Cooking with Jon and Steph - Double Decker Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake for Christmas originally (my coworker gave me the recipe) and then I made it again for New Year's when I think it was really perfected :) This recipe has a lot of steps, but it's so simple. It turns out great and I love it! I would definitely recommend making it for your next party, potluck, or just because you're interested in a new dessert.

Happy baking!

My notes and changes below are in PURPLE.

Crust
1 9-ounce package chocolate wafer cookies, coarsely broken (I used chocolate graham crackers)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling
1 12-ounce package frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed, juices reserved
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate, finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli white chocolate chips)
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

White chocolate curls (optional)

For crust: Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Double-wrap outside of pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place cookies in processor and blend until coarse crumbs form. Add butter and process until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and halfway up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust 8 minutes; cool on rack.

For filling: Press raspberries and juices through fine strainer into small bowl. (Husbands are great at this.)

Measure 1/2 cup puree for filling (reserve remaining puree for another use). (If your baby pup is supervising, this is also helpful.)

Stir white chocolate in small metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water until just melted and smooth; set aside. (For those who aren't used to melting chocolate *ahem like me* bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Then turn heat down to low/simmer. Put a metal mixing bowl with the chocolate inside the saucepan of hot water so that it floats/won't touch the bottom or edges. This will keep your chocolate from burning.)

 

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. (My cream cheese got stuck inside the beater a lot. Just be patient and have a spatula handy...)

Beat in flour, then eggs, 1 at a time.

Beat in whipping cream and vanilla. (The batter will look creamy and glossy.)

Transfer 2 1/4 cups batter to medium bowl; stir in melted white chocolate.

Stir reserved 1/2 cup raspberry puree and almond extract into remaining batter in large bowl.

Pour raspberry batter into prepared crust;

place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake until raspberry filling is softly set in center and beginning to puff at edges, about 50 minutes. Remove roasting pan from oven; let raspberry layer cool 5 minutes to firm slightly. (*NOTE: I did the water bath the first time I made this cheesecake and did NOT like how it turned out at all. It's probably because my springform pan does not have the best seal, but either way I made it for New Year's without doing the water bath and the cheesecake turned out AMAZING. You can decide how you would like to make it.)
Starting at edge of pan, spoon white chocolate batter in concentric circles onto raspberry layer. Smooth top. Bake until white chocolate filling is set in center, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate cake uncovered until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead; cover and keep refrigerated.) Cut around pan sides with small knife to loosen cheesecake; release sides. Garnish cheesecake with white chocolate curls, if desired.

(I kept some of the raspberry puree from earlier in the baking proceess and swirled it across the top of the cheesecake Then I used a grater to shred a few of the white chocolate chips on top. Delicious!)