In honor of my 30-month (that's 2.5-year) anniversary, I wanted a romantic cheesecake. My hubby and I both like tart flavors, so raspberry seemed like the choice. Add white chocolate for luxurious flavor and texture, and the perfect idea evolved!
Now to transform it into reality. I based the cheesecake off of a recipe for White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. However, instead of using real raspberries (and buying a strainer to strain the seeds), I opted for seedless raspberry preserves, and followed the raspberry sauce directions in this recipe for White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake.
I had some difficulty with the crust - the amount of cookie crumbs the recipe called for was not enough. I had to double the recipe (I'm wondering if I need some work on my crust-making skills). I followed the first recipe in all of the steps except for the raspberry flavor, which I halved and only placed in the middle of the cake because I wanted to make a thicker raspberry sauce for the top. Even though the recipe calls for melting white chocolate over simmering water (and this is what most sites I visited recommended), I did it successfully in a non-stick saucepan. I first heated the half-and-half, then added the white chocolate and stirred over medium-low heat so the chocolate wouldn't burn. Take that, cynics!
I baked the cheesecake for the indicated time, then turned off the oven, opened the door, and let the cake cool in there. I had read somewhere that this would prevent cracking. I was excited that the cake didn't crack; it did, however, sink (is that normal?).
For the topping, I heated the rest of the raspberry preserves and added a bit of water and lemon juice. Once I spread it on the cake, there were some darker spots of sauce and some spots where it appeared more translucent. However, in the end these differences weren't visible.
I decorated the cheesecake with raspberries and white chocolate shavings. I had wanted white chocolate curls, but was only successful in creating a few actual curls :(
Measuring it up (maximum score of 4):
- Cheese Factor - 4. The sweet cream cheese mixture and smooth white chocolate worked together excellently!
- Melding of Ingredients -3. The white chocolate cream cheese and raspberry sauce were AWESOME together! However, the chocolate crust did not work well - the chocolate taste was overpowering. Vanilla cookies or graham crackers would work better.
- Doability of recipe - 3. I'm still confused how to make the small quantity of cookies that recipes call for work in making the crust.
- Attractiveness - 3. The cheesecake collapsed, so I wished I had whipped cream to decorate the elevated sides! Also, the raspberry layer in the middle was barely visible... I needed more raspberry sauce in the middle. And I wanted chocolate curls, not just shavings. But even though it didn't turn out just the way I wanted it, I thought it was pretty attractive.
Overall - 3.25. Raspberries and white chocolate: a perfect combo! And one is definitely more attracted to attractive food.
Tips for another undertaking:
If I make this cheesecake again, I will make the middle raspberry layer thicker. And definitely use vanilla cookies or graham crackers for the crust instead of chocolate! I need to look into how to avoid sinkage and, if it occurs, have whipped cream on hand to decorate/disguise the sides.
Crushing the cookies
Raspberry sauce and raspberries
White chocolate "curls" (more like shavings)
Ready to dig in!
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