Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

For the strawberry puree:

1 – 20 ounce bag of frozen unsweetened strawberries or 20 ounces of fresh strawberries

1/4 – 1/3 cup granulated white sugar, or to taste

For the crust:

2 cups Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

For the filling:

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the strawberry puree:

Place the unsweetened frozen strawberries in a large bowl and thaw. This may take a few hours. Once thawed, put the strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process the berries until they are pureed. Pour the puree into a 2 cup measuring cup. You should have about 1 1/4 cups of puree. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar to start and stir until sugar dissolves. 

*Another option is using those already surgared strawberries from the freezer section. This is what I use, and remember when using this you need way less sugar added, if any, just taste your puree before adding any to the cheesecake batter. 

To make the crust:

In medium bowl toss together graham crumbs, margarine or butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 2 inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Chill in freezer while preparing filling.

To make the filling:

Position rack in center of oven. Using mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla.

Transfer 1/3 of filling to prepared crust. Dollop 4-5 small spoonfuls of strawberry puree atop filling and swirl it through with a knife to distribute the puree into the filling. Repeat layering of filling and and puree 2 more times. Using knife again, swirl puree through filling, creating marbled design on the top layer. Try to make this swirling a more decorative effect. 

Bake until cheesecake puffs around edges, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off oven. 

Let cake stand in oven 1 hour, leaving oven door cracked just a bit.

Transfer cake to rack. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Cool completely. 

Cover cake and chill overnight. Remove pan sides. 

You can serve cake with the remaining strawberry puree on the side.

 Enjoy!

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Ingredients

CRUST:

2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (about 32 wafers)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

FILLING:

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

3 packages (8 ounces each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (6 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Directions

In a large bowl, combine crumbs and sugar; stir in butter.
Press onto the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. springform pan; set aside.

*for the cupcake variation, just put the crumb mix into the cupcake tins and mash them into the bottom, for this I use a bent spoon.

In a small saucepan, combine cream and coffee granules; cook and stir until granuals are dissolved let stand for 1 minute.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add flour and beat well. Add eggs, beating on low speed just until combined.

Add coffee mix to cream cheese mixture with vanilla; beat just until combined. Stir in 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate overnight.

*Tips:

-Let your eggs and cream cheese set out for about an hour to allow 

them to become room temperature before using them.

-I use Oreo cookies for the crumb crust. 

Just open the cookies and scrape out the cream and crush the wafers.

Ingredients

2 cups Keebler® Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

Filling

4 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Directions

1. In small bowl toss together graham crumbs, margarine or butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 2 1/4-inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Chill in freezer while preparing filling.

2. In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese on medium speed of electric mixer until fluffy. Add 1 1/3 cups sugar, cornstarch and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Stir in sour cream.

3. Pour into crust. Bake at 325°F about 1 1/4 hours or until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen sides of pan. Continue cooling on wire rack for 45 minutes more.

4. Sprinkle top with reserved crumbs. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Garnish as desired. Store in refrigerator.
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**Here's a quick and easy glaze. You can substitute any fruit for strawberries here.

GLAZE:
1 cup strawberry, mashed
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup water


INSTRUCTIONS:
blend sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan. Stir in water and strawberries.
Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Cool thoroughly before spreading over cheesecake.