completely with a thin layer of the melted chocolate, making sure that there are no gaps between the cake and the cake ring.
Just before the chocolate is set, assemble the strawberries on top, lightly pressing them down into the chocolate. This will help the strawberries stay in place once the jelly is poured on top.
Strawberry jelly
Make the jelly as per instructions on the pack, but use about 10% less water than instructed.
Once the jelly is cooled down and starts to get thicker, spread it on top of the cake and strawberries.
Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight before serving.
Tips
For best results, use ingredients that are at room temperature. Room temperature ingredients blend up smoothly so you don’t end up with a lumpy cake.
Try not to open the oven door while baking the cheesecake. Any drafts, especially during the first 30 minutes, can cause the top of the cake to crack.
Why use a water bath when baking a cheesecake? A cheesecake, like custard, needs to be treated delicately during baking. Without the moist heat, the texture of the cheesecake can become rubbery. You’ll also want to bake your cheesecake slowly and evenly without browning the top too much. The water bath will help cook the centre without overcooking the outside, and it will also make it less likely for the cheesecake to crack (which is quite crucial in this particular recipe, in order to prevent the jelly from leaking inside the cake.)
If the top of the cheesecake cracked a little after the bake, don’t worry, you should be able to seal it with the layer of melted chocolate (before pouring the jelly on top). However, if the top is badly cracked, I would suggest skipping the jelly altogether (to avoid it from leaking inside the cake, which could impact not only the look, but also the taste and texture of the cheesecake).
