Do you love cheesecake but feel that mayyyybe, just maybe, it’s need a little something else? Well, have I got the thing for you. This Strawberry Crinkle Cheesecake combines the creamy glory of regular cheesecake with the magic of crispy, delicate phyllo dough and fresh juicy strawberries. Think delicious silky cheesecake filling with a buttery delicate crunch running throughout (plus those fresh berries). It’s — dare I say — even better than I thought cheesecake could be.
What Ingredients Are in Strawberry Crinkle Cheesecake?
While the method is a little tedious, the ingredient list is not! You’ll need:
- A box of phyllo dough.
- A stick of butter.
- Cream cheese. (Maybe that one is obvious.)
- Heavy cream.
- Vanilla.
- Sugar.
- A bit of flour.
- Eggs.
- Strawberries.
How Do You Make Strawberry Crinkle Cheesecake?
It’s a little time intensive but I can promise you it’s worth it.
The first thing you’ll need to do is thaw your phyllo dough. There will be instructions on the package, but it’s usually just a matter of letting it sit at room temperature for a half hour or so. Once thawed, you can start working with it:
You want to lay a sheet of phyllo over your cake pan (9-inch, round) and brush it with the melted butter. It’s fine if the ends over hang. Repeat this step again and again, but rotate each sheet of phyllo so that eventually all sides of the pan are covered. (This process with take four sheets.) Trim the ends and you’re ready to work on the “spiral.”
This time, lay a sheet of phyllo flat on your counter or workspace and brush it with butter. Place another sheet on top and brush it with butter again. Fold the two sheets up together accordion style, starting from a long end. (I did it starting with a short end in the video and that made it harder to spiral, so don’t copy me.)
Take that accordion and form a loose spiral in the center of the cake pan. Keep making butter phyllo accordions and keep spiraling them in the cake pan until it’s pretty full. You don’t want to pack it too tightly as you’ll need room for the filling soon, so keep it pretty loose. Brush it with butter one more time and get it in the oven until it’s beautifully golden and crisp.
Once the phyllo crust has baked, beat together your filling ingredients and pour it over the pastry and into the cake pan. It helps to shake it a little to get the filling down into the nooks and crannies. Then, take sliced strawberries and tuck them wherever you can between spirals and folds of phyllo.
Into the oven it goes one more time.
When it comes out, it should be set and will be sliceable once it cools. The phyllo stays crisp, the strawberries get even sweeter, that vanilla cheesecake filling is velvety… it’s heaven in a cake pan. (And, spoiler alert — it’s really good straight out of the fridge for breakfast the next day.)
Strawberry Crinkle Cheesecake
Allergens: Eggs Gluten Milk strawberries
Watch How It's Made
Ingredients
- 1 box phyllo pastry
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
Preparation
- Remove phyllo from freezer to come up to room temperature. While phyllo thaws, preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter.
- Lay one sheet of phyllo over the cake pan, allow edges to overhang, and brush the pastry with butter. Repeat the process with four more sheets of phyllo, brushing with butter each time and rotating them slightly each time so all sides are covered. Trim edges of any overhanging pastry.
- Lay one sheet of phyllo out flat on your countertop and brush with butter. Place one more sheet on top and brush with butter again. Fold pastry up accordion style, starting with the long end. Then, coil it into a loose spiral. Place in the center of the cake pan.
- Repeat accordion folding process with remaining pastry, spiraling the folded phyllo around the center spiral, until the tray is full. Do not pack it too tightly.
- Brush with remaining butter, then bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool while you work on the filling:
- In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, heavy cream, and vanilla until well mixed. Beat in sugar, flour, and salt.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Pour mixture over phyllo pastry, making sure it gets into the crevices. Lightly shake dish to distribute the filling.
- Place sliced strawberries in between the layers of phyllo, then transfer to oven and bake until custard has set, about 30 minutes.
- Let cool completely, then sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Antonio Fillo.