Strawberry glaze for a cheesecake

suomi

I've googled and googled but can't find an answer, hopefully someone here will be able to help!

I'm planning on making a cheesecake for my birthday this weekend and I'd like to put a strawberry glaze on it. However, most recipes that I've found use strawberry jam and I'd rather use frozen strawberries, just so that it'll taste a bit more like fresh strawberries than sugary jam. How would I make a glaze with frozen strawberries though? I assume I'd have to use a food processor and maybe boil them? And should I use jam sugar or corn/potato starch or something else? I'm hoping to get a glaze that's nice and firm and that won't slide off the cake when cut. Maybe something like this:



Except I'd like it to be a bit thicker, it wouldn't need to be that smooth. Any ideas?

phormium

You won't get as clear a glaze as that using frozen strawberries or even fresh for that matter. Most of them are kind of jam based as that gives that clear jelly like look. If that does not matter to you then I would just liquidise the fruit and strain it, I would not boil it for any length of time or you are back to jam type consistency.

To get a thicker jelly like layer then gelatine would probably give the best result, you would need to warm the puree slightly or the dissolved gelatine might solidify too quickly when added.

You could also use cornflour as you suggested, this would make it set like custard and it would be cloudy, you could use powdered arrowroot in a similar way to cornflour and you get a clearer set, both these options though would require boiling up the puree which I would do for the minimum amount of time so as not to spoil the strawberry taste and end up with jam flavour again.

Magic Monkey

In that picture the glaze is set with a clear gel (Is that from IKEA BTW?) You can use gelatin or agar-agar to get the same effect. Here's a simple recipe:

Strawberry Glaze

800g Strawberries (if frozen, defrosted)
120g Caster sugar
100g Fresh lime juice
1 tiny pinch sea salt

1. Wash, dry, de-stem strawberries if fresh. Place in a large bowl, add the sugar and lime juice, and crush just roughly with a fork. Cover, leave for 20 mins.
2. Pass mixture through a fine sieve into a clean bowl to obtain a clear juice.
3. Return the mixture to the first bowl and crush very finely this time. Pass once more until all the strawberry juice is extracted.
4. Add the extracted juice to a pot. Heat gently until it just begins to simmer. If there's any white scum on the surface, skim and discard. You want to get the clearest juice possible.
5. Once fully skimmed, bring the juice to a boil and reduce for 3 minutes. This will concentrate the liquid and intensify the aromas.
6. Add the salt. Have a sip, and spend a moment in strawberry fields

To make the topping, well, the amount depends on the size of your cheesecake. But I'll assume you have 500g of strawberry concentrate, and are using 4 sheets of leaf gelatin:

1. Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water for 10 mins. While this is happening, heat the strawberry concentrate up to a simmer.
2. Once fully hydrated, squeeze out the excess water and add to the warm concentrate, stirring to dissolve the mixture.
3. Allow to cool until it's thickened up a little, then pour over your cheesecake. Refrigerate until set.

One more thing: If you're making the cheesecake in a springform tin, wrap around the inside with a strip of baking paper. This will give you a slightly cleaner finish.

suomi

Wow, thanks for the fantastic posts, very helpful! The picture was uploaded here by someone, it's the recipe I'm planning on using for the cheesecake.

Magic Monkey, would lemon juice work instead of lime juice? I have a couple of lemons in the fridge that I could use.

Thanks for the tip about the baking paper as well! I've never even thought of using it, I always use cling film. It does make the cake very wrinkly though.

Magic Monkey

suomi wrote: »

Magic Monkey, would lemon juice work instead of lime juice? I have a couple of lemons in the fridge that I could use.

Lime works much better with strawberry, but you can substitute with lemon if you like. Use 1/2 lemon in place of the whole lime, and add more juice from the other 1/2 if it needs it.

As a finishing touch, you could also gently press lightly-toasted coconut around the edge. It goes well with strawberry and will also high a non-smooth base.

suomi

Magic Monkey wrote: »

Lime works much better with strawberry, but you can substitute with lemon if you like. Use 1/2 lemon in place of the whole lime, and add more juice from the other 1/2 if it needs it.

As a finishing touch, you could also gently press lightly-toasted coconut around the edge. It goes well with strawberry and will also high a non-smooth base.

I'll get some lime tomorrow then, I do want it to be perfect.

That's a handy tip! I already put some lemon juice in the cake so I'm not sure if the coconut would taste nice with it.