Crust layered Strawberry Orange cheesecake

original blog post: https://greedygirlcooks.blogspot.com/2020/04/crust-layered-strawberry-orange.html

Ingredients

For the cheesecake crust

1 large box digestive cookies (400g)

1 stick salted butter

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon orange zest

For the filling

2/3 plus 2 tablespoon vanilla milk powder (I used lasco)

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon good lemon extract

1 vanilla bean stick (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

¼ cup flour

32 oz cream cheese

1 ½ cup white sugar

2/3 cup milk

4 eggs

1 teaspoon orange zest

For the strawberry sauce

1 lb Strawberries

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon Sugar

1 pinch Salt

1 tablespoon Lemon juice

1 tablespoon Corn starch

3 tablespoon water

Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
    • Make “sour cream” by combining 1 cup milk, vanilla milk powder, and 1 teaspoon lime juice and set aside
    • Line three pans completely with foil and spray with cooking oil
    • In a food processor blend the cookies with orange zest, melted butter and brown sugar
    • Split into the three pans and press down into the pan creating a cookie crust. Make two flat and one allow the cookie to rise the sides a bit. This will be the base of the cheesecake.
    • Place all three in the oven to bake while you prepare the filling
    • To the “sour cream” mixture add ¼ cup flour, lemon extract and the vanilla bean (or vanilla extract)
    • In a mixer combine room temperature cream cheese and sugar mix until incorporated
    • Add the milk and blend on low speed until the milk is incorporated
    • Add the eggs one at a time
    • Lastly, add the orange zest and the “sour cream” mixture, stir in everything and you should have a smooth velvety texture
    • Remove the three crusts from the oven they will smell fragrant be slightly darker and crispy
    • Pour some cheesecake mixture into the base crust, then carefully sprinkle a thick layer of the second crust on top of the liquid (try not to pat it down) add more cheesecake batter, followed by the next crust layer and then finish with the remaining batter
    • Place the pan into a water bath and bake at 350F for 30 minutes, if your top is getting too dark, continue to bake for another 40 minutes at 325F. If the top is not getting too dark, instead, bake for another 30 minutes at 350.
    • Once baked, the top will be firm, but the center will still giggle like jello slightly. Crack open the oven door and allow it to cool for another hour in the oven.
    • Remove the foil and finish the cooling process in the refrigerator overnight.
    • The next day dissolve the corn starch in water and add all the other ingredients in a saucepan.
    • Bring to a boil and a simmer, the sauce will be rich and thick
    • Set it aside to completely cool you can blend until smooth or leave the berries whole/chunks
    • And optional addition, to the cold cheesecake, pack brown or white sugar on the outsides and brulee it with a blow torch, it creates a crunch crust.
    • Top with strawberry sauce and serve.

Greedy Tips:

    • I didn’t have a springform pan, if I did I would have been able to take out the crust for the layers as a whole piece, however, I ended up breaking them up and sprinkling them on instead.
    • fresh strawberries would be best however if you have none use frozen and don't defrost first add the frozen berries directly to the pot for the sauce.
    • caramelizing the sugar on the sides ic completely optional it just adds another layer of texture and flavor.