Heart-Shaped Cheesecake [Valentine’s Day Recipe]
If you’re looking for an easy, quick, and fancy-looking dessert recipe, this is just the right place for you! I made mini Heart-Shaped Cheesecake, with strawberries and hints of chocolate. Nothing screams romance like chocolate and strawberries (plus a splash of champagne, of course), right? This is cheesecake for two, with whole strawberries in the middle. Broken heart never looked as good!
Why Will You Love this Recipe?
- Fancy Looking: It is a heart-shaped cake with 3 layers and a surprise in the middle. It looks like regular cheesecake on the exterior, but when you cut through the middle, you will find whole strawberries. They provide a pop of color, texture, and a 5-star dessert feel. Also, for the final touch, slice strawberries and cover them with glossy, gelatinous sauce.
- Flavor Game: The crust is inspired by a chocolate chip cookie, that combines rich dark chocolate with slightly sweet graham crackers. The addition of chocolate chips offers bursts of flavor throughout the crust, complementing the creamy cheesecake filling impeccably. Velvety and luxurious mascarpone refreshes the taste with a hint of tanginess. Strawberries add juiciness and tartness, perfectly balancing sweet and acidic components.
- Super Simple to Make: This is a no-bake recipe and perfect for beginners. It is almost impossible to mess up! You won’t need more than 20 minutes to assemble the cake. You can feel if you reached the desired texture of layers right on the spot, so there is no chance you will end up with runny cake after cooling.
- Recipe for Two: This cake has only two servings, which makes it ideal for a date night.
- Date Idea: If you like cozy dates at home, making a mini cake together is an amazing bonding moment. It is not complicated, but fun to prepare, plus you won’t need to wait an eternity to serve it. It will be set in a few hours, just in time for dessert!
Ingredients
The list of ingredients is pretty simple, but the best thing is, each of them can be substituted if you don’t like it:
- Graham crackers – you can opt for any cookies you prefer, like Oreos, digestive, or crispy chocolate chip cookies
- Butter – to bind the crust
- Chocolate chips – use dark chocolate for a richer flavor
- Mascarpone – gives a silky texture
- Cream cheese – a staple in cheesecakes for its tangy taste, I used quark
- Sugar – use powdered sugar for cream cheese filling and granulated for the glaze
- Strawberries – use fresh fruit
- Red glaze – I used store-bought glaze, but you can make one at home
Tools You’ll Need
- 6’’ Heart-Shaped Cake Tin with Removable Bottom
- Hand Mixer
- Heavy-Bottomed Saucepan
How to Make Heart-Shaped Cheesecake?
- Make the Crust: Combine crushed graham crackers with melted butter and chocolate chips. The crust should be crumbly, but able to shape. Mold the mixture into a heart-shaped tin. Optionally, bake it for 7 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C). Leave to cool at room temperature.
- Making the Cream Cheese Filling: In the meantime, beat mascarpone and quark (or any other cream cheese) in a bowl, until silky. That’s about 3 minutes at medium speed. Add sifted powdered sugar and mix until all the lumps are gone. Mix in vanilla extract.
- Assembling the Cake: Take two large strawberries and cut the stem off. Cut them enough, so they are standing about half an inch lower than the mold. Place them in the center of a tin. Pour the filling over and even it with a spatula. Do it gently so the strawberries stay centered.
- Making the Glaze: Slice the strawberries. In a heavy-bottomed pot, place the strawberries and some granulated sugar. Melt the sugar over medium heat. In a separate bowl, mix together cold water and red glaze powder. Pour it into the pot and mix constantly. Let it simmer for about a minute.
- Finishing Touches: Let the glaze rest for a minute and pour it over the cake. Toss it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Let’s make a Valentine’s cake together! ENJOY!
Recipe Alternations
- Change the Fruit: If you want the shades of red and pink, choose berries, dragon fruit, or cherries instead. If you don’t care about the color, any fruit that has a tang works beautifully here. Kiwi, papaya, passion fruit, orange, pineapple, and lychee are top-notch choices.
- Make the Filling Pink: I opted for smooth, vanilla cheese filling, but to achieve the light pink, add strawberry puree. Make it by blending fresh strawberries and simmer it for a minute to thicken up, if needed. If you don’t mind the fruit chunks, you can use jam, as well. Of course, you don’t need to stick to strawberries only.
- Add Chocolate: Adding melted white chocolate to the cream cheese filling adds a touch of luxury and decadence to the cake. Of course, don’t add melted chocolate straight into the mixture, but melt it with heavy cream, to avoid stiffening. If you opt for this, I recommend ditching the chocolate chips from the crust, as it could be too much.
- Add Coconut: Coconut is amazing in cheesecakes, and I suggest adding it in layers. For example, swap butter for coconut oil and add condensed coconut milk to the batter.
