Two posts within days of each other?! Can this be real? Yes, mainly because I've been at home and so had access to a kitchen and abundant cooking supplies. It's been amazing. I came home to about 5 packs of Philadelphia my mum had bought for making a red velvet cake which never materialised, so I decided a cheesecake would be a good way to use it all up! I was correct (said cheesecake was demolished within a day of me letting my dad near it).
I've seen a lot of raspberry cheesecakes knocking about on instagram recently, and it made me really want to create my own! I wasn't quite sure how to go about it, so I just made a basic vanilla cheesecake and my own improvised version of raspberry puree. I bought frozen raspberries for the puree, and didn't really think about defrosting them until I needed to make the puree. I didn't defrost them, and it turned out fine! This cheesecake is creamy, thick and decadent, but the raspberry cuts through the sweetness to ensure it isn't overpowering - the best combination!
The recipe is adapted from Nigel Slater's Baked Lemon and Vanilla Cheesecake in his 'Real Food' book.
Recipe (serves 8-10):
- 250g digestives
- 90g butter, melted
- 500g full fat cream cheese
- 250g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 165ml double cream
- 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- Preheat the oven to 150oC, and grease a 23cm springform tin.
- Smash the digestives into small crumbs by placing them in a plastic bag and bashing them with a rolling pin.
- Mix the digestives and the butter, and flatten into the prepared tin. Put in the fridge while preparing the cheesecake.
- Beat the cream cheese and the sugar together until thick and creamy.
- Beat the eggs in, one at a time, until well combined.
- Pour in the cream.
- Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the mixture into the tin.
- Blend the raspberries with 1tbsp of icing sugar (and some water if frozen) until smooth.
- Lightly dot the raspberry mixture around the top of the cheesecake mixture (you will not use all of the puree).
- Swirl the dots into the cake with a skewer, and decorate with a few raspberries if desired.
- Cook in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the cheesecake is lightly golden and slightly wobbly in the centre.
- Leave to cool (and refrigerate overnight if possible).