Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

A fantastic 2 layer cheesecake with a dramatic swirl pattern on top. Heavy and rich, this recipe is NOT for the dieters! The original recipe came from a Taste of Home magazine but after it became my boyfriends favorite, it evolved into my own version with a few changes.

• Ready In: 3 hrs 45 mins
• Serves: 12-16
• Yields: 1 Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  tablespoon sugar
• 1  teaspoon  grated lemon peel (fresh or dried works)
• 1⁄2 cup  cold butter
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 1⁄3 cups sugar
• 2  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2  tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 4  eggs, lightly beaten
• 1  tablespoon lemon juice
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1  cup  pureed fresh strawberries
• 8 -10  drops  red food coloring (optional)
• 3  tablespoons  seedless  strawberry jelly (optional)
• 1  tablespoon water (optional)
• 2 -3  drops  red food coloring (optional)

Directions

1. In a bowl combine flour, sugar, and lemon peel.
2. Cut in butter until crumbly. Using a pastry cutter works well. I have had luck in other recipes using a food processor, but have not yet tried it with this recipe.
3. Pat dough onto the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of a greased 9 inch springform pan.
4. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and heavy whipping cream until smooth.
6. Add the eggs and beat on a low speed just until combined.
7. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla just until blended.
8. Pour 2 1/2 cups batter into a bowl and set aside.
9. Stir pureed strawberries and food coloring if desired into the remaining batter. If you would like to use pureed strawberries for the topping, use only 3/4 cup of the strawberries and reserve the rest. Personally, I do NOT use pureed strawberries for the topping since I have found that the strawberry jelly comes out much prettier. So, I add the whole cup of pureed strawberries to the batter at this point.
10. Pour the strawberry batter into the crust.
11. Place your pan on a double thickness of heavy duty foil (about 16 inches square) and wrap securely about the pan.
12. Place your foil wrapped pan in a large baking pan and add about 1 inch of hot water to larger pan.
13. Bake for 35 minutes (still at 325).
14. Remove from oven and carefully pour reserved vanilla batter over the bottom layer.
15. Now, the swirl part of the recipe! If you reserved pureed strawberries for this, then use those. If not, get out a small bowl and combine the strawberry jelly, water, and red food coloring if desired. Combine until you have a smooth mixture.
16. For either pureed strawberries or strawberry jelly, use a spoon to add about 1/2 teaspoon spoonfuls over the top of the cheesecake.
17. Using a knife, carefully cut through only the top layer to swirl the topping. I try to start at the outside and cut through every dollop of strawberry in a spiral that ends at the center.
18. Bake for 40-50 minutes until center is almost set.
19. DO NOT REMOVE FROM OVEN. Just turn the oven off! Leave your cheesecake in the oven for an hour to allow it to cool very slowly. (cooling a cheesecake too fast leads to cracking!).
20. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and from the water bath. Take a knife and carefully run it around the edge of the pan to loosen.
21. Cool for an additional hour on a wire rack then put in the fridge UNCOVERED overnight. (covering your cheesecake will lead to condensation on the top of the cheesecake).