White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

This is pretty much the recipe for the Cheesecake Factory’s White Chocolate Raspberry ‘Truffle’. It is Mom’s very favorite.

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (abt 20 Oreo cookies, (minus the filling), crumbled)
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted

Filling:

• 1/2 cup seedless raspberry preserves
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream (room temperature)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 5 eggs (room temperature)
• 4 oz. white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Garnish:

• 2 oz shaved white chocolate (optional)

Redi Whip (whipped cream)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place a large pan filled with abt 1/2” water into the oven while it preheats (this will be your water bath). Combine the raspberry preserves with 1/4 cup water in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 1/2 min on high in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Allow preserves to cool, then put the bowl into the refrigerator until later. Measure 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs into a medium bowl. Mix in 1/3 cup melted margarine. Press the crumb mixture into a greased 9” spring-form pan. Press the crumb mixture flat into the bottom of the pan and abt 2/3 the way up the side. Wrap a large piece of foil around the bottom of the pan to keep the cheesecake in the water bath and prevent it from leaking. Put the crust in the freezer until the filling is done. Use an electric mixer to combine the softened cream cheese with the sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Mix on the lowest setting for a couple minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides frequently. (Don’t beat too much air into the mixture, or it will fall and be grainy). Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl and then add them to the cream cheese mixture. Blend the mixture just enough to integrate the eggs. Remove the crust from the freezer and sprinkle 4 oz of white chocolate chunks onto the bottom of the crust. Pour half of the cream cheese filling into the crust. Drizzle the raspberry preserves over the entire surface of the filling. Use a butter knife to swirl the raspberry into the cream cheese. Just a couple passes is fine - you don’t want to blend the raspberry and cream cheese together too much. Pour the other half of the filling into the crust. Carefully place the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven. Bake for 12 min at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50 - 60 min or until the top of the cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color. Remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool on a cooling rack. When the cheesecake is completely cool, cover cheesecake with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to sit overnight. Before serving, sprinkle the entire top surface of cheesecake with 2 oz of shaved white chocolate. To serve, slice the cheesecake into 12 equal portions. Apply a pile of fresh whipped cream to the top of each slice and serve.

Serves 12