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This beautiful Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake has a shortcake crust, no bake vanilla cheesecake filling and LOADS of strawberries! It combines three of my favorite things – cake, strawberries and cheesecake – into a sweet and refreshing dessert that you’ll love!
Easy Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, then you know I love strawberries. They’ve been my favorite fruit since I was a kid. So naturally, I love whipping up everything from a classic Strawberry Shortcake to a fancy Strawberry Shortcake Cake. This Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake is a twist on a classic that you won’t be able to resist! I’m truly in love!
This simple yet impressive dessert is the ultimate strawberry showcase. With a soft layer of shortcake on the bottom, you get the full strawberry shortcake experience layered right into a creamy cheesecake! And there are fresh, juicy strawberries decorating the outside edge, inside the cheesecake itself and piled high on top along with plenty of homemade strawberry sauce. It’s just so light and refreshing – pure berry bliss!
What You’ll Need
This dessert has a few different components that make it so irresistible, and they all keep things super simple! Here’s what you should have on hand for each one:
For the Shortcake
- Flour: All purpose flour here.
- Sugar: Granulated.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: You’ll need a teaspoon and a half of baking powder, plus half a teaspoon of baking soda to supplement it.
- Butter: Salted.
- Heavy Cream
For the Strawberry Sauce
- Water: Just a tablespoon.
- Pureed Strawberries: Just pop the strawberries into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
- Sugar: Granulated.
- Cornstarch: To thicken it up into a sauce-like consistency.
For the Cheesecake Filling & Whipped Topping
- Heavy Cream: You’ll need some for the filling and some for the topping.
- Powdered Sugar: Some for each with this too!
- Vanilla: For great flavor.
- Cream Cheese: Bring to room temperature.
- Sugar: Granulated.
- Strawberries
How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake
The dense, crumbly cake with the fresh, sweet berries and the smooth, creamy cheesecake is just as perfect as you’d expect. It incorporates all the flavors of a good strawberry shortcake into a super fun and delicious cheesecake. You seriously won’t want to share! Now let’s get into how it all comes together.
Make the Shortcake Layer
For the homemade shortcake, I went straight to the experts – Driscoll’s. I borrowed their Favorite Strawberry Shortcake Recipe, and boy is it easy to make! Even easier than a cake.
- Prep for Baking: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place a circle of parchment paper into the bottom of a 9-inch springform cake pan and grease the sides.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor.
- Add Butter: Add the butter and mix in the food processor until combined. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
- Add Heavy Cream: Slowly add heavy cream and pulse in the food processor until just moistened.
- Knead Dough: Gather the dough into a ball. The mixture will still be crumbly and loose. Gently knead the dough on a non-stick surface until just smooth, about five turns.
- Bake: Press the dough into an even layer in the springform pan. Bake it for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
- Let Cool: Remove the cake from the oven and carefully take it out of the cake pan. Allow it to cool on a cooling rack.
Make the Strawberry Sauce
This sauce is delicious and you could even double it, if you want extra sauce for drizzling and serving.
- Combine Sugar, Cornstarch & Puree: Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir in the strawberry puree and water.
- Cook: Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil.
- Remove From Heat: Allow the sauce to boil for 1 minute, then remove it from the heat.
- Let Cool: Let the sauce cool completely
Make the Filling
While the shortcake cools, we’re going to shift our focus to the creamy cheesecake layer and the light whipped topping. The combination of flavors and textures is spot on!
- Prep Pan: To prepare the springform pan for the cheesecake, wash it (from baking the shortcake), spray with non-stick spray and reassemble with the shortcake in the bottom of the pan. Line the inside edge of the pan (between the pan and the shortcake) with parchment paper to help the cheesecake not stick to the sides of the pan and to make sure that the filling doesn’t end up higher than the sides of the pan.
- Add Strawberries to Sides: Slice 6-10 strawberries that are about the same size and place them around the outer edge of the shortcake. They should be pressed against the inside of the springform pan, standing on top of the shortcake. Set prepared pan aside.
