If you’re looking for a fabulous, decadent, finale for a party, you’ll love this dreamy cheesecake.  During strawberry season there’s nothing more delicious than a fresh strawberry pie.  Few desserts are as eye appealing as a glistening fresh fruit pie.  One bite of this creamy creation tells you this is a dessert above others.  So I thought it might be fun to combine the two. Why choose! This dessert can be made up to three days before serving.  It’s luxuriously low in fat and calories compared to a full fat cheesecake.  One slice of this magnificent dessert has 233 calories, 9 grams of fat and 6 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS.  A slice of Cheesecake Factory’s Strawberry Cheesecake has 733 calories and 29 grams of fat.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 40 minutes
Refrigerate Time: 6 hours

Ingredients for Crust:

1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons reduced-fat butter, melted

Ingredients for Filling:

2 (8oz) packages reduced-fat cream cheese (I like Philadelphia 25% less fat)

2 egg whites

1 egg

1 cup sugar

½ cup fat-free sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Ingredients for Topping:

3 cups whole strawberries

½ cup Marie’s Glaze for Strawberries, see shopping

Instructions

1. To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9-inch spring-form pan with cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Press into the bottom of the coated pan.  Set aside.

3. To make filling: Using an electric mixer, or hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy and smooth.  Slowly mix in the egg whites, egg and sugar until smooth.  Stir in sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice.  Pour batter over the crust and carefully spread evenly.

4. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the center is set.  The outer sides might still be a little jiggly.  Cool and refrigerate in the pan for at least 6 hours before serving to set.

5. To make topping: After the cheesecake has been refrigerated for 6 hours the topping can be added.  In a bowl add the strawberries and Marie’s glaze.  Using a rubber spatula gently blend the berries and glaze.  Remove the cheesecake from the spring-form pan and place on a serving plate.  Spread the strawberry pie topping evenly over the top of the cheesecake.

6. Refrigerate left-overs for up to one week.

Makes 12 servings

Food Fact
Cream cheese may be America’s oldest packaged food.  Philadelphia brand cream cheese went on sale in 1885.

Healthy Benefit
Did you know that strawberries have more vitamin C than an orange?  Eight medium-sized strawberries contain 140% of the RDA for vitamin C.

Baking Tips
Always best cream cheese until light and fluffy before adding the remaining ingredients.

Don’t open the oven to peek for at least the first 30 minutes. Cheesecake needs even heat to rise properly.  Drafts can cause the cheesecake to crack.  If it does don’t fret.  The top will be covered with glazed strawberries.

Shopping Tip
Marie’s Glaze for Strawberries comes in a container and found in the produce section (near the strawberries) in most supermarkets.  Store left-over glaze in the refrigerator.  For a quick dessert, top nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt with sliced strawberries and drizzle a little glaze over the berries.

Weight Watchers (old points) 5
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 6