Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake

We grow a lot of fruits and veggies on our farm.   I usually plant enough to sustain our family through the Summer, Fall and Winter months.  This year, I didn’t freeze as much as I wanted to, because life just got really crazy busy.

I was looking at the fruits and vegetables I have in my freezer and we’re already down to our last bag of rhubarb and our last four bags of strawberries.  This makes me a bit sad, but I am looking forward to fresh rhubarb and strawberries next year.

What to do with rhubarb and strawberries?

Rhubarb and strawberries are the perfect pair.  We can make rhubarb and strawberry jam, rhubarb and strawberry custard pie and  rhubarb and strawberry pie.  The list is endless.

I thought I’d try something a little different and make a rhubarb and strawberry cheesecake.  I like using ingredients I have on hand. In this case, frozen strawberries and rhubarb from our farm!

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Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake

Rich, creamy cheesecake with seasonal fruit from the garden. The strawberry and rhubarb combination make the perfect 'marriage'.

Author: Christine McNaughton

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 12

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  55 mins

Total time:  1 hour 5 mins

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 3 pkg. (250 g each) Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, divided
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1 cup rhubarb, cut into 1 in. pieces
• a few drops of red food colouring

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix graham crumbs and melted butter. Gently press graham crumb mixture onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
3. On stove top over medium heat, cook strawberries, rhubarb, brown sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch until fruit mixture boils and thickens. Set aside and let cool.
4. Next, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in large bowl with mixer until mixture is blended well and there are no lumps.
5. Add sour cream and eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Blend until smooth. Reserve ½ c batter.
6. Pour ½ of the mixture over graham crust.
7. Spoon fruit mixture over layer of cheesecake batter.
8. Add remaining cheesecake batter over layer of fruit.
9. In a small bowl, add a few drops of red food colouring to reserved ½ c batter. Mix until you achieve desired colour. Carefully add dots of red batter starting from centre of the cake spiraling out. Make sure to space the dots equally. I used a dropper to make perfect little dots. Take a toothpick and run it through all of the dots, connecting them. The result should look like little swirly hearts.
10. Bake 50 min to 55 min or until centre is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake cool before removing rim.
11. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Notes

IF you do not wish to bake the fruit into the cheesecake, an alternative method would be to bake the same cheesecake (but plain) and after cake has cooled, generously pour the fruit mixture over the top of the cake. It looks equally as beautiful. The only reason I did the swirly hearts was because my six year old daughter thinks they're pretty. My husband, though he thinks the swirly hearts are aesthetically pleasing, prefers the fruit mixture slathered over top the cake!

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