- Make Filling: Add the cream cheese and sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat until well combined and smooth. Set aside. Add the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in 2 parts, gently folding until well combined. Set aside.
- Add Some Filling to Pan: Spread about 1/2 cup of the cheesecake filling on top of the shortcake and spread into a thin layer.
- Add Strawberries to Filling: Cut the green tops off of another 18-24 strawberries. Arrange the strawberries top-down on top of the thin cheesecake layer. Leave some space between each of the strawberries so that they aren’t touching and cheesecake can be added to fill in the space. The number of strawberries you use will depend on how big they are and how closely you place them.
- Finish Adding Filling: Drop remaining cheesecake filling on top of the strawberries in spoonfuls, making sure it fills in all the spaces. Spread the remaining cheesecake evenly over the strawberries. Depending on the size of the berries, they might poke through the top of the cheesecake a bit – that’s okay.
- Cool: Refrigerate cheesecake until firm, about 4-5 hours.
Final Assembly
This motherlode of a cake wouldn’t be complete without a bunch more strawberries piled on top. Here’s how to put it all together so you can do just that!
- Prep Platter: Once the cheesecake is firm, remove from spring form pan and place on serving platter.
- Make Whipped Cream: To make the whipped cream, add the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe Whipped Cream: Pipe the whipped cream around the outer top edge of the cheesecake.
- Add Strawberries on Top: Slice the remaining strawberries and arrange on top of the cheesecake, inside the whipped cream. Top with the cooled strawberry sauce.
- Refrigerate and Serve: Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cheesecake is best stored in an air tight container in the fridge and eaten within 3-4 days (the length that it’s good for may depend on your particular strawberries).
Tips for Success
Cheesecakes can be a handful, but this particular cheesecake is no-bake, making things much more simple and stress-free. Nevertheless, here are some tips to ensure your success in making strawberry shortcake cheesecake!
- Don’t Overwork Shortbread: Over mixing or over kneading the shortbread can lead to a tough cake.
- Choose The Right Strawberries: I recommend using mostly medium sized strawberries. They’ll work best on the sides of the cheesecake and inside of it. You don’t want them so big that they stick out of the top of the filling too much.
- Let Things Cool Before Assembling: If you happen to finish everything more quickly than expected, make sure it’s all cooled to room temperature before moving on to the assembly. Once the shortcake and the sauce have both cooled completely, you’re good to go.
- Chill Until Firm: Don’t remove the cheesecake from the pan until it’s firmed up completely and will hold its shape. This will require at least 4 hours of chill time.
How to Store Cheesecake
Store leftover cheesecake in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay good for 3-4 days. Because this dessert uses fresh fruit, I don’t recommend freezing it – the berries will release a lot of juices when the cake thaws and it won’t be the same.
Watch How To Make It
Read Transcript (Note: This video shows a slightly different previous version of the recipe, but it’s still very similar)
Print
Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Description
This beautiful Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake combines three of my favorite things – cake, strawberries and cheesecake – into a sweet and refreshing dessert that’s perfect for celebrating. Bring on the summer fun!
Ingredients
Shortcake
- 1 3/4 cups (228g) all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 5 tbsp (70g) salted butter
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (210ml) heavy whipping cream
Strawberry Sauce
- 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
- 3/4 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (15ml) water
- 1/4 cup strawberry puree (from about 10 strawberries)
Cheesecake Filling
- 2 lbs strawberries
- 24 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (104g) sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1/2 cup (58g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Whipped Cream
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1/4 cup (29g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Shortcake
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the butter and pulse in food processor until combined and mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Slowly add the heavy cream and pulse in food processor until just moistened.
- Gather the dough into a ball. Mixture will still be crumbly and loose. Gently knead dough on a non-stick surface until just smooth, about five turns.
- Press the dough into an even layer in the springform pan.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are golden.
- Remove the shortcake from the oven and remove from cake pan. Allow to cool completely on cooling rack.
Strawberry Sauce
- Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir in strawberry puree and water.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and comes to a boil.
- Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Cool completely.
Cheesecake Filling
- To prepare the springform pan for the cheesecake, wash it (from baking the shortcake), spray with non-stick spray and reassemble with the shortcake in the bottom of the pan. Line the inside edge of the pan (between the pan and the shortcake) with parchment paper to help the cheesecake not stick to the sides of the pan and to make sure that the filling doesn’t end up higher than the sides of the pan.
- Slice 6-10 strawberries that are about the same size and place them around the outer edge of the shortcake. They should be pressed against the inside of the springform pan, standing on top of the shortcake. Set prepared pan aside.
- Add the cream cheese and sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat until well combined and smooth. Set aside.
- Add the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in 2 parts, gently folding until well combined. Set aside.
- Spread about 1/2 cup of the cheesecake filling on top of the shortcake and spread into a thin layer.
- Cut the green tops off of another 18-24 strawberries. Arrange the strawberries top-down on top of the thin cheesecake layer. Leave some space between each of the strawberries so that they aren’t touching and cheesecake can be added to fill in the space. The number of strawberries you use will depend on how big they are and how closely you place them.
- Drop remaining cheesecake filling on top of the strawberries in spoonfuls, making sure it fills in all the spaces. Spread the remaining cheesecake evenly over the strawberries. Depending on the size of the berries, they might poke through the top of the cheesecake a bit – that’s okay.
- Refrigerate cheesecake until firm, about 4-5 hours.
Final Assembly
- Once the cheesecake is firm, remove from spring form pan and place on serving platter.
- To make the whipped cream, add the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe the whipped cream around the outer top edge of the cheesecake.
- Slice the remaining strawberries and arrange on top of the cheesecake, inside the whipped cream. Top with the cooled strawberry sauce.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cheesecake is best stored in an air tight container in the fridge and eaten within 3-4 days (the length that it’s good for may depend on your particular strawberries).
Notes
Makes 12-14 slices.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 501
- Sugar: 27.1 g
- Sodium: 243.2 mg
- Fat: 35.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 42.6 g
- Protein: 6.2 g
- Cholesterol: 103.3 mg
Curious if this recipe can be made ahead to the chill stage and then frozen for future?
The only thing you might have trouble with is the strawberries. After you freeze and thaw strawberries, they can become mushy.
Can I make this recipe 24 hours in advance? Thanks!
Yes, definitely.
You are my new best friend for this. My dad wanted something with fresh berries as his father’s day treat and then left me to figure out what to make. I’m so glad that I saw these lovely photos when I went looking on Google images and found your website because the cake I ended up with turned out to be one of the best desserts I’ve made in my decade of being a home baker??? It was easy enough to follow, looks stunning, and tastes fantastic. most importantly the man of the hour was blown away. Dad shunned his diet to have 3 slices in one sitting, even after we had gone to a buffet for dinner! And I loved it and will definitely be making again.
P.S. I followed the suggestion from ehof below, pastry bag was definitely helpful for neatly filling in the spaces between the berries!
Cheers 🙂
Wonderful! I’m so glad it was a hit!
I owned my own cheesecake business and have always preferred my baked cheesecakes but thought this looked yummy enough to try. It was very beautiful and tasty. I do want to pass on a little tip to make this cake easier to assemble. I put my filling in a pasty bag fitted with a Bismarck 230 tip and filled in-between the spaces around your strawberries. This was so easy and fast. Thank you Lindsey for all your wonderful recipes!
Glad you enjoyed it! The pastry bag is a great tip for those that have them. Thanks!
Do you think this could be made into mini cheesecake cups? If so, how would you adjust the timing?
I made this for thanksgiving and it was a hit. Once they cut it, it was gone!! They loved it and I’m not a baker so the from scratch scared me. I was able to do it and they loved it!! They want me to make it again for Christmas!
I’m so glad to hear it was a hit!
