Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake
Enjoy some summer magic for dessert with this Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake! Made with the natural sweetness of REAL roasted strawberries, this cheesecake is tangy and rich and skips artificial flavors and dye. Perfect for Summer strawberry season!
Out of all the desserts I make, cheesecake always comes the most requested! I love taking a classic cheesecake and changing up the flavors to make treats like Chocolate Cheesecake, Sugar Cookie Cheesecake, or even refreshing Coconut Mango Cheesecake Bars. And because fresh strawberry season is on the way, I decided to make a cheesecake recipe that featured the flavor of fresh, REAL strawberries.
Using Roasted Strawberries
Whenever I bake, I try to avoid artificial ingredients, which is why I wanted to make sure I figured out a way to extract the most flavor from fresh strawberries. Since they are naturally high in water, their flavor can be diluted unless they are roasted!
In order to get that fresh flavor and natural pink color, you’ll take ripe strawberries and toss them with lemon juice and sugar. Both the lemon juice and the sugar help release the moisture, so the fibers start to break down while leaving the flavor. Roasting for 30 minutes in the oven removes more moisture, making them tender, fragrant, and juicy, which is the perfect texture for mixing into cheesecake batter. They’re so much more flavorful and sweet – think a delicious ripe strawberry, but 10x better!
Strawberry cheesecake is perfect for a spring or summer picnic, dessert after a fancy dinner, or holidays like Easter or Valentine’s Day. It’s especially awesome during strawberry season when the berries are super ripe!
Key Ingredients Notes
- Roasted Strawberries – You’ll need fresh, juicy strawberries, juice from one lemon, and some granulated sugar to get the most out of your strawberries once roasted in the oven.
- Graham Crackers – The flavor of graham crackers pair well with the fresh flavor of strawberries and make up the base of the cheesecake crust along with butter, salt, and sugar to let it take shape when baked.
- Full Fat Cream Cheese – Room temperature cream cheese blends in with the cheesecake batter seamlessly, but it must be full fat for a rich, creamy taste. I always suggest Philadelphia cream cheese for the best consistency and flavor.
- Sour Cream – Sour cream adds moisture and tanginess to cheesecake, giving it an even more creamy texture that helps balance the thickness of the cream cheese.
- Cornstarch – This unique ingredient is added to the cheesecake to help stabilize the batter. This helps especially when preventing cracks when baking, leading to a smoother and more consistent texture.
- Heavy Whipping Cream – This makes up the base of the strawberry cheesecake topping, which adds a bit of lightness and freshness to the top.
Choosing The Best Strawberries
Strawberries come in all different shapes, colors, and sizes. These tips help you choose the best kind that mixes well into the cheesecake:
- Look for strawberries with a bright red color. The more bold the red color, the more ripe and sweeter the strawberry will be.
- Choose berries that are firm to the touch, avoiding any that are soft or mushy.
- Smell the strawberries! They should have a strong, sweet aroma if they’re at their peak freshness.
- Find strawberries with a shiny, not dull, surface.
- If they have leaves, make sure they are green and vibrant and not brown and dry.
- Use medium-sized strawberries, which often have more flavor than the larger ones filled with too much moisture.
- Look out for any signs of mold or bruising.
Cheesecake Baking Tips
Keeping your graham cracker crust from crumbling:
To prevent your graham cracker crust from falling apart, firmly press it into your springform pan. Begin by evenly spreading the crust mixture at the bottom of the pan with your fingers. Use a flat-bottomed round object, like a measuring cup, to compact the crust starting from the center and moving outward. Gently press the crust up the sides of the pan, making sure it’s packed just tight enough to maintain its shape. This gives the crust a solid foundation, helping it stay solid when you cut into the cheesecake.
Room temperature ingredients:
Using room-temperature ingredients in cheesecake is crucial for a smooth, creamy texture. Ingredients like cream cheese blend more easily when warm, which helps keep lumps from forming while reducing the need for too much mixing (always mix low and slow!), which can incorporate too much air and lead to cracks. To quickly bring cream cheese and eggs to room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for about 30 minutes.
Use a water bath:
Baking cheesecake in a water bath is needed to create a smooth and creamy texture. The water bath creates a moist environment in the oven, which helps prevent the cheesecake from drying out and cracking. By placing a roasting pan filled with boiling water on the bottom rack and the cheesecake on the middle rack, you make sure gentle, even heat surrounds the cheesecake as it bakes.
