If you make this cake for others, be prepared to be requested to make it again and again. Enjoy all the joy you cause your friends and family! It is creamy, perfectly sweet and so decadent. A labor of love, totally worth the time!

A few weeks ago I set out to make a very special friend her favorite cake. Her daughter told me that it was white chocolate raspberry cheesecake! I have made several white chocolate cheesecakes over the years, but never with raspberry. I did some research, merged 4 different recipes plus my old classic and this what I came up with. 

After the first cake was devoured I made another one for a different group of people a couple of days later. I was then requested to make another one the next week so I had the chance to make 3 in one week and wow, were they well received!

When you are prepping to make this cake, I like to make the crust a whole day ahead of time if I have time. This gives the crust a chance to crisp up and will stay that way until you serve it. 

On the day of baking I usually take out the ingredients that need to be room temperature at least an hour before I start baking so they can get there. 

For the water bath: they now have a silicone water bath option. You will find a link at the bottom of the page as well. This one has the best reviews. As an old school baker I have not used one, but it seems like it could have saved me a headache or two over the years. 

I use the double layer heavy duty foil. I use the 18 inch so that there is no chance for water to get in. Last time I ran out of foil and the grocery store didn’t have any so I used a crock pot bag and one layer of foil and it worked very well. I wouldn’t get used to that as those bags are pretty expensive, but just so you know if you are in a bind! Make sure both layers of foil are as high up the pan as possible and do not use it if it is torn. 

I hope you will give it a try! This can be made gluten free easily with a cookie crust swap! ALL the pictures below the recipe 🙂

Equipment:
10” cheesecake pan
roasting pan for water bath
water protection- can be doubled heavy duty foil, crock pot bag…

Ingredients:
Crust:
24-26 Newman’s Own Organic Sandwich Cookies
1/4c grass-fed butter, melted

Raspberry Sauce:
12oz organic raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/3c water
2T organic sugar
1T organic cornstarch

Cake:
1/3c heavy cream 
1.5c white chocolate chips
2lb cream cheese, room temperature
3/4-1c organic sugar*
1T organic cornstarch
1/8t pink Himalayan salt
1/3c sour cream, room temperature 
3 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
2t vanilla extract

Extra white chocolate as shavings or chopped up chips for decoration. 

Method:

1. For the crust: Preheat oven to 350*. In a food processor, pulse the cookies until they are crumbs. Pour the butter in the top while the food processor is on to combine. Press the cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan and around about half way up the sides. You can do this with your hands. If you feel you cannot spread it evenly, use a flat bottomed cup covered with parchment or wax paper to flatten it without the mixture sticking to the cup. Bake for 8 minutes. 
2. For the sauce: In a small sauce pan stir the raspberries, water, sugar and cornstarch. Heat over medium heat until boiling. Cook, stirring, until the mixture becomes clear/translucent. See picture for example. Optional: strain the mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds, pressing with a spatula to squeeze all of the sauce out. This can also be done the day before.
3. In a small sauce pan, place the heavy cream and white chocolate chips. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until melted/smooth.
4. Place the oven rack so it is not too close to the top of the oven, but not on the bottom. Preheat the oven to 350*. Prepare your water bath with the foil or silicone. Boil a pot of water so that it is ready when you are ready to put your cake in the oven.
5. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar for a few minutes, until light and thick- this may take a little longer with organic sugar, but it’s worth it! Scrape the sides/bottom of the bowl occasionally throughout all stages to make sure it comes out evenly.
6. Next add the cornstarch and salt, mix for another minute. Then add the sour cream and vanilla until mixture is creamy and consistent. 
7. Mix in the eggs/yolk one at a time by hand with a spatula. Then mix in the cooled white chocolate mixture just until the batter is well incorporated. Do not over-mix.
8. Pour half the batter over the crust. Evenly pour about 4T of the raspberry sauce over the surface. Pour the rest of the batter on top, then evenly pout about 4T more of the raspberry sauce (save the rest for serving). I like to make the pattern by swirling the sauce in a line from the center out. Then I use a cake tester to make a pattern dragging 12 lines from the center out. Then in between each of those lines, drag the cake tester from the outside to the center. 
9. Place the cake pan in the roasting pan, then pour the hot water into the roasting pan, about one inch up the side of the cheesecake pan. Carefully move the pan into the oven. Alternatively you can place the roasting pan in the oven with the cake pan and pour the water in the roasting pan when it is already in the oven. 
10. Bake the cheesecake for 35 minutes, spin the cake/pan at that time, then bake another 35 minutes. You will know the cake is done when the cake is set on the outside and jiggles a little bit in the center.
11. Turn off the oven, crack the door open and hold the door open with a wooden spoon for about an hour. After an hour, take the cake out. Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake so that it doesn’t stick to the sides and make the cake crack as it cools. Remove the soil or silicone.
12. Leave the cake out for another hour, then refrigerate overnight. 
13. When you are ready to serve the cake you can have the sauce on the side for everyone to top by themselves, you can add it over each individual slice or you can top the whole cake with the sauce. Use the extra white chocolate in the same way, on the side or you decorate each slice or the whole cake yourself. 

I plan to make this a white chocolate cranberry cheesecake for Thanksgiving, I will check back with the results!

*For the sugar amount- no one else noticed the difference when I tried one of the cakes with only 3/4c. I could tell the difference and preferred it slightly less sweet with the 3/4c.

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Water Bath:

KitchenAid Mixer:

Roasting Pan (Not necessary, but my FAVORITE roasting pan!):