Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake

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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.

1. 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.
2. Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor.
3. Add Butter: Add the butter and mix in the food processor until combined. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
4. Add Heavy Cream: Slowly add heavy cream and pulse in the food processor until just moistened.
5. 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.
6. Bake: Press the dough into an even layer in the springform pan. Bake it for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
7. 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.

1. Combine Sugar, Cornstarch & Puree: Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir in the strawberry puree and water.
2. Cook: Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil.
3. Remove From Heat: Allow the sauce to boil for 1 minute, then remove it from the heat.
4. 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!

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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!

1. Prep Platter: Once the cheesecake is firm, remove from spring form pan and place on serving platter.
2. 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. 
3. Pipe Whipped Cream: Pipe the whipped cream around the outer top edge of the cheesecake.
4. 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.
5. 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!

1. Don’t Overwork Shortbread: Over mixing or over kneading the shortbread can lead to a tough cake.
   
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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)

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Other Berry Yummy Recipes

• Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
• Strawberry Cream Pie
• No Bake Strawberry Milkshake Cheesecake