How To Make Strawberry Syrup For Cheesecake

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY SYRUP FOR CHEESECAKE Strawberry syrup is typically found in coffee shops as a delicious topping on cakes and milkshakes. More recently, it’s been used in beverages such as tea and coffee. It’s also an important part of cheesecake recipes since the flavor pairs so well with Greek yogurt and whipped topping.

How To Make Strawberry Syrup For Cheesecake

This homemade strawberry sauce is bursting with fresh strawberry flavor! Serve it cold as a dessert topping over cheesecake or ice cream. Or, warm it up and enjoy it for breakfast over pancakes or waffles. Store covered in the refrigerator.

In this article, we’ll teach you how to make a super tasty strawberry sauce that’s perfect for cheesecake, pound cake and ice cream. Fresh strawberries, vanilla extract and sugar bubble away on the stove, quickly creating a chunky sauce. Puree some if you wish, and serve hot or cool in the refrigerator for later.

Recipe Summary

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Total: 30 mins

Whether you want to add a sweet strawberry sauce to your cheesecake, ice cream, strawberry shortcake, or pancakes, this versatile strawberry glaze is the perfect recipe to have on hand. It only requires three ingredients to create a delicious, fruity sauce that you’ll want to put on everything!

How to Make Strawberry Sauce

Making homemade strawberry sauce is really easy with just three ingredients: strawberries (fresh or frozen), sugar, and vanilla. You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s what you can expect when making this sauce.

Heat the Strawberries, Sugar, and Vanilla

In a saucepan, heat the strawberries, sugar, and vanilla until a juice begins to form. Mash a few strawberries with a wooden spoon to produce a syrup. Cook until the sauce thickens.

Blend the Sauce

Transfer ⅓ of the sauce to a blender and blend until smooth. Add the puree back to the sauce for the perfect smooth and chunky consistency. 

If you want a smooth sauce, you can blend the entire mixture until all the strawberry chunks are gone.

How to Thicken Strawberry Sauce

The easiest way to thicken strawberry sauce is to simmer it for longer. The longer you allow it to heat on the stove, the more moisture will evaporate. 

If your sauce isn’t thickening on the stove, or you don’t have the time to let it simmer longer, you can add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. Combine one part cornstarch to two parts water, then slowly add it into the sauce until it reaches your desired consistency. 

Strawberry Topping for Cheesecake

This sweet, fruity and tart strawberry topping is heavenly when served on rich and creamy cheesecake, but the uses are endless when it comes to the many ways you can enjoy this strawberry sauce recipe.

Turn it into a dip or spoon it over vanilla ice cream or our strawberry basil ice cream. Add this delightful strawberry topping to your pancakes, waffles, pound cake, etc. The truth is that dessert with strawberry topping > dessert without strawberry topping. And that includes cheesecake, friends.

Why We Love This Strawberry Topping:

Our strawberry topping for cheesecake is easy to prepare and gives you the option to use either fresh or frozen strawberries. Here are a few other reasons why we love it (and know you will too!):

• It only requires 6 ingredients and is ready in under 20 minutes
• You can prepare a batch in advance and have it ready when you need it
• Freezes well so you can have it all year long
• It’s an easy strawberry sauce recipe that has so many uses

This is just one of those perfect sauces or toppings that goes with so many things. Keep it around for all your last-minute desserts along with other great sauces like our butterscotch sauce, lemon sauce, or chocolate sauce.

The Ingredients:

To make this sweet strawberry topping for cheesecake, you will need:

• Fresh or frozen strawberries (if using frozen, there’s no need to thaw them in advance)
• Sugar
• Instant Clear jel or cornstarch (if you plan on freezing the sauce, use Clear jel)
• Salt
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla extract

Optional: You can also add in a few drops of red food coloring if you’d like the color of the topping to be an extra vibrant red. All you need are about 2-3 drops.

Strawberry Sauce Recipe:

To make this strawberry topping for cheesecake, you will also need a medium-large saucepan. If you’d like a smooth sauce, you can use an immersion blender to purée the strawberry topping (entirely up to you!).

Here is a brief overview of how to make strawberry topping for cheesecake. Make sure you scroll down to the printable recipe card for all the details.

1. Prepare the strawberries: Wash and hull the fresh strawberries, then slice into halves or quarters. Place them in a saucepan.
2. Cook: Combine the strawberries with the sugar, salt, and your choice of one of the thickeners. Add the lemon juice. Cook stirring, constantly, to break up some of the berries.
3. Cool: Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and food coloring (if using). Let the sauce cool completely. Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce if you’d like it to be extra smooth.

Note: If you’re using cornstarch, the strawberry sauce will thicken more as it cools. If using Clearjel, the mixture will immediately get a bit thick and gloppy during the first couple of minutes. As you stir and mash the strawberries, the sauce will smooth out.

tips for strawberry sauce for cheesecake

• Taste the strawberries before making the sauce. If they’re not very sweet, increase the sugar amount to 1/2 cup total.
• Stirring the cornstarch or Clear jel with the sugar and then adding it to the strawberries will help prevent any lumps from forming. Make sure the strawberries are coated in the starch mixture.
• Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes, especially if you are using cornstarch.
• For freezing the sauce: If you plan on freezing this sauce, we recommend using Clear jel instead of cornstarch. Clear jel holds up better when frozen and thawed, while corn starch breaks down after thawing and will leave the strawberry topping a little bit runny.
• When to put strawberry topping on cheesecake: Once the strawberry topping for cheesecake is completely cool (or chilled, if you’d like) you can spoon the sauce onto cheesecake right before serving. Another option is to keep the sauce on the side and serve each individual slice with a spoonful of the strawberry topping.