I baked this recipe and the cake was a very impressive presentation, although i baked the cake a day ago and it was in the fridge overnight before serving and my cake tasted dry. Do you think its because it a day old, sitting in the fridge too long, baked too long (baked 20mins) or does it need to be on the counter a bit after i take it out of the fridge?
I wished the cake was more moist and soft for me 😢.
Thanks for the recipe, I think i enjoy baked cheesecakes more also, different flavor/texture when baked.
Keep in mind that the base cake of this is a shortcake, so it is a different texture than a regular cake and more like a biscuit. It’s hard to say whether not you did anything wrong or perhaps aren’t as crazy about the biscuit. If you were to try it again, you could certainly try baking it a little less time.
I made this shortbread strawberry cheesecake over the weekend for a friend’s going away party and it was a HUGE hit! I read the recipe several times, and watched the video twice, before starting this cheesecake and that made everything go smoothly. I froze a metal bowl before whipping the cream the first time, but just used a room temp bowl the second time. Same outcome. Also, to make the sauce I cut berries into small pieces, and with a potato masher, I crushed them in a sauce pan over a medium heat. Worked very well. The parchment paper liner was tricky to “install” so I had my husband help. Worth the effort.
Anyway, I’d definitely make this again and maybe try adding a few raspberries! 🙂
I made this for a Mother’s Day brunch. It was amazing and got rave reviews. Thank you so much for such a delicious and beautiful recipe!
Wonderful! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I love this recipe! Unfortunately, I managed to break my perfect shortcake while removing it from springform pan. Since it was crumbled beyond redemption, I made a trifle out of it. Only thing I changed was I sugared the strawberries a little. I may have messed it up but my Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake Trifle was delicious. Thank you for the recipe! ????
Very smart to make the trifle! Sorry the shortcake broke! Glad you still enjoyed it!
I just made this today for my daughter’s 20th birthday, (her request)……she LOVED IT!!
For something sooo beautiful and elegant looking, it was surprisingly easy to make!! Everyone was very impressed. It easily fed 11 people.
I have sent a picture to your email. While not as pretty as yours, I have to say I’m impressed with myself!!
Thanks for sharing this with us!! It’s a keeper for sure ????
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The pictures look great! 🙂 Thanks Sherri!
I can’t wait to make this cake! But I have a question. The recipe says to put a layer of whipped cream on top of the cheesecake layer, but the pictures show only one layer.
To me it makes sense to have just a cheesecake layer because I think the whipped cream layer would be too soft to hold up the strawberries and sauce on top.
Please share your advice on layers for this beautiful cheesecake! Thanks!!!
It’s there, it just blends in. You could leave it off if you prefer, but as long as you add the full amount of powdered sugar it’ll hold up just fine. The powdered sugar stabilizes the whipped cream.
Thanks!
Where can I send pic? I’m sooo proud of myself!
I made this cake for father’s day. My first attempt at a fancy “scratch” cake!
It went over like gangbusters, gotta make another!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Feel free to share on instagram with #lifeloveandsugar or email me at lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com. 🙂
I’m confused. I’m making the strawberry shortcake cheesecake. The second part says put metal bowl in freezer and whisk for 15 minutes. Whisk what? Remove bowl and whisk from freezer and and 1 cup of heavy cream. I’m not understanding this instruction.
The topping is great and fresh tasting but the base is kinda bland and really doesn’t have that “shortbread/shortcake flavor. I love to bake and usually make baked cheesecakes as I much prefer the texture but my husband saw this on pinterest and wanted me to make it for him. Some of the steps seems a bit unnecessary. I tried making the whipped cream in a frozen bowl (first half) and non frozen (second half) and it didn’t make any difference at all to the outcome of the cream. Also taking the shortcake base out of the spring form pan and then trying to put it back in was fiddly!! The hardest part was trying to get the parchment paper up the sides of the spring form pan!! It took both my husband and I to range it in there and close the pan! I’ve never done this with a baked cheesecake and I have no idea how I would have done it alone lol
Overall I would definitely make this again for a BBQ or party but I will call my Nan and ask her for her shortcake recipe to substitute for the base on this one.