A cheesecake topped with a raspberry swirl and ending with a chocolate crust. Perfection!
Easy To Make
It’s hard to believe that such an elegant dessert can be so easy, but it is!
This cheesecake goes together 1-2-3 and that makes it perfect when you’re pressed for time during the holidays. You can make the raspberry sauce ahead of time as well as the crust. All that leaves is the quick and easy cheesecake and that’s pretty much a “dump-and-go” operation.
Raspberries have been on sale quite a lot lately so this cheesecake won’t break the bank either. I always buy lots of them and freeze them. Since the sauce is cooked and sieved, the change in texture after freezing doesn’t matter one bit.
Chocolate And Raspberry: A Winning Combo
What goes better together than chocolate and raspberry? The answer to that is not much! It’s a very high-toned combination and a feature in many gourmet desserts and candies.
The crust is made with chocolate wafers. I will admit that they are not the easiest cookies to find, especially in smaller stores. However, you should be able to find them in larger food stores and most big-box stores. The crust is nice and buttery too. I usually use a bit of sugar when I make this, but if you want a more dark-chocolate taste, you can leave it out. I also recommend using unsalted butter; not just in this but in all baked goods and any time you cook with butter.
The amount of raspberry sauce you swirl in is up to you too. However, I wouldn’t advise drowning the top in sauce because the cake may not set up. I used a half cup of sauce and that flavored it nicely and created a nice swirl on top. If you want it to have more raspberry accents, the leftover sauce may be drizzled on top when you serve it.
Cheesecake Is A Custard
This cheesecake, like most of the cheesecakes I make is baked in a water bath. Cheesecake, because of the amount of eggs is actually a custard. So I tend to bake it as such.
The water bath baking also results in a cheesecake that’s creamy from stem to stern. You never have to worry about hard, dry edges.
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The Recipe
- 3 bars (8 oz each) cream cheese, at room temp
- 2 cups sour cream, at room temp
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 large eggs, at room temp
- ½ cup raspberry sauce
- Crust:
- 1½ cups chocolate wafer crumbs (see NOTES)
- 5 tbs melted butter
- 2 tbs sugar
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and wrap it in a double thickness of aluminum foil.
- Mix all the crust ingredients together in a small bowl. Press into the bottom of the springform pan.
- Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared pan. Drop raspberry sauce randomly over top of cream cheese mixture; use a knife to swirl it through the batter—do not overmix!!
- Set the pan in a large roasting pan and pour about 2-inches of water in the roasting pan (making a water bath).
- Bake for 70-80 minutes, or until center is almost set. Remove from the oven and set the pan on a rack. Cool 10 minutes then run a knife along the outside of the cake loosening it from the sides. Cool an additional hour then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, preferably overnight.
