Strawberry Basil Cheesecake

Ever since I ordered a new springform pan, I have been very into making cheesecake. I absolutely adored the recipe for Meyer Lemon Cheesecake, so I decided to change it to a simple, plain cheesecake. I once held a lemon themed dinner party, complete with Lemon Mousse for dessert. The lemon didn't go over as well as I thought it should, so plain cheesecake seemed like a better fit. And I decided to macerate some strawberries with fresh basil as a topping so people could decide if they wanted it or not (they all did!)  The entire cheesecake was eaten by the end of the party, which is my mark of a delicious dessert.

Strawberry Basil Cheesecake

Crust:
1 ¼ cups graham-cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
3-8 ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1-8 ounce container of sour cream, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 eggs, room temperature

Topping
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons minced basil leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the graham-cracker crumbs and brown sugar. Mix well. Mix in the melted butter until well-moistened. Press mixture into a springform pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar on low speed until smooth. Scrape sides of bowl as needed ensure even mixing. Add in the lemon juice, then the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is well incorporated before adding the next one. Again, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed to get the mixture uniform.

Pour the filling into a springform pan and gently smooth the top of the filling. Place cheesecake in the oven, and reduce the heat to 300 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes. Do not open the oven again until the cheesecake is cooled. Turn off oven and keep the cheesecake in the oven for 2 hours (without opening oven). If the cheesecake doesn't feel 100% cool after 2 hours, allow to continue cooling, up to another hour or so. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.

Stir together the strawberries, sugar and basil 15 minutes before serving. Top each slice with the strawberry mixture before serving.

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