Tequila Lime Cheesecake with Strawberry Margarita Topping
Creamy cheesecake spiked with tequila and topped with boozy strawberries. This Tequila Lime Cheesecake Recipe has a Strawberry Margarita Topping that will blow your mind! PLUS. Tips for not cracking the baked cheesecake.
I am a cheesecake cracker.
I usually stick to cheesecake bars because I , without fail, crack the cheesecake EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. There are a zillion billion tips and tricks for how not to crack a cheesecake but I am a lost cause. Mostly I can blame the oven because it is it hot little broken mess. The seal is stripped, the light melted away, and there is no temperature gauge on ANYTHING. In case you were wondering why I tolerate such a serious injustice it's because we are renting here while we house-shop. A stove will be my first major purchase.
Forget the new couch. We can sit on the floor.
Not kidding.
I've been working on this recipe here for awhile because usually my cheesecake motto is to not stress about the cracks and then cover them with awesomeness. When you smother cheesecake in perfectly placed fruit slices or thick gooey caramel or crushed Oreo cookies no one knows or cares that the cracks are there.
So I actually planned this recipe around the topping!
And then something amazing happened: I didn't crack the cheesecake. I took this picture to prove it.
But you're still gonna want the topping. Oh yes you are.
I tossed 1 pound of fresh strawberries with a little cornstarch, a little sugar, and TEQUILA. The results are thick, sticky, strawberry-margarita-flavored, jam-like berries.
If you follow me on Instagram you know that Mother's Day over here ended with dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant with delicious $2.99 margaritas. I like to call them market research.
So I put tequila in the cheesecake.
Maybe that was the magic reason it didn't crack? Who knows.
What I DO know is that this cheesecake on its own is dense and fluffy at the same time. It's rich and desserty without being overly sweet. The lime is fresh, the cake is creamy, and the strawberry topping could happily live on top of pound cake or blondies or ice cream.
Also: It didn't crack. Just saying.
- 8 graham crackers
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup ricotta (see note)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons tequila
- zest + juice of 1 lime (about 1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice)
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons tequila
- 2 tablespoons water
- Pre-heat the oven to 325. Lay a sheet of parchment paper across the removable bottom of a 9" springform pan and then close the pan around it, keeping the paper smooth. There will be lots of additional paper hanging out the sides of the pan -- leave it. It will help you later.
- Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor to make fine crumbs. Stir them with the sugar and melted butter to make the graham cracker crust. Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan and go up the sides just a little.
- In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sour cream and ricotta. Beat until combined.
- Beat in the granulated sugar, the tequila, the lime zest and the lime juice.
- Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Pour the batter over the crust and bake for 30 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 250 and bake for 45 more minutes.
- Raise the heat to 300 and bake for 15 more minutes. The center will be set/firm but still slightly jiggly.
- Turn the oven OFF and let the cheesecake cool inside the oven all the way to room temperature.
- Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
- While the cheesecake cools, toss the berries with the cornstarch. Place them in a medium saucepan.
- Throw the sugar and the tequila over the strawberries and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- When the strawberries start to break down they will stick to the pan a little. Stir in the water when this happens and continue cooking and stirring for 30 minutes.
- Let the sauce cool and serve it over the cheesecake slices.
Tequila Lime Cheesecake very loosely adapted from Martha Stewart's Margarita Cheesecake recipe
Other Boozey Baking from Sugar Dish Me...
Death by Chocolate Guiness Cupcakes
This. Is. Amazing! I love it, Heather! Thanks so much for participating in the Spiked! Challenge! 🙂
Thanks, Julie! I had a really good time with this. I bake lots of liquored up goodies anyway so this was just a really good excuse to play with tequila. Love the challenge- such a good idea! Can't wait to see what comes next!
I'm a sucker for a good cheesecake this one sounds ridiculously awesome!!
Thanks, girl!
Whether or not there were cracks wouldn't matter. That topping - that's all I can think about and notice. Strawberry Margarita. Swoon. Tequila Lime IN the cheesecake however is so creative and I need this!
Thanks, Averie!
Topping insurance, I've found, is always a good idea. I am also slightly guilty of eating the topping with a spoon.
And I just linked this post up to my current post 🙂 I need this cheesecake!
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much, Averie!
That is such an insane compliment! I could hug you right now 🙂
No cracks and it looks so delicious I could cry 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Just checking in so you know I haven't abandoned you 😉 You know I can't cope with cheesecake personally, but the strawberries look delicious, reckon I could cope with just the strawbs, cream and biscuity base (this has just reminded me - I know you won't know the programme, but there's a cookery programme here and this is one of thos eweird sons that gets made from it, but I thought since it's cookery based it might make you smile anyway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfeyUGZt8nk ) and I'm very proud of you for not cracking it! (Also, did you know I was in this flat for almost 2 years before having a sofa - and not even an oven to compensate! haha!) I promise to be back properly both on blog and comments soon!x
Hey! I was worried you'd given up on Sugar Dish Me because I love cheese and bananas so much 🙂 Glad you're back!
I can't believe you have no sofa! Where do you crash after too much tequila?! 🙂
I am so impressed that you did not crack the top! It looks wonderful:)
Thanks, Lisa! I was impressed with myself lol. I might add tequila to all cheesecake from now on as an insurance policy.
Heather, this is beautiful. The addition of tequila is a BONUS! I'm going to see if I have time to make mini-cheesecakes for a graduation party!
BTW - I'm soooo slow, I just realized that you are (one of several) admins for Amazing Recipes - duh! I kept thinking, who are the faces (bloggers) behind this site?! 🙂
Yay! Make mini tequila cheesecakes!
And yes! I'm an admin at Amazing Recipes-- what a great group of people we have there 🙂 So glad you've been sharing your stuff (and posting more!!)
Ok, so maybe creamsicle isn't my thing, but I am all over this cheesecake! Wow!!! I may actually have to bake something. This looks and sounds amazing!
I was so sorry to hear you couldn't be in the creamsicle club! I'm buried this week-- sorry I didn't get a chance to respond but I was gonna tell you: use a different flavor! There are a whole bunch of those flavor creations (remember the cotton candy frosting? Yeah.). Or just make cheesecake. Cheesecake is good, right?
You are on to something Heather!!! This looks and sound delish! The cheescake looks so creamy!
Thanks!
I am definitely a cheesecake-a-holic. I was reeeally pleased with these results.