White Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce
There is a white chocolate cheesecake we quite like at a favorite restaurant called The Seahorse Grill. They rarely make it and Ray loves it, so I made one for a dinner party we were invited to. I added a sour cream topping, it cuts the sweetness a little but is still rich, it can also hide any cracks on the surface of the cheesecake after baking, but it’s optional. Be careful not to over-bake your cheesecake or it will have a grainy texture, not smooth and silky.
I made a raspberry sauce, which will add some tang, another dimension of flavour and cut the richness a little.
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Cheesecake:
4 packages-8 ounces each or cream cheese
1/2 cup of sugar
12 ounces of white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Sour cream topping:
2 cups of whole fat sour cream
1/4 cup of sugar
Raspberry sauce:
3 cups of frozen or fresh raspberries
2 cups of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions:
Use an 8 inch springform pan instead of a 9 inch, your cheesecake will have more height. If you do use a 9 inch pan, your baking time will be reduced to about 50 minutes in all instead of 60. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of the pan. Cut out a circle of parchment paper 8 inches in diameter, place on bottom of pan. This will help you remove the cake from the bottom of the pan before serving.
Prepared Springform Pan
Make the crust:
Heat oven to 325°F. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually in the flour until well blended. Press onto bottom of 8 inch prepared springform pan. Dock or prick the crust with a fork and bake for 25 minutes or until edge is lightly browned.
Crust Batter
Shortbread Crust Docked and Ready for the Oven
Make the cheesecake batter:
Melt the chopped up white chocolate in microwave proof bowl. Heat in microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring well between each interval. Do this about 5 times or until the chocolate is completely melted. Let cool to room temperature before adding to cheesecake batter.
Chopped up White Chocolate Ready for Melting
Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Scrap down the sides of the bowl and add cooled white chocolate blending in well. Scrap down the sides of the bowl again.
Cheesecake Batter
Now add one egg at a time, beating on low speed after each addition until just blended. Scrap down sides of the bowl after the addition of each egg. Pour over crust. Bake in oven for about 50 minutes. It should still be jiggly in the middle, as you will bake for 10 more minutes once you have added the sour cream topping. (If you don’t want to add the sour cream topping, total bake time for the cheesecake alone should be about 60 minutes).
Cheesecake Batter in Prepared Pan
Baked Cheesecake
Making the sour cream topping:
While the cheesecake is baking make sour cream topping. Once cheesecake has baked for 50 minutes, remove from oven and immediately spread sour cream mixture smoothly on top of the cheesecake like an icing. Using an offset spatula makes this task easier. Place in oven again to bake for another 10 minutes to set the topping.
Sour Cream Topping
Making the raspberry sauce:
In medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together raspberries, powdered sugar and lemon juice. Heat, stirring often, until raspberries begin to release juice. Raise heat to medium high and simmer, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Strain through fine mesh sieve, pressing on solids to extract all liquid. Sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated, covered for about 1 week.
Preparing Raspberry Sauce
Once your cheesecake has finished baking remove from the oven, run a knife around rim of pan to loosen cake. Cool in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight before removing the rim. If you are comfortable, please remove the cheesecake from the bottom of the pan. The parchment paper will help you do so. Slide a spatula between the parchment paper and pan bottom, now move to serving platter or cake plate. If you are nervous about breaking the cake, just leave it on the pan bottom and serve from there.
When serving, top each piece with some raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries if you have.