Our strawberry topping for cheesecake is a beautifully vibrant fruit sauce that gives each bite a delicious flavor. Whether you choose to use fresh or frozen strawberries, this strawberry sauce recipe is easy to follow and results in an irresistible topping to satisfy all your strawberry dessert cravings!

BEST STRAWBERRY GLAZE (FOR CHEESECAKE, PIE AND MORE)

Whether you’re baking a pie, cheesecake, or homemade donuts, there’s nothing quite like a tasty Strawberry Glaze to add a sweet finishing touch. This strawberry sauce is made from scratch with real, juicy strawberries.

With a few simple ingredients and in less than 15 minutes, you’ll have a sweet, thick sauce packed with tasty strawberry flavor. It’s one of my favorite cheesecake or pancake toppings along with Peach Compote and Blueberry Sauce.

You can also use strawberry glaze on top of ice cream for the most delicious Ice Cream Sundaes.

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

• Strawberries: You can use fresh or frozen strawberries for this recipe.
• Lemon Juice: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best result.
• Sugar: Regular granulated sugar works well.
• Corn Starch: For thickening the sauce.
• Water

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY GLAZE

1. Add strawberries, water, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan over high heat. Stir to mix and bring it to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the strawberries become soft.

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3. Remove from heat and blend the strawberries gently.

4. Strain the mixture through a strainer. Then pour the liquid back to the saucepan on low heat.

5. Mix together corn starch with water. Pour the corn starch slurry into the simmering strawberry sauce. Stir constantly.

6. Increase the heat to high, keep whisking until it thickens into a glaze. Remove from heat, and pour it into a bowl or container to cool down. Serve and enjoy!

TIPS FOR THE BEST STRAWBERRY GLAZE

• Add sugar gradually: Sugar should be added a little at a time until you reach desired sweetness. Remember, you can always add more, but you can’t take it back out!
• Use cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce: Add a bit of cornstarch slurry to the mix to thicken the sauce easily.
• You can add red food coloring for a brighter color: I used high-quality fresh strawberries and didn’t add any food coloring to my strawberry glaze. If for some reason your berries don’t give us that striking red color, you can cheat by adding a few drops of food coloring.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH STRAWBERRY GLAZE TOPPING

• Cheesecake: For a tasty, restaurant-style cheesecake, add a generous layer of your homemade strawberry glaze. This is an easy way to elevate a simple cheesecake.
• Pie: If you’ve got an abundance of strawberries, why not make a pie? Fresh strawberries plus your homemade glaze make this the ultimate treat.
• Donuts: Stuff homemade donuts with your fresh strawberry sauce for a taste that’s out of this world! This glaze can also be used to jazz up plain, store-bought donuts.
• Shortcakes: Top a slice of shortcake with whipped cream and strawberry glaze for a tasty ending to your weeknight dinner.
• Pancakes: Take your breakfast to the next level by topping warm pancakes with delicious strawberry glaze. Serve with fresh fruit.

Homemade Strawberry Sauce (Strawberry Topping)

This fresh Strawberry Sauce is quick and easy to make and tastes delicious as a topping for cheesecake or pound cake; or as a sauce with ice cream or whipped cream.

Fresh strawberry topping

There’s nothing like strawberry season, if you ask me. I love using the fresh berries to make this strawberry sauce/strawberry topping for yogurt, cheesecake… Or to eat with a spoon!

• It’s quick and easy to make with just a handful of ingredients and a few minutes of time
• This is a great recipe to use for berries that need to be used up and may not look their best anymore, or for off-season berries that lack natural sweetness
• This freezes well, so it’s a great way to preserve those juicy farmer’s market strawberries!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Strawberries: You can make this with frozen strawberries. You don’t need to defrost them, but the sauce will take a little longer to cook and they tend to break up more. Feel free to substitute other berries – the sauce works great with blueberries, blackberries or cherries. Raspberries tend to completely break up and form more of a jam.
• Cornstarch: Feel free to double or triple the cornstarch for a more jammy, thick sauce (the recipe as-is yields chunks of soft strawberry in syrup-y sauce).
• Lemon juice: The lemon aids with the thickening of the sauce. If you use bottled or skip the lemon juice, you may need to add a little more cornstarch to get the same consistency.

How to make strawberry sauce

1.Combine the strawberries and sugar in a pot. Whisk together the cornstarch, vanilla and lemon juice in a small bowl, then pour into the pot with the strawberries and sugar.

2.Stir well, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat once. This will start releasing the strawberries’ juices, which will be very liquid at this point.

