Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter, unsalted
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 (8 oz) packs of cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsps vanilla
4 large eggs whites, room temperature
2 cups sour cream
1 pint of strawberries or berries combination of choice (note: you can use as many or as few as you like)







Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 8" spring form cake pan with butter. The pan sides should be at least 2 1/2" to 3" high.
Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs over the bottom and sides of the pan. Make sure the sides and bottom are covered. The majority of the crumbs will be on the bottom.
Onces sides and bottom are coated with crumbs, use a spoon or spatula to spread the crumbs around the bottom of the pan so the amount is roughly even throughout.
Cream together 1 cup of the sugar with the cream cheese and 1 tsp of the vanilla. Use an electric mixer to combine this well.
In a separate bowl and using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Use an electric mixer for this.
Once eggs have formed stiff peaks, gently fold them into the cream cheese. Do this in 3 parts - not all at once.
Pour the cream cheese batter into the cake pan and spread it around with a spatula to make sure it's even.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Combine sour cream with remaining sugar and vanilla (1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla).
Once the cake has baked for 35 minutes, evenly spread the sour cream mixture over the hot cheesecake.
Bake in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.
Once it has finished baking allow to cool on a wire rack (still in the pan) until it reaches room temperature.
Chill covered in the fridge overnight (still in the pan).
The next day, remove the cake from the pan and top with fresh slices of strawberries or other fresh berries.









source : http://dishesanddustbunnies.com