Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Cream Cheese
• 1 Egg
• 1 c Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 T Flour
• ½ c Maple Syrup
• ½ t Vanilla
• 3c Crushed Graham Crackers
• 1 c butter, melted
• 1 1/2 c frozen strawberries
• 1 T maple syrup
• 1 t corn starch

Crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Melt the butter. Pour the melted butter over the crackers until the mixture becomes stiff enough to hold together on it’s own.
3. Press this into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a springform pan.
   

   Graham cracker crust in the spring-form pan.

4. Bake at 400°F for 5-10 minutes, and give some time for it to cool.

Strawberry Sauce:

1. Mash frozen strawberries
2. Put mashed strawberries in to a sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Keep at this boil until the sauce becomes thick.
   

   Heating up the strawberries to create the sauce.

3. Add the maple syrup to sweeten to the sauce.
4. Leave until cool. Mix in the corn starch to stiffen.
   

   Cooling both the cheese cake and the strawberry sauce.

5. Place on top of the cheese cake right before placing the cake into the fridge.
   

   Pouring the sauce on top of the cheese cake.

Custard:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F
2. Whip the cream cheese until soft.
   

   Whipping the cream cheese.

3. Mix together the cream cheese, the egg, cream, flour, syrup, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Be careful not to over mix, as it can cause the cake to crack during cooling. There will be small lumps in the mix.
4. Pour the cheese mixture into the crust.
5. Place a pan full of water on a low rack in the oven. This will keep the cake moist, and prevent cracking.
   

   How to place the pan of water underneath the cheese cake in the oven.

6. Bake the cake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allow it to cool in the oven  with the door cracked for at least 1 hour. Run a knife between the crust and the side of the pan to separate them.
7. Top with the strawberry sauce and cool  in the fridge for at least 2 hours. When stiff, remove the sides of the pan and serve.
   

   Making sure that the cheese cake is not sticking to the springform pan.

This recipe went very smoothly. The biggest recommendation we can make is to allow the cream cheese to reach room temperature before whipping. Soft cream cheese is much easier to beat, and (hopefully) cling to the whisk less compared to the cool cream cheese. We also found that an electric mixer is very necessary to properly whip the cream cheese, although the other ingredients should be mixed by hand. Use as few strokes as possible and make them large and slow to make the cheese cake come out the best.