[recipe] strawberry lime cheesecake bars

With the rest of that 2lbs. box of strawberries I decided to make dessert this weekend – Strawberry Lime Cheesecake Bars.

strawberry-lime-chesecake-bar

The original recipe I based this on called for lemon – but I wanted to use limes from our tree since we had those in abundance. I’m also trying out various key lime recipes to see what’s the best before our trip to Tampa/Key West this month (woo).

strawberry-compote

First thing I did was to make the strawberry compote for the middle layer of the cheesecake bars. This is basically just sliced strawberries, a half a cup of sugar, lime zest and a cup of water. A did a little cornstarch slurry at the end to thicken it up a little bit more after cooking this for about 15 minutes.

shortbread-cookie-crust

When I put the crust together and pressed it into the pan it looks kind of wrong. It’s really dry and crumbly and didn’t seem like it would form a crust. But have faith like I did! It turns out like this:

shortbread-cookie-crust-baked-bottom

It’s got lots of holes in it, but it all came together in the end. It’s a bit like shortbread and creates a nice thick base for the rest of the cheesecake bars.


cheesecake-bars-middle-layer

The strawberry layer goes on next! I wish I had made more for a thicker strawberry layer.

cheesecake-bars-top-layer

The cream cheesey cheesecake layer goes on top and goes in for a quick 20 minute bake.

strawberry-lime-chesecake-bar-cross-side

These are a little tangy from the key lime (with a little extra zest on top). Some fresh whipped cream on top also compliments these babies.

strawberry-lime-chesecake-bar-top

An enjoyable little dessert for any time!

Strawberry Lime Cheesecake Bars
Print
Ingredients
  1. 1lb strawberries, sliced
  2. 1/2 cup sugar
  3. 1 teaspoon lime zest
  4. 1 cup water
  5. 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in water
  6. 2 cups all purpose flour
  7. 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  8. 2 tsp lime zest, divided
  9. 3/4 cup cold butter, cut into tablespoon sized pieces
  10. 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
  11. 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  12. 2 eggs
  13. 1/4 cup lime juice
Instructions
  1. Combine strawberries, sugar, lime zest and water in a pot and bring to boil. Set to simmer for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add cornstarch slurry and cook for another five minutes until thickened.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Combine flour, powdered sugar, 1 tsp lime zest and butter. Cut together with a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly mess and the butter is in little chunks. It'll look crazy dry but not to worry!
  4. Press mixture into a 9x13 pan. It'll look wrong, but that's okay. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool.
  5. In a bowl add cream cheese, sugar, and lime zest. With a mixer or by hand, beat together until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, stirring to combine. Add in lime juice and mix well.
  6. Add strawberry compote on top of the shortbread crust. Then top with cheesecake mixture.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheesecake layer is set and not jiggly in the middle of the pan.
  8. Allow to cool for 30 minutes then pop into the fridge to set for 3-4 hours.
  9. Cut into squares and top with whipped cream and a little more zest, if desired.
Notes
  1. If you don't feel like making strawberry compote, you can substitute with strawberry jam.
Adapted from Cookies and Cups
Adapted from Cookies and Cups
This Tasty Life http://food.theplainjane.com/

9 thoughts on “[recipe] strawberry lime cheesecake bars

  1. Ohhh! I don’t like compotes as much but the strawberry jam (or blackberry jam!) sounds delicious with these bars. I feel like something super tart – how can i make this extra (key lime-ish) tart if I use just jam ? Maybe add more zest to the cream cheese mixture?

    I like how the imprints of your fingers still show up in the final baked crust. Impressive.

    Do you make your own whip cream or do you store buy? This one looks like you whipped it up fresh.

    1. Hi Faye – I like using the compote here because I know how much sugar went into it – plus I added zest to it. You could even add lime/lemon juice to make the compote a little more tart, but I like that little bit of sweetness with it. I made my own whipped cream this time. The last few times I used the canned stuff it didn’t taste so great so I just whipped up my own. Freshly made tastes so much better to and it’s not a lot of extra work.

  2. This kind of not really fully jam-ified strawberry compote sounds like it would be AMAZING in any dessert. I remember one of the first recipes I ever made was this Jamie Oliver recipe for vanilla rice pudding with “quick strawberry jam” that was essentially the same thing you made. Love the idea of layering it in cheesecake!

    1. Hi J.S. – Yes, I like the “it’s not quite jam” fruit compotes! You get to control all the ingredients and I like to make mine a little less sweet to counterbalance the other flavors going on. Jamie Oliver makes some great stuff – I love his Instagram account, so much beautiful food and presentation!

  3. i guess my previous comment was lost in the black hole of cyberspace. 🙁

    just wanted to let you know that i love your creative recipes – this is a great flavor combo. i plan on doing this for a family gathering this weekend with a few short cuts . i like that you made the compote fresh. very nice! layered bars also look very pretty!

    1. Hi CC – Damn that black hole in the internet! Thanks for your kind words! I always wonder if anyone cares about these posts, haha. I like how pretty the layers look, too.

  4. Hi Mary! I have read so much about you (on Faye’s Fork) that you don’t feel like a stranger! You did a great job with Faye’s blog. It looks so cool. Thumbs up to you.

    I love a yummy cheesecake/bar. Looks delish. I am sure Faye’s fam would have been so much happier with your cheesecake creations than the overpriced cheesecake that they had paid for that one time!

    1. Hi Miss Kim! I always see your comments and little snippets about you from Faye, too! Nice to see you, haha! Thanks – I’m glad I could help out Faye with her blog, it made her so happy! Yeah, that cheesecake Faye’s family got sounded terrible – I’m sure just about anything would have been better. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

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