White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

 My teen daughter is the chef behind this grand finale cheesecake of our Cheesecake Week celebration (yes, I know I'm a lucky mom) and this beautiful cheesecake is as rich, fruity, and sinfully creamy as it looks in the picture!  The only complaint we had at all is that we thought it could have used a few more raspberries, so next time we're going to double the raspberries just for fun.   We brought about two-thirds of it to a potluck swimming banquet yesterday  and it was definitely the belle of the dessert table.  :)  Thanks for joining us in our cheesecake celebration this past week.  Happy eating!

Source:  Food Network

 Click here for printable recipe. 

The ingredients:

For the crust:
1 cup slivered almonds
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

For filling:
8 ounces fine-quality white chocolate
4 (8-ounces each) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 whole large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups fresh raspberries (I felt like it could have used a few more raspberries, so next time I make it I'm going to try it with 3-4 cups of raspberries instead)
Melted chocolate, whipped cream, fresh raspberries, for garnishment

Directions
Make crust: Finely grind almonds and crumbs in a food processor and add butter, blending until combined. Press over bottom and 2/3 up side of a 10-inch springform pan.  

Make filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt chocolate in double boiler or a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, and remove from heat.

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy, then beat in sugar. Add whole eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, beating well at low speed and scraping down bowl after each addition.

Beat in flour and vanilla until just combined, then add melted chocolate in a slow stream, beating until filling is well-combined. Arrange berries in 1 layer over crust and pour filling into crust. Bake in the middle of the oven until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still wobbly when pan is gently shaken, 45 to 55 minutes.

Run a thin knife around edge of cake to loosen, then cool completely in pan on a rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.)  Refrigerate overnight and serve at room temperature or chilled. 

For garnishment (and to hide our overdone and cracked top), we melted about 1 cup of chocolate chips and spread it evenly over the top of the cheesecake.  Then we melted about 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips with about 1 teaspoon of shortening, then drizzled it over the top.  Then we dolloped whipping cream around the edges and in the center and topped it with some fresh raspberries.

Enjoy!