This white chocolate raspberry cheesecake features an Oreo cookie crust along with a creamy cheesecake filling swirled with chopped white chocolate and a white chocolate raspberry sauce.
Cheesecakes are by far my favorite dessert to make. I love how delicate and effortlessly beautiful they are, not to mention delicious. One of my favorite parts is coming up with new ideas for cheesecake flavors (I still believe that my caramel cheesecake is the best thing I've ever made).
I don't know if it's because Valentine's day is coming up, but lately I've been obsessed with chocolate, and pairing chocolate with fresh fruit is always a good idea! So, what could be better than a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake? Not much, if you ask me.
Ingredients for White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Raspberry Sauce
- Raspberries: Fresh or frozen. No need to thaw if using frozen.
- Sugar: Not a lot of sugar since raspberries are already sweet.
- Water + cornstarch + lemon juice: Mix these together separately in a small bowl.
Chocolate Oreo Crust
- Oreo crumbs: Regular Oreo cookies, not double-stuffed, no need to remove the filling. You will need 30 Oreo cookies or about 3 cups of Oreo cookie crumbs.
- Butter: Melted and slightly cooled. Salted or unsalted butter is fine.
Cheesecake Filling
- Room temperature cream cheese: Brick-style, full-fat cream cheese. Make sure it's fully softened to room temperature or you'll end up with lumps in the batter. To quickly soften cream cheese: Place the foil-wrapped cream cheese in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 10 minutes.
- Sugar: Granulated.
- Flour: A little flour makes the filling more sturdy and helps prevent cracks in the cheesecake.
- Sour cream: Full-fat sour cream, room temperature.
- Room temperature eggs: Room temperature eggs are crucial for cheesecake. Set them out on the counter for at least 1 hour. Or, you can quickly bring them to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of lukewarm (not hot) water for 5-10 minutes.
- Vanilla extract: Pure or imitation are both fine.
- Lemon juice: Freshly-squeezed, not bottled.
- White chocolate: This recipe uses two (3.5 oz.) bars of white chocolate. One is chopped and folded into the cheesecake batter, the other is melted and stirred in with half of the raspberry sauce and then swirled into the batter.
WATER BATH FOR CHEESECAKE
A water bath, or bain marie, is when you bake something inside a larger pan and surround it with boiling water. It's most often used when making delicate desserts like custards or cheesecakes. Basically, no matter how hot your oven is, the temperature of the water doesn't get higher than 212°F. This allows for slow and even baking which lets the inside cook without the outside getting burnt. A water bath is also key in preventing cracks from forming on the surface of the cheesecake.
To keep water from seeping into the pan from the water bath, make sure you wrap it very well with several layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. *Note: No matter how well you wrap your springform pan, there's still a chance of water leaking into the pan and ruining your otherwise perfectly good cheesecake. This has happened to me a few times and so now I always follow a trick I learned thanks to lifeloveandsugar, which is to tie a slow cooker liner around the pan first and then wrap it with aluminum foil. My cheesecakes have been perfectly dry ever since!
How to Avoid Cracks in Cheesecake
- Don't overmix, especially once the eggs are added. Overmixing creates pockets of air in the batter which rise up during baking and lead to cracks. Using room temperature ingredients is the easiest way to avoid overmixing.
- Don't open the oven door while the cheesecake is baking. Opening the oven door causes sudden changes in temperature which can lead to cracks.
- Don't over bake. The cheesecake is done when the outside is set and there is a 2-3" wobbly center.
- Don't take the cheesecake out of the oven right away. Again, to avoid sudden changes in temperature. Once the cheesecake is done baking, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door closed for 15 minutes. Then, crack the oven door and leave the cheesecake in for another 30 minutes.
How to Make White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
1. Preheat your oven to 350°. Line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper. Tie a slow cooker liner around the pan, and then wrap several layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the pan and around the sides. Begin boiling water for the cheesecake water bath.
2. Make the raspberry sauce: Add the raspberries and sugar to a small saucepan. Cook and stir until the raspberries release their juices. About 3-5 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the water, cornstarch, and lemon juice and add it to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat slightly, and cook and stir until the sauce thickens. About 5 minutes. Immediately strain the sauce through a sieve. Use the back of a spoon to push as much of the liquid through as you can.
3. Make the Oreo crust: Add Oreo cookies to a food processer and pulse into fine crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the melted butter and press the crust into the bottom of your prepared pan. Use the bottom of a clean glass to pack it down tightly and evenly into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan. Prebake the crust for 10 minutes.
