White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts...the key features: a sweet crumbly crust and a rich and creamy filling. This recipe is the best I have ever used. Watch these awesome videos to learn how to make the perfect cheesecake. If you follow these tips, your cheesecake will rock everyone's socks off! :)

Alton Brown's Perfect Cheesecake 1/2 

Alton Brown's Perfect Cheesecake 2/2

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

33 graham cracker squares, crushed by hand (about 2 cups of crumbs) 1 tablespoon white sugar 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries 2 tablespoons white sugar 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1/2 cup water

2 cups white chocolate chips 1/2 cup half-and-half cream 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup white sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon sugar, and melted butter. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch spring-form pan. (Save the rest of the cracker crumbs for the outer coating.) *I like my graham crackers crumbs to be a bit chunky, it gives the cheesecake a more exciting texture.
2.	In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick.
3.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees and bake crust for 10 minutes. Cool the crust. In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.
4.	In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in the 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.
5.	Cover bottom of pan with foil. Place pan on top of a towel in a cookie sheet (or any other deep-dish pan). Fill this outer sheet 2/3 of the way with hot water. (The hot water will cook the cheesecake more evenly and retain moisture. The towel will act as an insulator.) Bake for 55 to 60 minutes (at 300 degrees). Turn off oven and leave door open for one minute. Close oven and leave cheesecake in for another hour. Remove the pan from the sheet of water. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from the spring-form pan. When removing from pan, you may want to run a hot wet knife around the edge of the cheesecake. Put the left-over crushed graham crackers on the outside of the cheesecake. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.