White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake (with Oreo crust)
I have a confession to make…
I am not a huge fan of cheesecake. I’m not really sure why it never hits the spot or leaves an impression in my mind. It just doesn’t do it for me. Whatever.
Another confession…
I can never take white chocolate seriously. Sure, it’s yummy, but how can it be called chocolate???!?? It has NONE of the magically brilliant cacao bean!! Very confusing and disturbing stuff…
Anyways.
I had good friends coming to visit, two birthdays to celebrate, and lots of white chocolate sitting in my pantry. I saw it as a perfect opportunity to use up that unsettling white chocolate, bake something I hadn’t tried before, and surprise them both! Even if I didn’t really favor cheesecake, there would be plenty of mouths to feed.
THE FUNNY THING IS… in the end, the birthday boys were too distracted by NYC street food/pizza to care about cake, while I was smitten with this cheesecake. OMG it was amazing! I kept gushing about it to everyone (and still am!).
The white chocolate and cream cheese really create something special. Swirl in the berry sauce and you get and exciting tangy bite. Not to mention, the OREO crust pushes you over the edge into pure bliss.
I ate half of it by myself in the short span of one week…WOOPS. I took the rest to the office, where it was devoured very quickly.
My first cheesecake passed with flying and swirling colors 🙂
Recipe: White Chocolate Berry Cheesecake
Summary: SHOCKINGLY DIVINE. Adapted from All Recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup OREO cookie crumbs
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 (10 ounce) package mixed berries
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dash lemon juice
Instructions
- Line the inside (bottom) of a 9-inch spring-form pan with parchment paper. (Cut out a circle and stick it to the bottom with some butter).
- Grease the insides of the pan with butter.
- Line the outer edges of the spring-form pan with foil, as sometimes these pans can leak.
OREO Crust
- Crush OREOs in a blender or food processor.
- In a bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 1 tbsp sugar, and melted butter.
- Press this mixture into the bottom of your pan. Set aside.
Berry Sauce
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine berries, 2 tbsp sugar, cornstarch, and water.
- Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes, or until sauce thickens.
- Strain sauce with a mesh strainer to remove seeds.
Cheesecake
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water (aka double boiler), melt white chocolate chips and heavy cream, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, eggs (beating in one at a time), and lemon juice.
- Add the white chocolate mixture and vanilla, beating until smooth.
- Pour half of batter on top of crust.
- Spoon 3 heaping spoonfuls of berry sauce on top.
- Pour the rest of the batter into the pan.
- Spoon 3 more heaping spoonfuls of berry sauce on top.
- Using a knife, swirl the berry sauce into the batter to create a beautiful marble effect.
- Put spring-form pan on top of a baking sheet. Place in oven.
- Using a glass, pour water into the baking sheet, so that the water surrounds the cheesecake pan – this is called a “water bath” and it will prevent the cheesecake from cracking in the center.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the filling is set. The center will still seem wobbly. If you wait too long the cheesecake with be over-baked!
- Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan.
- Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.
Preparation time: 1 day – make this in advance!
Cooking time: 50 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
My rating
Seems absolutely divine. Will try it at the next ladies luncheon.
I’ve always felt the same way about white chocolate. I just can’t befriend it like I can rich dark chocolate. However, I could eat the heck out of this cheesecake!