Raspberry & White Chocolate Cheesecake

This weeks fun delivery of Sugarflair food colour jels got me decorating like Katherine Sabbath. If you don’t know who she is, you will probably know her bold style, she is renowned for her brightly coloured drip cakes decorated with oodles of mouthwatering goodies.

To give my cheesecake that Sabbath edge, I added some meringue kisses I had left over from the weekend and I made some chocolate shards using white chocolate, pink food colouring and a generous helping of glitter. My partner (in crime) calls this my Candy Mountain Cheesecake because it reminds him of this scenery in Adventure Time…

Hmm anyway, this cheesecake is still beautiful without all the jazzy extras. And if I do say so myself, this is one of the most delicious cheesecakes I have made to date, and my family can vouch for that. But, we might be a little bias as raspberry and white chocolate is our favourite duo to feature in a cheesecake.

To create your own Sabbath cheesecake you will need a lined 8 inch loose bottom tin, 2 piping bags and a large closed star 8CS piping nozzle.

Ingredients

For raspberry sauce:

• 5o ml of water
• 125 grams of raspberries
• 100 grams of caster sugar

For base:

• 200 grams of digestive biscuits
• 75 grams of unsalted butter, melted

For filling:

• 100 grams of caster sugar
• 450 gram of soft cheese, room temperature
• 300 grams of white chocolate, melted
• 500 ml of double cream, chilled
• 1 dessert spoon of vanilla extract

For ganache:

• 100 grams of white chocolate, finely chopped
• 75 ml of double cream
• Pink food colouring (I used sugarflair)

For decoration:

• 100 grams of soft cheese
• 3 tbsp of icing sugar
• 15o ml of double cream
• 1 dessert spoon of creme fraiche
• 2 tsp of vanilla
• sprinkles

Method

Step 1: First you need to make the raspberry sauce as it needs to have cooled by the time you add it to the cheesecake filling. Place the raspberries, sugar and water into a small sauce pan, let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until syrupy. Pass it through a strainer to remove the seeds and set aside to cool. 

Step 2: Place the digestives in a mixing bowl or large zip lock bag, using the end of a rolling pin, crush the biscuits into a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined. Pour the buttery crushed biscuits into the prepared tin, and pack the biscuits down using the back of a teaspoon. Place the remainder of the raspberries onto the centre of you biscuit base and drizzle a quarter of the raspberry sauce on top of the whole raspberries. Place the tin in the fridge whilst you make the cheesecake filling.

Step 3: Pop the sugar, soft cheese and vanilla into your mixer, mix on a medium speed. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl with a spatula to ensure it is well combined. Next, add the melted chocolate and mix together quickly, this stops the chocolate from going lumpy. In the same bowl, add the double cream, whisk until the mixture is glossy and thickens, then fold in the rest of the raspberry sauce. Pour the filling over the biscuit and raspberry base and place back in the fridge for four hours or overnight.

Step 4: Make the ganache once the cheesecake has set. Finely chop the chocolate and place in a bowl. Heat the double cream in a small sauce pan, on a medium heat. Continuously stir the cream to stop it from burning. Once the cream starts to boil, remove from the heat and immediately pour over the chopped chocolate. Cover the bowl and leave for five minutes. Using the tip of a cocktail stick drop a tiny bit of food jel into the mix or a few drops of food colouring. Using a whisk, mix until the mixture is combined and glossy, add more food colouring until you get you desired colour. Pour half of the ganache into a piping bag and pipe around the edge of the cheesecake to create the drip, then pour the rest of the ganache on the top and use a palette knife to smooth it round. Place in the fridge whilst you prep the decoration.

Step 5: Get your mixer out again, and place the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla into the bowl, mix on a medium-low speed until thoroughly combined. Into the same bowl, add the creme fraiche and double cream, whip until it is thick enough to pipe and hold its shape. Spoon the cheesecake into a piping bag with the closed star nozzle, and pipe points all over the top. Sprinkle a generous helping of sprinkles all over the top.

To add more jazz, make a bright coloured chocolate bark, break it in to shards and arrange on the top. You could also add meringue kisses and some fresh raspberries.

Enjoy

B x