White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

½ Cup + 5 Tbs Sugar

1 Cup Chocolate Cookie Crumbs (I used chocolate Teddy Grahams)

¼ Cup Butter, melted

1 10 oz Package frozen Raspberries

2 tsp cornstarch

½ Cup water

2 Cups White Chocolate Chips

3 (8 oz) Packages Cream Cheese

3 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Today is my daughters 9^th birthday. She's on to us. She knows we always save the good desserts for ourselves. Not this time!

Use a food processor to crumble cookies.

In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 Tbs sugar and melted butter. 

Press firmly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. You can use a regular pie pan if you have no other choice, but its not as pretty and it doesn’t hold as much.

In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 Tbs sugar, cornstarch and water.

Bring to a boil, and continue to boil for 5 minutes.  

Sauce shouldn't be lumpy when its done.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to set the timer because I walk away and forget I was even cooking anything. ADD anyone?

After boiling, remove from heat and strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. This part is a true labor of love. I did it because I love my daughter and she has asked for the hardest and most time consuming dessert for her birthday. If anyone knows a better way, by all means, tell me!

You'll want the scrape the sauce off the bottom of the strainer to get every last drop.

 

Preheat oven to 325 F.

This is where you cannot be a cheapskate.  Use Ghirardelli chips. 

It’s a rule. 

In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips and half n half, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Then break open the extra bag of chocolate chips you bought and toss back a handful. I don’t judge.

In a large bowl (Kitchen-aid), mix cream cheese and ½ cup sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. 

Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 Tbs raspberry over sauce over batter. I chose to swirl it around, cause that’s how I roll, but you don’t need to. 

Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan and again spoon 3 Tbs raspberry sauce over the top. 

Swirl batter with a knife to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.