Food Fridays - Gluttony Edition

This past Wednesday was one of my staff's birthday.  Last year, I had set the standard for staff birthdays.  Another staff member had a birthday on the day I was working (unbeknownst to me until I arrived at work), so I ran out (on a break!) to Dairy Queen to get one of their delicious cakes.

This year, I had to one-up myself.

At the beginning of the summer, I made sure I was aware of when everyone's birthday was.  Then, when I found out there was a birthday that I would be present for, I made sure to casually introduce the subject of favourite desserts (specifically cakes) to the conversation weeks ahead of time.  Lo and behold, I discovered that O's favourite cake was a plain cheesecake with strawberries.  (I must say I was quite happy this was her favourite, since I LOVE cheesecake).

So on Wednesday, once all the staff had arrived, we did a little surprise for O and enjoyed some cake for lunch.

I love birthdays.

For the recipe, check out Cooking with Philly.  The recipe is very easy, but I found the centre took quite a long time to bake (far longer than the recipe).  It may just be the oven, though...

After 40 minutes in the oven

Added a layer of sour cream with sugar and vanilla

Sliced strawberries for my topping

Fresh out of the oven.  Browned on the sides since it needed to be in the oven for so long.

Finished!  I'm not patient enough to do a nice design on the top.  Sorry O.

My mum commented that this looks like a small party pizza...with candles.

Anyone have any cheesecake or other kind of cake recipe they'd be willing to share?  I'm also always looking for gluten free options.  This cake was almost gluten free.  If I substituted the graham crumbs in the crust for almond flour it would have been.