White Chocolate Cheesecake

evelyn/athens's Note:

This looks so pretty and tastes delicious!!! I can imagine it at a bridal luncheon or even as an untraditional wedding cake. Great for Canada Day with the Red/White of if you want to make a Red-White-and Blue cake for the 4th of July, make it one pint raspberries (or strawberries) and 1 pint blueberries. But make it over the summer, when fresh berries are readily available, for sure.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

Crust

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup blanched slivered almond
• 1/4 cup clarified butter, still liquid

Filling

• 10 ounces white chocolate
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 pints raspberries or 2 pints strawberries, rinsed

Directions:

1. Make crust: In processor, blend crumbs and almonds until almonds are ground fine.
2. Add butter and combine well.
3. Press into bottom and 2/3s up sides of 10 inch springform pan.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
5. Make filling: Melt chocolate; stir until smooth.
6. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.
7. Add sugar and beat in whole eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Beat in the flour and the vanilla and add the melted chocolate in a slow stream, beating, until the filling is combined well.
9. Scatter raspberries over bottom of crust, pour filling over, and bake cheesecake for 1 hour, or until top is firm to the touch. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in closed oven for a further 1/2 an hour.
10. Let the cheesecake cool and then chill it, covered loosely, overnight.

Reviews

[Jennifer Roth]

This is a spectacular recipe. I thought it might be overwhelming with all that cream cheese AND the white chocolate, but it just have it a subtle richness. I served it for company and they were in awe and said it was better than anything they had eating out. I also thought that it seemed like too many berries to put it, so I didn't put a full two pints in, but wished I had - they all would have fit just fine. I also didn't clarify the butter - I wasn't sure how - and the crust was still fine. Thanks for a YUMMY recipe! -Jen Roth

[Mirj]

Oh my God! Wait, that should be shouted out louder: OH MY GOD!!!! This was one of the most stupendous, incredible cheesecakes that I have had in a long time, and I make a lot of cheesecake! I cheated while making the crust, didn't use clarified butter at all, just tossed the almonds, cookies and softened butter into the food processor and gave it a whirl until totally combined, then pressed the crust into the pan. With two pounds of cream cheese and more than half a pound of white chocolate, this is a big cake. I actually only had two packages of cream cheese in the house so substituted 2 packages of a soft 9% fat white cheese instead. I normally use this white cheese to make my cheesecakes, and the cake came out great, creamy and wonderful tasting. I didn't have any berries (wrong season in this country), so I sprinkled some Skor bits on top instead. It was a big hit with my guests, not to mention my family! (Review amended because I forgot to give it stars! Sorry Evelyn!)

[chia]

this is spectacular! i'm posting a photo for you as it was simply beautiful. my family was super impressed with the way it looked and tasted. "resteraunt quality" was everyone's opinion. the fresh raspberries on the bottom lend a nice tart crunch contrast to the rich cream cheese. the only thing i did differently was to omit the extra egg yolks and i did raise the oven temp to 300, cooked it for 1 1/2 hrs until it was set. i let it cool in the oven, then transfered it to the fridge to cool overnight. it was just perfection!