White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

When Julia said her favorite dessert was white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Cheesecake? Really? I don't know what it is about cheesecake but the thought of making it always terrifies me! I always think that it's going to a disaster. It will burn, crack in half, be grainy and dry, or taste like a flavorless hunk of cream cheese. But this time, I had an attitude adjustment. After all this was for her birthday. I could do this and without any whining, dammit!
After a bit of searching, I found the recipe that follows on Epicurious. It had rave reviews and it didn't seem too complicated. No only was it as good as the reviewers said it would be, but it was a dream to make! As long as you take your time, it will come out great. Plus, if you don't like raspberries you could easily substitute strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or any berry and it would still be fabulous. If you've never made cheesecake before, this is a great recipe to try. Now... if I could just learn how to cut a cheesecake properly....

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Yield: The recipe says 8, but those would be some seriously big pieces. I was able to get about 15 pieces of varying sizes out of an 8 1/2" cake.
Adapted from Bon Appétit, February 1994

Crust
18 graham crackers
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup of unsalted butter, melted

Filling
4 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup fresh raspberries or frozen unsweetened, thawed, drained

Topping
1 8-ounce container full fat sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam


Crust:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 8 or 8 1/2 inch spring form pan. Put graham crackers and sugar into a food processor and pulverize until very fine. Add butter and blend until mixture forms very moist crumbs. Using plastic wrap as aid, press crumbs firmly onto bottom of the pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.

Filling:
Melt white chocolate in a bowl set above pot of gently simmering water until smooth, stirring often. Remove from over water and set aside to cool. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and peel in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined. Beat in white chocolate.

Spoon half of batter into crust (for me it was about 2 cups). Top with 3/4 cup berries, being sure to evenly stagger the berries evenly. Carefully spoon (don't pour!) remaining batter over the berries and smooth out the surface. Bake until edges of cake are set but center 3 inches still moves when cake is shaken, about 45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Maintain oven temperature. Using fingertips, press down gently on edges of cheesecake to flatten slightly.

Topping:
Whisk sour cream, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Spoon over cake, spreading to edge of pan. Bake 5 minutes. Transfer cake in pan to rack. Run small knife around sides of cake. Cool completely. Chill cake overnight.

Carefully remove the outer ring off the cheesecake. Transfer cheesecake to platter. Bring jam to simmer in small saucepan, stirring often. Gently pour over the cake. Can be served right away or prepared up to 3 hours ahead; (be sure to chill it before serving.)