Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake

Crust

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray the sides of the 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray. Wrap the sides of the pan with a strip of parchment paper.
• Mix the cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar until it resembles wet sand and can be packed down.
• Press the crust evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
• Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while you work on the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake

• • In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until the cream cheese is smooth. Scrape down the bowl.
  • Add the sugar and beat on medium until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

• Add in the eggs one at a time. Beat each egg in before adding the next. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Add in the sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium until the mixture comes together.
• Pour half of the batter into a separate bowl. Set aside.
• Add the Torani strawberry syrup and strawberry extract into the remaining cheesecake batter. Stir until everything is combined and a light pink color.
• Pour the pink batter on top of the crust. The crust doesn’t have to be cooled completely.
• Add a circle of truffles to the cheesecake. I would only add about 7 – 9 and leave plenty of room towards the outside of the pan.
• Pour the remaining cheesecake batter in a slow and steady stream, covering all of the pink batter and truffles.
• Wrap the outside of the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty tin foil. Place the cheesecake into a slightly bigger pan and fill with 1 inch of water.
• Place in the oven. Let the cheesecake bake for 1 hour 16 minutes – 1 hour 25 minutes until done. To make sure the cheesecake is done, gently give it a wiggle. If it slightly jiggles in JUST the middle like jello, then it’s done. If it jiggles all over, it needs to bake longer. Turn off the heat and crack the oven door slightly. Let it cool in the oven for 1 to 2 hours until it reaches room temperature and then place in the fridge to chill overnight.

Whipped Cream

• Just before serving, make and add the whipped cream to the cheesecake.
• Place the heavy cream and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
• Add the whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip. Pipe swirls on top of the cooled cheesecake.
• Top each swirl with a truffle.
• Cut and serve. Store in the fridge.