This weekend, we headed off to visit family in New Jersey. One of my aunts makes some Taiwanese specialties that you seldom see here and she was going to show me some stuff. (More about that in future posts.) We could not arrive without some delicious offerings of our own so we decided on a seasonal cheesecake. It was a fun collaborative dessert. Lon made the cheesecake (because he is the cheesecake master) and I made the topping.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Cheesecake
-makes 1 (9″ round, 3″ high) cake
Cheesecake
- 10oz Graham Cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
- 24oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup White Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- pinch of Lemon Zest
- boiling water for water bath
Strawberry-Rhubarb Topping
- 3.5 cups Diced Strawberry (16oz container)
- 3 cups Sliced (1/4″) Rhubarb
- 1/2 cup White Sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup corn starch
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wrap the bottom of 9-inch springform with aluminum.
2. Combine melted butter and graham cracker crumbs. Press into the bottom of the springform pan. Set aside.
3. Cream together cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer. Beat on medium for at least three minutes, until smooth. Turn mixer to low, add one egg at a time, waiting until previous has been mostly incorporated. When all are incorporated, add heavy cream, vanilla, and lemon zest. Beat for two minutes on medium. Pour onto crust in springform pan.
4. Bake in a water bath at 325 deg F for 40-55 minutes. The cake is done when the sides are firm and the center wiggles like jello. Keep cake in oven, turn off heat, crack open oven door about 1-2 inches and let sit for a full hour. Then remove to a wire rack and cool another hour, before covering and refrigerating overnight.
5. To make the topping, toss strawberries, rhubarb, and white sugar in a medium pot. Set it on the counter for about an hour. Mix in brown sugar and cornstarch and start heating on a low flame, while stirring. When rhubarb is soft, you can turn up the heat to medium and let it thicken, still stirring. When it was thickened to desired consistency, remove from heat and allow to cool completely before putting it on the cheesecake. Note – We let it macerate but I don’t think it is necessary.
6. Spoon strawberry-rhubarb topping onto cheesecake, cover, and refrigerate until serving.
i keep seeing rhubarb everywhere!
We love a good cheesecake. This is quite the variation for the usual fruit topping. Looks great.
Lovely cheesecake!!!
I had the most disastrous experience yesterday when experimenting with a new cheesecake recipe: after 1.5 hours in the oven, wouldn’t you think it was done?! Wrong! It looked done and was firm to the touch. I brought it to room temperature and, when I opened the pan… raw cheesecake batter flowed everywhere!!! hahaha thankfully it was eadible and my sisters finished the sad looking custard fiasco in like 1 hour!
can I just say I chopped some fresh rhubarb and boiled it for 15 minutes with sugar and orange juice. SO good over ice cream. Seriously, rhubarb is under-used ingredient.
what an amazing topping! i’m always surprised when people make desserts using rhubarb and rhubarb alone. it belongs with strawberries!! 🙂
MM this looks good!! I made a red velvet cake the other day with this recipe http://www.howcast.com/videos/139827-How-To-Make-Red-Velvet-Cake but I think i’m going to try this recipe and make it for my mother’s birthday… She loves rhubarb. 🙂
What a beautiful cheesecake! Looks decadently rich!!! MMMMMMMMMMM….
I have used strawberry rhubarb topping on unbaked cheesecake (Cool Whip version) with great success in the past! The less sweet aspect of the rhubarb with the strawberries makes a rich cheesecake actually more appealing to guests. It is always a hit at ladies luncheons at church or my school staff.