Cooking with Rania: David's birthday New York Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Rania Harris is celebrating David's birthday with a "Golden Girls" favorite -- cheesecake!
New York Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1and ½ cups
- 2 ½ pounds cream cheese, softened
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup sour cream
Strawberry Sauce, recipe follows
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Butter the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and 2 tablespoons sugar and mix well. Press onto bottom of springform pan and bake until golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, butter the sides of the pan.
Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, 1½ cups sugar, zests, and vanilla and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour, then the eggs and yolks 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Place the pan in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Do not bake in a convection oven setting – bake in a regular oven bake setting. This helps the cheesecake from forming cracks.
Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate cake overnight before serving. Cut into wedges and top with strawberry sauce.
Strawberry Sauce:
- 2 pints fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons Grande Marnier
Combine berries, sugar, water and zest and cook until berries are soft and the liquid is thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Grande Marnier and cook for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and let cool. Spoon on top of the cheesecake and serve.