Proper cooling:
After baking, perform the jiggle test by nudging the pan; a jello-like jiggle means it’s done. Instead of removing it immediately, let the cheesecake cool gradually in the oven with the door cracked open to ease it into room temperature. This slow cooling process helps prevent sudden temperature changes that can cause cracking.
Strawberry Cheesecake FAQs
Yes, prebaking the crust is needed for a firm base that can support the weight of the cheesecake filling. It helps prevent the crust from becoming soggy.
Yes! Just substitute the graham crackers with gluten free graham crackers and you’re good to go.
I don’t recommend this as frozen strawberries tend to be mushy compared to fresh strawberries. Frozen and thawed can work for the batter, but fresh is best for the topping.
Over mixed batter will have lots of air bubbles on the surface and can lead to a cracked top. Mix just until the ingredients are combined to keep the texture smooth and prevent cracking.
For clean slices, use a sharp, thin knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between each cut. I also suggest kind of scooching around the strawberries on top to slice in between them for cleaner cuts.
After the initial uncovered chill, cover the cheesecake and it will keep in the refrigerator for about 5 days. If you have a container that’s big enough to cover both the cheesecake and the whipped cream, you can top the cheesecake and store as well. But I suggest topping with strawberries shortly before serving, or serve them on the side.
Without the toppings, wrap the cheesecake tightly in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil, and place it in the freezer, where it can stay for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, thaw the cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight, then bring to room temperature for 20 minutes before topping and serving.
For more cheesecake recipes, check out my:
- Cookie Dough Cheesecake
- No Bake S’mores Cheesecake
- New York Style Cheesecake
- Peach Cobbler Cheesecake
- Banana Pudding Cheesecake
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram if you make this strawberry cheesecake. I love seeing my recipes come to life in YOUR kitchen! To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Watch how to make this roasted strawberry cheesecake:
Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes + overnight chill
- Yield: 8-10 slices
Description
This strawberry cheesecake is made extra special with fresh roasted strawberries! The process of roasting brings out such a sweet and rich strawberry flavor and with roasted strawberries both in the batter and on top, it creates a VERY strawberry cheesecake.
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 2 cups (280g) finely ground graham crackers (regular or gluten free)
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter, melted
Roasted Strawberries
- 3 lb fresh strawberries
- 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake
- 4 8oz blocks full fat Philadelphia cream cheese, room temp
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, room temp
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Roasted strawberries, lightly mashed (about 1 3/4 cups)
Whipped Cream
- 4oz full fat Philadelphia cream cheese, room temp
- 2 cups (480g) heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Grease the inside of a 9” springform pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. I like to spray the inside of the pan, remove the ring, lay a torn sheet of parchment over the bottom plate, and place the ring back on. For the sides, cut 2-3 strips of parchment paper and press up against the greased sides, ensuring they extend past the top of the pan (see picture in post for reference).
- Blitz the graham crackers in a food processor and then mix in the sugar and salt.
- Pour in the melted butter and stir to combine.
- Press the crust into the pan, covering the bottom and about 2/3 up the sides.
- If you have room in your oven for both the springform pan and a large baking sheet for the strawberries (both baking on the middle rack), you can set the crust aside and prep the strawberries. Then, bake both at the same time – baking the crust for just 10 minutes and then leaving in the strawberries to continue their bake.
- If you don’t have enough room for both, bake the crust first for 10 minutes then continue on to the strawberries.
Roasted Strawberries
- With the oven still at 350F, line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Halve the strawberries (or quarter any larger ones) and rinse clean.
- Spread the berries onto the baking sheet and lightly pat dry with a paper towel.
- Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the berries and sprinkle with sugar. Toss to coat.
- Bake the berries for 25-30 minutes or until tender, fragrant, and juicy.
Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake
- When the berries and crust are done baking, drop the oven temperature to 325F. If needed, adjust the oven racks to where there’s one in the middle and one at the very bottom. To the bottom rack, add a large roast pan.
