strawberry cheesecake

My brother just recently moved back east from the west coast. Like many boys I know, he is not too fond of desserts. However, there are always exceptions and his exceptions are cookies and cheesecake. Since he was staying with me until he moved into his new place, I decided to make him one of his exceptions. A little history of me and cheesecake. We grew up in Chinatown and at the outskirts of this neighborhood is where you can find the most amazing cheesecake you'll ever have in your life. I'm not kidding. I consider myself one of the lucky ones to be introduced to Eileen's Special Cheesecake early in my life. Ever since I've learned how to use the oven, I've been trying to replicate Eileen's cake. I've yet to come close but I can't say I haven't been successful at creating some great cheesecakes along the way.

strawberry cheesecake

ingredients

• 2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature 
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla 
• 1-1/2 cups sugar 
• 1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon cornstarch 
• 7 eggs 
• 2 cups whipping cream 
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 
• strawberry topping  

directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees with rack one-third down from top. Grease a round springform pan and set aside.
2. In large bowl of mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until soft and smooth. Add vanilla, sugar and cornstarch. Beat, scraping bowl, until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and add cream gradually with mixer on low speed. The mixture should be thin and smooth. Add the lemon juice last and beat only to mix.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place pan in a larger pan that must not be deeper than the cake pan. Place the pan in the oven and pour hot water into the large pan. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Carefully turn both pans together front to back, then raise oven temperature to 375. Bake 30 to 45 minutes more or until the top is a pale golden brown.
4. Carefully remove from oven and remove cheesecake pan from the hot water. Let stand until bottom of pan is completely cool. Do not refrigerate until cake has been removed from pan.