Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries Review

Usually my family and do not get pies and cakes that you find in the frozen section of the grocery store. In the past if we really wanted cheesecake I would take the time to make one from scratch, however that was before I had a child and before I was going to school full time. So this time around I decided that I would just get a frozen cheesecake for a celebration. Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries was the particular product that we found and from the box it looked as though it was going to be delicious.

The cheesecake had an oatmeal crumb crust, a thick layer of cheese cake, and diced strawberries with strawberry juice syrup. I was not sure how much I would like an oatmeal crust, when I make cheesecake from scratch I like to make a graham cracker crust. Everything else about the Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries looked as though it was going to be positively lovely though. The cheesecake was around 5 dollars. I do think that it was too bad of a price for a frozen dessert but it made me have some high expectations for the dessert at the same time. I was not too familiar with these kinds of desserts so I do not know really what to compare it to, but here is what I thought about it.

Overall the Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries tasted absolutely delicious. The strawberries and their sauce tasted very sweet and despite being frozen at one point they still had a lot of the flavor. This surprised me because growing up during the summer we had fresh strawberries from our garden and all of the other seasons we had ones that had been frozen and when we defrosted them they lost some of their flavor and when we bought frozen strawberries from the store they had lost their flavor even more. I would say that the strawberry taste with this cheese cake was closer to the frozen strawberries originally from my garden as a child and less like just any old frozen strawberries that you find in the store. The cheesecake part of this frozen dessert was equally good.

The cheesecake of the Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries was considered to be whipped and fluffy. I am not too sure what fluffy means but I know that the overall taste of the cheesecake was very good. I would not say that it was as good as a fresh piece of cheesecake that was made from scratch, but it was very delicious all the same. I would say that the texture was a step above from melting in your mouth but not overwhelmingly firm either. It made the cheesecake seem to taste even more yummy. I am not sure if this meant that the dessert was fluffy or not but it was definitely delightful. I thought that it was worth the cost too. I decided to include the ingredients and nutrition facts of the cheesecake for anyone who was curious; however I had to admit that after reading all of them I thought that I might not buy the cheesecake too often.

The ingredients did not divide the different elements of the Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries. They were listed on the box beginning with water, strawberries and sugar. Next was oatmeal cookie crumb made from enriched flour made of wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid and sugar, coconut oil, rolled oats, molasses, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and lemon oil. Then listed was milk, vegetable oil that was either palm, soybean or cottonseed oils or a combination of the 3, whey, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil that was soybean and/or cottonseed oils. Again there was enriched flour made of wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid. There was also heavy whipping cream, cultured milk, and corn syrup. Even with all this there were many more ingredients that made up less than 2% of the cheesecake.

The Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries contained 2% or less of cream cheese made of pasteurized milk and cream, cheese culture, salt, and carob bean gum, modified corn starch, and neufchatel cheese made of pasteurized milk and cream, cheese culture, salt, and the stabilizers xanthan and/or carob bean and/or guar gums. Also listed was milk protein concentrate, cream, skim milk, gelatin, maltodextrin, oats, salt, the gums carob bean, xanthan gum, and guar and mono- and diglycerides. The cheesecake was colored with b-apo-8 carotenal, turmeric and annatto extract, red 40, and caramel color. Still more was listed with cheese culture, citric acid, skim milk protein concentrate, lactic acid, lactose, propylene glycol, mono- and diesters of fats and fatty acids, natural and artificial flavors, propylene glycol alginate, molasses, baking soda, lactylic esters of fatty acids, carrageenan, modified tapioca starch, potassium chloride, wheat starch, cinnamon, soy lecithin, potassium sorbate as a preservative, lemon oil, and soy flour. After reading all of this I was not sure what to expect from the nutrition facts.

The Sara Lee French Cheesecake with Strawberries offered 320 calories with 160 calories from fat per serving. There were 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 25 grams of sugars, and 4 grams of protein in a serving. In the minerals and vitamins section there was 2% listed for vitamin A, 4% for iron, and 6% for calcium for a serving. A serving of the cheesecake was about 1/6 of it and it was 123 grams worth of food. With the ingredients and all of this in mind I decided that we would not be getting this cheesecake too often. I am sure that fresh cheesecake is not the healthiest thing to eat but it certainly would not have so many artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. I would recommend this cheesecake for taste and ease; all you have to do is keep it frozen until the day before you want to eat it, at which point you just place it in the fridge for 24 hours and then serve. I would not recommend it for ingredients and nutrition though.