- Use the Hazelnut Spread: Mixing in some hazelnut spread into the cream cheese filling brings a whole new dimension to the cake. The chocolaty flavor becomes more prominent, but it is fabulous with strawberries. Nutella and cheesecake is a true love story!
- Chocolate Strawberries: If you want to be super fancy, dip the strawberries in dark chocolate. Make sure to chill them well, so the chocolate doesn’t transfer to the filling around it.
- Make the Sauce: I opted for a gelatin-based glaze, but if you like more saucy toppings, make it with corn starch. It will drizzle a bit, but that’s where the charm lays!
Tips
I wrote down a few tips on how to elevate this simple cake and bring out all the flavor:
- Bake the Crust: This is optional, but makes the crust resemble a cookie, because of the chocolate chips in it. It will be crispier than a no-bake crust.
- Filling is Too Thin: If your filling isn’t set at all, the cream stabilizer will work like magic. You can melt some gelatin, or add coconut flour, chocolate, or more cream cheese.
- Filling is Too Thick: Filling won’t be good if it’s separating while mixing. That means it is too thick, and the cut will be rather crumbly and grainy. To save it, pour in a bit of heavy cream or milk. Do it slowly, though, a tablespoon at a time.
- Refrigerate Before Glazing: To have neatly defined layers, refrigerate the cake for about 15 minutes to half an hour before pouring the glaze on top.
- Separate the Cake from the Mold: When the gelatin-based glaze sets, it is prone to separating if you pull the mold abruptly. So, use a thin knife to divide the cake and tin to avoid it.
Storing Instructions
- Containers: Use airtight containers or cake carriers. Plastic wrap is also a good choice to keep the cake fresh, but it will mess with the decorations, as it sticks.
- Refrigeration: Cheesecake is even better when left overnight in the fridge, as it sets perfectly. It is an amazing cake to make in advance as it is super creamy, and not prone to drying out. It should be fresh for up to 5 days, but this recipe contains fresh fruit, so I would recommend eating it in a 3-day span.
- Freezing Options: Cheesecake freezes nicely, but it definitely changes the texture if left longer than 3 months. Also, skip the fresh strawberries if you’re planning on freezing it. They will become watery, and mushy, and ruin the texture of the cake. Plus, it is best to freeze it sliced!
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Lychee Cheesecake
- Strawberry Cheesecake Fudge
- Green Velvet Cheesecake
- Red Velvet Marbeled Cheesecake
- White Cake with Cheesecake Filling
Heart-Shaped Cheesecake
This recipe for Heart-Shaped Cheesecake is the only one you'll need this Valentine's! It is perfect, quick, and simple to make together for a date night. The cheesecake is super creamy, flavorful, and tangy. My favorite part is fresh strawberries and hints of dark chocolate. I LOVE the crosscut!
Ingredients
For the Crust
- ⅓ cup graham crackers (crushed)
- 1 ½ tbsp butter (melted)
- 1 tbsp chocolate chips
For the Filling
- ½ cup mascarpone
- ½ cup cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 strawberries (large)
For the Glaze
- 1 strawberry (sliced)
- ½ tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp red glaze
- ⅓ cup water (cold)
Instructions
Making the Crust
- Crush graham crackers. Combine them with melted butter and chocolate chips. The crust should be crumbly, but able to shape.
- Mold the mixture into a heart-shaped tin. Optionally, bake it for 7 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C). Leave to cool at room temperature.
Making the Cream Cheese Filling
- Beat mascarpone and cream cheese in a bowl, until silky. That’s about 3 minutes at medium speed.
- Add sifted powdered sugar and mix until all the lumps are gone. Mix in vanilla extract. The texture should be creamy and glossy.
Assembling the Cake
- Cut the stem off the strawberries, so they are standing about half an inch lower than the mold.
- Place them in the center of a tin. Pour the filling over and even it with a spatula. Do it gently so the strawberries stay centered.
Making the Glaze
- Slice the strawberries. In a heavy-bottomed pot, place the strawberries and some granulated sugar.
- Melt the sugar over medium heat. In a separate bowl, mix cold water and red glaze powder
- Pour it into the pot and mix constantly. Let it simmer for about a minute.
Finishing Touches
- Let the glaze rest for a minute and pour it over the cake. Toss it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 682.3kcalCarbohydrates: 33.1gProtein: 8.7gFat: 57.1gSaturated Fat: 34.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7.8gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 136.1mgSodium: 378mgPotassium: 156.1mgFiber: 0.9gSugar: 21.8gVitamin A: 1814.2IUVitamin C: 10.6mgCalcium: 157.9mgIron: 0.8mg
Before diving into the nutritional details, please review our Nutritional Disclaimer page for important context and clarifications.