Reduce the heat to medium and allow the sauce to simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring often, until the juices have thickened to your liking. Break up or even mash part of the berries as the sauce cooks if you like, for a less chunky and more mashed sauce.

You can serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream for a simple dessert. Use at room temperature or chilled on cheesecakes and the like, in order to keep your dessert from melting away under the heat of the freshly cooked sauce.

Recipe tips

• You can cut the strawberries as small or as chunky as you’d like. I prefer a chunky strawberry sauce, especially for cheesecake toppings or for things like extra-special strawberry shortcake and the like.
• The sauce thickens a little as it chills. If it is too thick when you want to use it, microwave it for 10-15 seconds.
• This yields soft, juicy strawberries in a sirup-y sauce. For a thicker sauce, double or even triple the cornstarch.

Sauce consistency

I like a chunky strawberry topping with lots of juicy syrup. But in some instances, it can be more useful to have more of a sauce consistency, or smaller chunks. Here are some ways you can vary the consistency:

• Cut the strawberries in large chunks (halve or quarter) and only stir carefully during simmering to leave the berry chunks whole for a very chunky topping, perfect for cheesecake
• Dice the strawberries in medium chunks, and/or break up some of the berries as the sauce simmers for a more small chunk, jamm-y topping
• For a smoother sauce, please do not blend – it turns out too liquid-y. Instead, break up/mash all of the berries with a wooden spoon after simmering the sauce for about 5 minutes. Simmer for 5-10 more minutes, stirring often, until thickened to your preferred consistency.

FRESH STRAWBERRY SYRUP OR SAUCE (WITH VIDEO!)

Homemade Fresh Strawberry Syrup (Sauce) is as easy as throwing the 4 INGREDIENTS into a pot and letting them simmer and it tastes positively heavenly!   This crazy delicious Strawberry Syrup makes ice cream, pancakes, waffles, crepes, cheesecake etc. taste GOURMET with little effort!  I love serving this  for company!

We look forward to strawberry season all year so we can make this spectacular strawberry syrup along with these other strawberry favorites: strawberry shortcake cake, mini strawberry pies, strawberry cheesecake, strawberry syrup and strawberry salsa.

STRAWBERRY SYRUP RECIPE VIDEO

FRESH STRAWBERRY SYRUP

4 Ingredient Fresh Strawberry Syrup

‘Tis the season of strawberries!  Strawberry season always makes me so excited because it means summer is just around the corner!  Which means, warm beach days, warmish beach water (at least warm enough for a spring suit, I’m a wimp), and for Carlsbad locals and Legoland tourist, it means fresh strawberry picking in the strawberry fields!

Rows and rows of fresh, plump, sweet strawberries, just begging to be plucked and appreciated…

I think I can do that.

So what do you do with all those hand-picked fresh strawberries you might ask? (or store bought fresh strawberries that were picked for you? 🙂 )…

Make Fresh Strawberry Syrup!

INGREDIENTS FOR STRAWBERRY SYRUP

You only need 4 basic ingredients for this recipe!

• strawberries: the riper, the sweeter!  Remove the stems and chop them; chop larger for chunkier syrup, smaller for smoother syrup.
• lemon juice:  fresh is best! Lemon juice enhances the fresh berry flavor and balances the sugar.
• sugar:  granulated sugar please to sweeten the strawberries into syrup!  You may need more or less depending on your personal preference and how sweet your strawberries are.
• vanilla extract: just a dash adds a depth of flavor.

Scroll below for printable recipe.

CAN I USE FROZEN STRAWBERRIES?

Yes!  When fresh strawberries aren’t in season, frozen strawberries are a great alternative. Thaw the strawberries, remove excess water and proceed with the recipe as written.  You will need to simmer the syrup longer to chicken because the frozen strawberries will release more water.   If the syrup doesn’t thicken to your liking, mix 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with ¼ cup water and stir it into the syrup and simmer another 5 minutes or so until thickened.

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY SYRUP

This strawberry syrup can be ready in just 20 minutes!  5 minutes for chopping strawberries and 15 minutes to simmer.  Here’s how:

• Combine strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Lower heat to a gentle simmer until the strawberries are soft and the syrup is thickened and reduced by ⅓ to ½ in volume, approximately 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Syrup will thicken upon standing so simply whisk in more water to reached desired consistency if needed.
• Serve over anything and everything!

WHAT TO SERVE STRAWBERRY SYRUP WITH

Strawberry Syrup pairs perfectly with ice cream or even better – an ice cream brownie sundae (insane!), on top of cheesecake, in slushies as well as instantly elevates any pancake, waffle, crepe or French toast into something you would pay an arm and a leg for at an overpriced French cafe, which you gladly do because every bite of sweet syrupy goodness is practically priceless.

Priceless I tell you.

But wait! You can indulge your entire family or brunch guests to gourmet dining by making this Fresh Strawberry Syrup in your own home, simply by simmering 4 ingredients in one pot – doesn’t get any easier than this!

And in 15 short minutes, you have this…

Which then can drown this Angel Food Cake and Cream Cheese French Toast – my personal favorite way to eat this mouthwatering Fresh Strawberry Syrup – you don’t want to miss it!