This beautiful Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake combines three of my favorite things – cake, strawberries and cheesecake – into a beautiful dessert that is perfect for celebrating!
If you’ve been reading the blog a while, then you know I love strawberries. They’ve been my favorite fruit since I was a kid. My dad will still buy them for me when they’re in season and I’m coming to visit.
So when I was asked to help Driscoll’s Strawberries celebrate Strawberry Shortcake Day, I could not wait. Strawberry shortcake has been a classic dessert for more than 100 years and Dricoll’s is easily the strawberry brand I prefer in my shortcake. They always have the best smelling, prettiest berries! I don’t know about you, but I smell my strawberries to pick out the best ones. 🙂
When trying to figure out what spin to put on the traditional dessert, this cheesecake was one of a few ideas that quickly came to mind. It’s such a great showcase for the strawberries and with a full layer of shortcake on the bottom, you get the full strawberry shortcake experience layered right into a cheesecake!
How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake
I started off making this recipe by making the shortcake. Believe it or not, I’d never made a shortcake from scratch before!
Shortcake is a little different than your typical cake. It’s a little like a sweet biscuit, but with a slightly cakey-er texture. It’s more crumbly than a cake, though.
So for the shortcake recipe, I went straight to the experts – Driscoll’s. I borrowed the shortcake from their favorite strawberry shortcake recipe. It is so easy to make. Even easier to make than a cake.
The shortcake is topped with a thin layer of cheesecake, just to hold things together, and then topped with whole strawberries. Aren’t they beautiful nestled in there?
Then they are completely covered with a light, no-bake vanilla cheesecake and some whipped cream. The cake is then topped of with a few more strawberries and some strawberry sauce.
Absolute perfection! The combination of flavors and textures is spot on.
The dense, crumbly cake with the fresh, sweet berries and the smooth, creamy cheesecake is just as perfect as you’d expect. And it incorporates all the flavors of a good strawberry shortcake into a super fun and delicious cheesecake. You seriously won’t want to share.
So it’s time to get your ingredients together and your Driscoll’s strawberries. Let’s celebrate National Strawberry Shortcake Day! Yum!
To Make this Recipe You’Il Need the following ingredients:
Bottom crust
22 Golden Oreos Crushed
5 Tbsp Melted butter
Filling
4 8oz packages cream cheese
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Jar of smuckers strawberry ice cream topping
Topping
12 Golden Oreos Crushed & divided into 2 bowls (one for plain Oreo topping, one for your strawberry ones)
1 1/2 Tsp Softened Butter
3 Tbsp from a small package of strawberry gelatin
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line the outer perimeter of your pan with aluminum foil and generously apply butter to the inside to prevent sticking.
Crust – crush the Oreo’s & incorporate the butter, press into the bottom of your springform pan.
Filling – Place one 8-ounce package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl.
Beat with an electric mixer on low until creamy, about 3 minutes, then beat in the remaining 3 packages of the cream cheese. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups of the sugar, then beat in the vanilla.
Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating the batter well after each one.
Blend in heavy cream.
At this point mix the filling only until completely blended. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
Gently spoon 1/2 of the cheese filling on top of the prepared crust. spoon plops 1/2 the jar of strawberry topping here and there. Drag a butterknife through the strawberries to marblize the cheese/straberries. Spoon in the other half of the batter and the repeat the strawberry process on top. Bake for 1 hour or until there is only a slight jiggle when shook gently.
crumb topping – In a small bowl or the food processor, add the Oreo cookies and pulse into large crumbs. Add the softened butter and mix gently with a fork or your hands to make pea-sized pieces stick together.
Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the mixture into a small bowl and set aside. Pour strawberry jello powder over the remaining crumbs and continue pinching the pieces together. Add more softened butter if needed for mixture to stick to the cake.