Strawberry Bull’s eye Cheesecake Recipes

Nancy invted us over for dinner on Easter. As usual she asked me not to cook anything except to bring a dessert over. So I made this cheesecake for the occasion. They were delightful to make. The pink layers were flavored with strawberry jam and essence. Overall, this cheesecake isn’t too sweet. The crust is a perfect balance to the richness of the cheesecake. I made some strawberry and blueberry compote to go with the cheesecake too.

Ingredients for the crust:

2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
¾ stick/6 tbsp of melted butter
2 tbsp of sugar

Ingredients for the filling:

2 block of 8 oz cream cheese (I used 1/3 fat free cream cheese)
1 can of 14 oz condensed milk
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
3 eggs
2 tbsp of flour
4 tbsp of sour cream
4 tbsp of strawberry jam
½ tsp of strawberry essence
A few drop of pink coloring

1. Line ann greased an 8” spring form pan with parchment paper. Wrap the outside of the baking pan with some aluminum foil. This is to prevent water from seeping in while baking. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degree F.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the crumbs, sugar and melted butter together. Press it firmly into the bottom of the baking pan and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and set it aside. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
3. Meanwhile, cream the cheese and condensed milk until well mixed. Add in eggs one at a time. Mix until incorporated and scrape down the bowl occasionally. Add in the flour, sour and mix well.
4. Add in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix well. Take ½ of the cheesecake batter and place it in another mixing bowl. Stir in the strawberry jam, strawberry essence and a few drop of the pink coloring. Mix until well combined.
5. Drop about 4 tbsp of the white batter to the middle of the baking pan. Follow by the pink color mixture on top of each other. Proceed to do the same to the rest of the batter. Do not stir, swirl or shake the pan. The batter will spread on it own.
6. Place the baking pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until the center is set. Do not over bake.
7. Turn off the heat and leave the cake in the oven with the door ajar for 45 min. Remove the cake from oven and chill for 4 hours or overnight before serving.