Why wait until you're dining out to enjoy cheesecake? This recipe is fun to whip up at home, and the result is so rich and creamy, your family will agree that it’s the best of the best. Try it for special occasions like birthday parties or wedding showers, or whip it up on a lazy weekend as a memorable treat for your family.

Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, like cream cheese, and it can be baked or unbaked. This recipe is for baked cheesecake, and it calls for strawberries on top. But homemade cheesecakes can be topped with anything your heart desires—chocolate, other berries, crumbled cookies, you name it!

What is the best cheesecake flavor?

The best cheesecake flavor is the one you find irresistible! And the possibilities are endless—you can garnish cheesecake with almost any fruit or other sweet treats, like chocolate or caramel. You can even make savory cheesecakes with ingredients like smoked salmon.

Want to expand your cheesecake repertoire? Once you’ve enjoyed our Best Cheesecake, try our New York Cheesecake and our Heavenly Cheesecake.

Adding either heavy cream or sour cream to the cheesecake layer will help create a smoother texture. But keep in mind that heavy cream may mask the tangy cream cheese flavor while sour cream will help enhance it. In our Best Cheesecake recipe, we add sour cream to the top layer only, but all that nice tang from the cream cheese still comes through.

Yes, you will want to make sure your cream cheese is softened before using it to make this Best Cheesecake recipe. The best way to soften cream cheese is to take it out of the fridge, and let it sit on your countertop for an hour before using. But if you forget or are short on time, don’t worry! A delicious homemade cheesecake is still in your future. To quickly soften your cream cheese, place it unwrapped on a microwave-safe plate and microwave it for 10 seconds. Repeat a few times, checking the texture and temp after each time. Watch it closely! Microwaves vary, and the cream cheese can turn into a messy puddle very quickly.

First of all, make sure that your baked cheesecake is completely cool. Then, with the cheesecake still in the springform pan, cover and refrigerate it for 3 to 5 days.

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Frequently Asked Questions What’s the history of cheesecake?

The very first mention of cheesecake is from Ancient Greece. A physician in the 5th century BC wrote a book on making cheesecakes. It wasn’t until about the 18th century that the version of cheesecake that we know and love today emerged. It was around this time that Europeans began to use eggs instead of yeast, which gave cheesecake a more dessert-like quality. As the Europeans immigrated to America, they brought their cheesecake recipes along with them, and the rest, as they say, is history!

New York-style cheesecake typically has a denser texture than regular cheesecake thanks to the addition of more cream cheese. Other ingredients like extra eggs, egg yolks and sour cream may be added to give New York-style cheesecake a smooth texture.

The top of your cheesecake may crack for several different reasons. The most common reason is overmixing, which can incorporate too much air into the batter. Once it’s baked, the air bubbles will burst, causing the top to crack. To help prevent cracking, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing your batter. Also, don’t forget to set that timer! Overbaking or opening your oven door before your cake is ready can also cause cracking. Finally, after removing your cake from the oven, be sure to let it cool at room temp before placing it in the fridge to chill.