Mmmmm Cheesecake

Well, the wife asked me to make something for her office Christmas party. I usually hit a roadblock trying to think up things on the spur-of-the-moment. But given a little time and a night to sleep on it I came up with something that will satisfy almost everyone in her office.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake !!!

It's actually a recipe from my sister, Biscuit Girl, but don't tell her.. :)

Crust:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (or Oreo crumbs)
2 Tbs sugar (actually to taste. I like a little more sugar in my crust. But more sugar makes the crust stick to the pan).
melted butter (enough to just wet the crust and help it stick together)

Mix all 3 ingredients in a mixer till moist. Press mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a spring-form pan.

Cheesecake filling:
3 pkgs Creamcheese, softened (leave the creamcheese out for a little while so it softens up and isn't ice cold).
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream or whipping cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (I use a good Mexican Vanilla extract, not the cheap imitation kind).
1-2 tsp of flour
1/2 cup melted white chocolate pieces (about 1/2 bag)
4 or 5 tsp of seedless red raspberry jam (make sure to use seedless)

Pre-heat oven to 325-350 degrees. Place a small pan of water below the rack the cheescake will sit on. This will help prevent the cheesecake from cracking.

Place creamcheese into mixer and turn on low. Slowly add sugar to mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, to mixer. Add vanilla. Once eggs, sugar and vanilla are incorporated, turn off mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and beaters with a spatula. Turn mixer back on and add the heavy cream and sour cream. Mix for another minute. Turn off and scrape bowl and beater again. Turn mixer on again, add the flour. Slowly ad the melted white chocolate. Turn off mixer and transfer 1/2 of the batter into the spring form pan. Spoon in the jam on top of the batter then carefully add the rest of the batter to the pan. Now take a small paring knife and gently make a few swirls in the batter to just spread the raspberry around the pan. Do not mix too much or it will mix it in too much and you will not have small pockets of raspberry hidden in the cake. Place cheesecake into oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until center of cheese cake is slightly jiggly.

Once cake is done, DO NOT take it out of the oven. Use a small paring knife and go around the edge of the cake to release it from the pan. This will also help prevent cracking. Leave the cake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Once cool, cover with plastic wrap and place into refridgerator.

Each time I make this cheesecake it comes out slightly different. Most times it's better but a few have been pretty sad with huge Grand Canyon like cracks in it, or chunks of white chocolate in it. One even had the raspberry sink to the bottom, through the crust, and weld itself to the pan. Just take your time, enjoy using all your baking tools, and have fun.

Variations - Color small portions of the batter red/green for Christmas, or Orange/black for Halloween. Even color all the batter green for St. Patricks Day. Use a little red and make a Valentine's Day one for your sweetie. The combinatiosn are endless.

Enjoy.