Strawberry Cheesecake With Shortbread Crust

Recipe & Food Styling Marisa Curatolo, Photography Cory Aronec

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Delicious summer strawberries and a few simple ingredients transformed into the world's best cheesecake with a velvety, buttery crust and cream cheese laced with lemon.

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Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed

2 egg yolks, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Filling

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Topping

3 cups fresh strawberries, washed

1/2 cup strawberry preserves

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Preparation

For crust, preheat oven to 350°F. In food processor, combine flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt; process 5 seconds. Add butter and egg yolk mixture; process until dough forms, about 20 seconds. Press half the dough onto bottom of 6-inch springform pan. Bake for 15 minutes until crust is golden; cool completely in pan. Press remaining dough onto sides of pan; set aside.

For filling, beat cream cheese in large mixing bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Blend in sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice. Pour batter into prepared pan. Lower heat to 300°F and bake for 1 hour. Turn heat off and let cheesecake cool in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cover. Refrigerate overnight.

To serve cheesecake, remove sides from springform pan. Garnish with strawberries. Serve with strawberry preserves.