Monday 23 August 2010

White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake

One of my foodie dreams (of which there are many) is to one day visit a raspberry farm and pick and eat my own berries. Oooh how I long to pluck those beautiful, swollen, ripe jewels straight from the cane. Little capsules of flavour, just waiting to explode in my mouth. One day, my pretties. One day...

Although fresh raspberries are available in shops here, they are rather expensive. Lucky for me it's possible to buy quality frozen raspberries that are a fraction of the price, and are great for creating delicious sweets at home. This lovely cheesecake is one of my favourite ways to use raspberries. White chocolate and raspberry - a marriage made in heaven. This recipe is an oldie, but a goodie :)


White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake
Adapted recipe from Good Taste magazine - July 2005

Ingredients
melted butter, to grease
250g plain sweet biscuits (I used Digestive biscuits)
100g hazelnut meal
150g unsalted butter
3 x 250g packets cream cheese, at room temperature
140g (2/3c) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 eggs
180g good quality white chocolate (I used Plaidstow), finely chopped but with some bigger chunks too - they really are a joy to come across whilst eating this cake
150g frozen raspberries
icing sugar, to dust

Method
1. Brush a 20cm (base measurement) round springform pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Cut out a round piece of baking paper and line the bottom of the pan. Lightly brush the paper with a little melted butter.

2. Place the biscuits in a food processor and  blitz until finely crushed. Add the hazelnut meal and melted butter and process until well combined. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and use a straight-sided glass to spread and press mixture firmly over base and side of pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

3. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius. Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla bean paste until smooth. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a large spoon, fold in the chocolate and then the raspberries.

4. Pour mixture into the biscuit base and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour, or until just set in the centre. Turn the oven off, and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door ajar for 2 hours, or until cooled completely. This will prevent the cake from cracking. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge for a few hours to chill. Before serving, dust with icing sugar.


Nice and simple, huh?! You're sure to win compliments when you make this for your family and friends.. You'll be blushing like a little raspberry in the sunshine :)


Ladybird x

19 comments:

  1. White chocolate and raspberry is one of my favourite combos! Funny you mention picking berries, as I've just been dreaming of the warmer months where I can go pick cherries by the bucketload. YUM!

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  2. Oh yummm! Mmm I remember growing up and having fresh strawberries and blackberries straight from the garden, ate them just as they were. Oh how I miss our old house and childhood.

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  3. i want to go berry picking too! your cheesecake looks fab!

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  4. Ohh thats the thing i miss the MOST about eating vegan - cheesecake!
    It looks delightful, white chocolate and raspberry is a great combination.

    Rose

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  5. This looks delicious! White chocolate and raspberry go so well together don't they? Love your description of berries as "beautiful, swollen, ripe jewelss". Very true!

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  6. looks fab- there is nothing like picking your own though!

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  7. Raspberries and white chocolate are so good together!! Lovely cheesecake!

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  8. yummy, yummy :) i love cheese, i love raspberries, i love chocolate - perfect combo :) sending kisses!

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  9. Raspberries are prohibitively expensive for me too! Especially when they aren't in season - am glad you can substitute frozen ones for these - can I tell you? Your cheesecake is so grand and beautiful!

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  10. Oohhh that first shot is so sexy! ;) Makes me want to dive right in!

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  11. This looks just perfectly luscious! Really like the addition of hazelnut meal to the base mixture too.

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  12. Your cheesecake looks amazing, so perfectly shaped! I wonder if raspberries from a farm are better than the disappointing store-bought ones? Just as well we have frozen to tide us over :)

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  13. Thanks for all of your comments, lovelies! Thank goodness for frozen berries I say :) Here's hoping blueberries will come down in price soon...

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  14. I'm not a huge fan of raspberries- although I haven't had that many in my lifetime.... But one of the things I wanna do is to pick strawberries! Love picking my own fruit =D Your cheesecake looks delicious though!

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  15. I adore raspberries. I dream of scandinavian countries where they are plentiful and cheap! Until then I'll stick to the frozen too - the fresh go bad so quickly here! The cheesecake looks wonderful.

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  16. White choc and raspberry are one of my favourite combos...and in cheesecake... sounds truely heavenly!

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  17. Perfect match for a cheesecake. I was thinking of cheesecake yesterday. I better make too :D

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  18. White chocolate and raspberry is a lovely combination, totally delicious looking cheesecake.

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  19. I love rasberrys, and this cake was wonderful! I'm from Sweden and have a garden full of rasberrys, love to eat them in the summer, warm and nice from the sun! Sooo good :)

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