It's a special day for Andrew and I... our three year anniversary! Though we weren't able to go out for a lavish dinner (darn those gym classes, haha!) I did get him a little something, which was actually supposed to be part of his Christmas gift except that I couldn't find it in the stores until Boxing Week (sigh). What did I get him? Well, it wasn't a ring (that was last year), or a new car (he doesn't drive), but instead I got him a box of root-beer flavoured candy canes. I know, isn't it romantic??*cue sarcasm*
Hear me out, though, and yes, this is a sappy romantic thing, so skip down if you don't want that. The very first year I gave Andrew a Christmas gift, we were still in the "just friends" state of awkward social interaction (back in the good ol' days of Grade 12). I didn't really know what to do since I really did like him in "that way" but didn't want to be hurt by an outright rejection (yeah, I'm a social scaredy-cat!). Anyways, I resorted to a cheap, traditional Christmas standby: the candy cane. I decorated it with pipe cleaners to make it a reindeer, and stuck it to a card, and that was it. Little did I know that two short weeks later we would become a couple, and inseperable (at least at the heart) ever since! Every Christmas since then, I've given him a candy cane in some form to replicate that tiny spark of magic on our first Christmas gift exchange. However, this Christmas I was so enrobed in cookie, bread and cheesecake baking, that not only have I been slow in posting it all, but I was slow in keeping up this tradition. Ah well, today's his day for that, and I'm sure he won't mind!
In fact, Andrew's father (and probably at Andrew's request) asked for me to make them a cheesecake after Christmas, with "something like strawberry" as a guideline and "a chocolate crust, pleeeeease!" from my fiance's sweet tooth. Well, the Beatles lover that I am teamed up with my previous cheesecake-creation experiences for this recipe, and no I wasn't cooking with Lucy!! This was what my girly side kicked in with, after some deliberation: a delightfully pink, sinfully rich strawberry-vanilla cheesecake with a chocolate crust! Needless to say, Andrew loved it, as did his dad and brother. Good to know, since they may just be getting my Strawberry Cheesecakes Forever!
Strawberry Cheesecakes Forever
Serves 12
1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
250g (8oz) light cream cheese, softened
500g (16oz) regular cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup full-fat sour cream
½ Tbsp. cornstarch
¾ cup pure strawberry puree
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan and wrap in heavy-duty foil.
- Put the cookie crumbs in a large bowl.
- Add the melted butter and stir the mixture until the crumbs are evenly moistened with the butter.
- Transfer the crumbs to the buttered pan.
- Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- Bake the crust for 6 minutes. Let cool completely.
- Beat cream cheeses, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
- Add eggs, sour cream and cornstarch; mix just until blended.
- Beat in strawberry puree.
- Pour into prepared crust.
- Bang the cake on the countertop to settle batter.
- Bake 1 hour 15 minutes, in a prepared water bath, until center is almost set.
- Turn oven off, leave cheesecake to cool in oven 30 minutes, then remove from oven and water and cool completely on a rack.
- Refrigerate overnight before serving.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 367.2
Total Fat: 27.6 g
Cholesterol: 107.8 mg
Sodium: 276.2 mg
Total Carbs: 23.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.8 g
Protein: 7.8 g
...oh, and if you were wondering what my wonderful fiance gave to me that first Christmas? Well, it was a cheerful-looking bracelet with my name on it, and my gorgeous (though slightly battered-looking) lucky bunny keychain Philip!
and always love you angel that cheese cake is so fantastic amazing post
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! And I love the Beatles twist to the cheesecake name =)
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