4. Make the cheesecake filling: In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the sugar and the flour. Mix in the room temperature sour cream until smooth with no lumps. Add the room temperature eggs, one at a time, and mix until just combined after each. Mix in the vanilla extract and freshly-squeezed lemon juice until evenly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Chop one of the (3.5 oz.) bars of white chocolate into small pieces and use a rubber spatula to fold it into the cheesecake batter.
Make the White Chocolate Raspberry Sauce
Coarsely chop the second (3.5 oz.) bar of white chocolate, place it in a bowl, and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Add half of the raspberry sauce (about ¼ cup) to the melted white chocolate. Microwave the sauce in 15-30 second intervals if needed until melted and smooth. Pour the white chocolate raspberry sauce into the bowl of cheesecake batter. Use a chopstick or a butter knife to gently swirl the sauce around in the bowl of batter. Just enough so that there are ribbons of sauce evenly throughout the batter, but not so much that it gets fully mixed in.
Bake the cheesecake: Pour the cheesecake batter into the pre-baked crust. Gently tap the pan on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles. Place the pan inside a large roasting pan and very carefully pour the boiling water around it. The water should be about 2-3" high around the sides of the pan. Add the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the door closed with the cheesecake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then, crack the oven door and leave the cheesecake in for another 30 minutes. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and the water bath and let cool completely at room temperature, then let it cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Overnight is best.
Slice and serve cheesecake with the remaining raspberry sauce. You might want to reheat the sauce a little if it's too thick.
Keep leftovers, covered tightly, in the fridge for up to 5 days. Enjoy!
More Cheesecake Recipes:
📖 RECIPE
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Equipment
- 9" springform pan
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce:
- 3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Oreo Crust:
- 30 regular Oreo cookies, about 3 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
- 5 tablespoon salted or unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling:
- 24 oz. brick-style, full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup full-fat sour cream, room temperature
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (3.5 oz.) bar white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
Raspberry White Chocolate Sauce:
- ¼ cup prepared raspberry sauce (keep the rest of the sauce for serving)
- 1 (3.5 oz.) bar white chocolate, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper. Tie a slow cooker liner around the pan*, and then wrap several layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the pan and up the sides. Begin boiling water for the water bath.
Make the raspberry sauce:
- Add the raspberries and sugar to a small saucepan. Cook and stir until the raspberries release their juices. About 3-5 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the water, cornstarch, and lemon juice and add it to the saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat slightly, and cook and stir until the sauce thickens. About 5 minutes. Immediately strain the sauce through a sieve and use the back of a spoon to push as much of it through as you can.
Make the Oreo crust:
- Working in batches, add the Oreo cookies to a food processer and pulse into fine crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the melted butter and press the crust into the bottom of your prepared pan. Use the bottom of a clean glass to pack it down tightly and evenly in the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan.
- Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Make the cheesecake filling:
- In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the sugar and the flour. Mix in the room temperature sour cream, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and mix until the batter is smooth without any lumps. Add the room temperature eggs, one at a time, and mix until just combined after each. Do not overmix once the eggs are added. Mix in the vanilla extract and freshly-squeezed lemon juice until evenly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Chop one of the (3.5 oz.) bars of white chocolate into small pieces and use a rubber spatula to fold it into the cheesecake batter.
Make the white chocolate raspberry sauce:
- Coarsely chop the second (3.5 oz.) bar of white chocolate, place it in a bowl, and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Add half of the raspberry sauce (¼ cup) to the melted white chocolate. Save the other half of the raspberry sauce for serving. Melt the white chocolate raspberry sauce in 15-second intervals if needed until the sauce is melted and smooth.
- Pour the white chocolate raspberry sauce into the bowl of cheesecake batter. Use a chopstick or a butter knife to gently swirl the sauce around in the batter. Just enough so that there are ribbons of sauce evenly throughout the batter, but not so much that it gets fully mixed in.
Bake the cheesecake:
- Pour the cheesecake batter into the pre-baked crust. Place the pan in a large roasting pan and very carefully pour the boiling water around it. The water should come up about 2″ around the sides of the pan.
- Add the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The center should be just slightly wobbly and the sides should be set. Turn the oven off and keep the door closed with the cheesecake in for 15 minutes. Then, crack the oven door and leave the cheesecake in for another 30 minutes.
- Remove the cheesecake from the oven and the water bath and let it cool completely at room temperature, then let it cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours so it can fully set. Overnight is recommended.
- Slice and serve cheesecake with remaining raspberry sauce. You might want to reheat it a little if it's too thick.
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