Raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake

Happy birthday to you...

This is the cheesecake that defines Cheesecake Boy.  I actually first noticed this recipe years ago before I met Cheesecake Boy when a colleague and I were flipping through a magazine.  I remember thinking what a lovely combination that white chocolate and raspberries were in a cheesecake and how easy the instructions were, with none of those water baths that a lot of cheesecake recipes insist on.

The reason this raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake is special to us, is that I actually baked this cake on our first picnic that we had at Lane Cove National Park for dessert.  It was also the first  time that I had cooked anything for Cheesecake Boy as well.  After his first bite Cheesecake Boy couldn't get over it, and had the glimmering she can cook look in his eyes after that.  This cheesecake never fails to put a smile on his face, and is also a firm favourite with both our families now.  It's now referred to as 'the cheesecake'.  It's been a while since I have baked this cheesecake and being Cheesecake Boy's special day, there's nothing better than a birthday cake baked with some TLC over a family birthday breakfast gathering.

I lost the original hand written recipe that I had, but thankfully with the help of the internet I was able to track down the exact recipe on Taste.  The recipe below are my little tweaks and the actual ingredients I use for this cheesecake each time.

Few things in life beat the irresistible combination of white chocolate, raspberries against vanilla bean cream cheese with a hazelnut base for a twist...

Ingredients for the crust

250g of Arnott's arrowroot biscuits
100g of hazelnut meal
150g of melted butter, plus a smidget more for greasing

Ingredients for the filling

750 g of Philadelphia cream cheese at room temperature
140g of cup of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of Queen vanilla bean paste
3 eggs
180g of Cadbury Dream white chocolate block, chopped into chunks.
(the original recipes asks for finely chopped, but we all prefer the chocolate chunks)
150g of frozen raspberries

To serve

Dusting of icing sugar

Method for the crust

1. Grease a 20cm springform pan with some melted butter to lightly grease. 
2. Not necessary, but I like to smash the packet of arrowroot biscuits lightly before opening the packet.
3. Put the arrowroot biscuits in the food processor, until the biscuits are very fine.
4. Place the 100g of hazelnut meal and the rest of your melted butter into the food processor until the mixture is fully combined
5. Now place the crust mixture into your greased springform pan.
6. Using a straight sided glass that has a flat bottom, evenly spread the crust mixture across the base and the side of the pan. 
7. Once the crust is firmly packed into the pan. Cover the pan with cling wrap and store in the fridge to set for at least 30 minutes.
8. Preheat your oven to 160°C.

Method for the filling

1. Generally, my cream cheese is still quite hard, so I cut the cream cheese roughly into cubes first.
2. Then I place the cubed cream cheese, with the caster sugar and vanilla paste into the bowl of my food processor and whizz it up. 
3. Now while the processor is still whizzing the mixture will still be clumpy and stiff, but with the motor still on add the first egg and the mixture will get smoother.
4. Add the second egg, wait until the second egg is fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the final third egg to the filling.
5. Keep processing the cream cheese mixture until it is silky smooth.
6. With a spatula remove the cream cheese filling into a clean bowl.
7. Using your spatula fold the frozen raspberries and the white chocolate chunks into the cream cheese mixture.
8. Take the set crust out of the fridge and pour the cream cheese filling into the biscuit crust.

 Baking and onwards

1. Place your cheesecake in the centre rack of your 160°C preheated oven.
2. Bake for 1 hour or until the cheesecake has just set in the middle.  It will still jiggle a little in the centre.
3. Turn off the oven, but leave oven door open with the cheesecake inside.
4. Let the cheesecake cool in the oven for at least 2 hours, or completely. 
5. Once the cheesecake has cooled down, remove from the oven and wrap with cling wrap.
6. Store the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
7. When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the pan and sprinkle liberally with icing sugar.

Happy baking, Dumpling Girl.