2023 Strawberry Dome Cheesecake:
It’s that time of year again. Strawberries!! I am a huge fan of strawberries. They’re so versatile, sweet, and delicious! One of my favorite things to make with strawberries is the strawberry dome cheesecake! It’s an excellent twist on the classic dessert. It’s fun to make and looks quite impressive, though it’s quite easy!
One thing I wanted to do this year was to change it up a bit. It’s not fun to make the same exact thing over and over. So I did do a few things differently, but since this was not planned, I did not make as many changes as I wanted. Now I did impulsively decide to make this last minute – the strawberries were on sale. So things weren’t as planned as I would have liked.
Crust:
If I planned this out more, I would have done a chocolate graham cracker crust. But, since I couldn’t get the chocolate graham crackers, I had to do honey ones. I thought about adding some cocoa powder to the cracker mixture, but in the end, I just forgot. I wonder how it would have turned out. Maybe next year, or if I make another this year.
The one thing I changed for the crust was that I browned the butter. Browning the butter adds a rich, nutty, butterscotchy flavor. I never used it for a crust before, but it turned out wonderful!
The recipe calls for an 8-inch springform pan, but I only have a 10-inch. Those two inches make a huge difference. So, I used my 8-inch cake pan and lined it with tinfoil. Smoothed it out as well as possible and evenly distributed the crust. Pressed it in, and in the fridge, it went!
Filling:
The filling could have been a disaster. The last time I made cheesecake, it was the worst I had ever made. Why? Because I forgot the salt. This time, I almost forgot the salt again. Now to my defense, the recipe doesn’t call for salt, for some reason. Once I added a bit of salt, it brought all of the wonderful flavors together. The vanilla, the tangy cream cheese, and the sweetness are so perfectly balanced. I also added a little bit of vanilla bean to the filling! So rich and delicious.
Assembly:
Assembly is usually the trickiest part of baking. I had no problems stacking up the strawberries to the side of the bowl. I did cut them differently than in the past, and so I wonder if that helped the stacking process. I cut them the long way, so it’s like a triangle. In the past, I cut them in circles. In hindsight, I almost prefer the circular-cut strawberries. Maybe it gave it a better layering look or something.
I used an 8-inch metal bowl and lined it with plastic wrap. I don’t usually like using plastic wrap, but for this cake, I highly recommend it. It’s seemingly impossible without it. Tried to smoothen it out, but it’s plastic wrap, so that only goes so far.
Added half of the filling, stuffed some whole strawberries in the middle, and covered with the rest of the filling. I took the crust out; tinfoil is a must if you don’t use a springform pan. It makes it super easy to transfer. The crust was slightly bigger than the bowl, but not enough that it wouldn’t fit. Part of it caved in a bit because I pressed it a bit too hard. Then when I went to take it out, it was caved in even more. Something could have accidentally sat on top of it; I’m not sure. When I flipped it, it was fine; a bit crumbly but still delish!
The Final Touches:
Overall, it was delicious! Super rich and creamy. There wasn’t enough crust, and I had to add extra strawberries to balance out the creaminess of the filling. I had no problems flipping it over; a bit juicy. So I think this cake would be better to serve same day as when you assemble it.
It does seem that I have the most trouble with the crust. First time I made it, way too thick. Second time way too thin and oily. The third time, better but still needed more crust. I’ll need to figure that out for next time.
I got more ideas to change up this cake, so stay tuned!
~Becky 🙂
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