- For the strawberries, use half for the cheesecake batter and reserve the other half for topping later. To the half that goes into the batter, very roughly mash with a fork and scoop into a measuring glass along with its juices. It should measure about 1 3/4 cups of lightly mashed roasted strawberries. Set aside. To the other half of the strawberries, allow to fully cool and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Now fill a medium pot with water and place over high heat to boil (this will be for the water bath).
- In a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and mix on low speed just to smooth out.
- Pour in the sugar and cornstarch and mix again on low speed to combine.
- Scrape down the bowl and mix again on low speed.
- Scoop in the sour cream and mix on low speed to combine. Scrape down the bowl and mix again.
- Still on low speed, mix in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each egg. Mix in the vanilla with the last egg.
- Last, mix in the mashed roasted strawberries on low speed.
- Pour the batter into the crust and spread even.
- At this point, the water on the stovetop should be boiling. Pull out the bottom rack containing the roast pan and very carefully pour the hot water into the pan.
- Now place the cheesecake on the middle rack just above the roast pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Test for doneness by gently nudging the pan. If the center wobbles like a bowl of milk, bake for another 15 minutes. If it has a loose jiggle, it’s done.
- Keeping the cheesecake inside the oven, turn off the oven temperature and crack open the oven door. Leave it in there for 45 minutes.
- Then allow the cheesecake to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes, then chill it overnight uncovered.
Whipped Cream
- Once the cheesecake has fully chilled, it’s ready to top. *See notes on storing the cheesecake for a couple days before serving.
- In a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add the cream cheese and mix to smooth it out.
- With the mixer running, slowly trickle in the heavy cream. When about half is mixed in, stop and scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Then mix again.
- Continue slowly trickling in the heavy cream until it’s all mixed and smooth. Then crank it up to high speed and whip until you reach medium peaks with a smooth consistency (careful not to over whip).
- Plop the whipped cream on top of the cheesecake.
- Pile the leftover roasted strawberries on top (or serve on the side) and drizzle on as much of the syrup as you like.
- Now slice and enjoy!
Notes
STORAGE (IN ADVANCE) – If you’d like to make the cheesecake ahead of time, allow the cheesecake to chill uncovered overnight. Then, cover the cheesecake and it will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days (you can either keep it stored in the springform your remove and place into a cheesecake-sized container). Then when you’re ready to serve, top with the whipped cream and leftover roasted strawberries or serve the extra strawberries on the side.
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Chill Time: Overnight
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Join Our Community
Meet Jenna
I’m the creator, baker, and photographer behind Butternut Bakery. Here I share desserts for every diet because I believe everyone should have a chance to indulge!
Every bit as good as it looks, with easy to follow instructions. The only thing I would add is to be aware that the sweetness of strawberries varies wildly, so you may need more sugar when roasting.
This was the first dessert I baked coming off of a 6 month bodybuilding prep and man was I not disappointed one bit. Usually cheesecake is super sweet or just overly sweet, this is not. The texture and flavors all work together so well. Perfect. Only think I wish I did was roast 1/3 more strawberries in general to add more to the batter and top.
Made it for a birthday dinner, added a chocolate ganache instead of whipped cream. Also 2lbs of strawberry were the perfect amount to roast, made about 2 cups.
This cheesecake was even more delicious than it looks in the photos! If you thought the banana pudding cheesecake was good, try this one. You will not be disappointed! For the topping, I added the sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese and mixed it before drizzling in the cream. It was perfect!
I made this cheesecake for Mother’s Day, and everyone loved it. I think it could have been a little sweeter and I should have put more strawberries into the cheesecake. The recipe was easy to follow and I would make it again.
Love all your recipes. I just took this out of the oven and it’s a very browned top. Did I leave it too long? I cooked it for the prescribed time of 1.30 hours. I also have a double oven so each oven is smaller than a traditional oven and I’m wondering if the cheesecake was too close to the burner? Any other ideas? I seem to run into this problem all the time. Would you recommend putting tin foil over the top halfway through?
Hi Jenna!
For the whipped cream, at what point do you add the vanilla and powdered sugar?
Thanks!
Hey Jenna!
I just made this amazing roasted strawberry cheesecake!! It is divine!!
You did accidentally leave out the instructions for the powdered sugar & vanilla extract for the whipped cream!
The cheesecake texture was luscious. Every part needed to be a little sweeter though. I love the roasted strawberry flavor too.