Tuesday 23 September 2008

I'm In Love

I've told you before how I use food to show affection; in that case, I must love you people very very much. This is The Recipe you've waited all your lives for, The Recipe to end All Recipes; this is what you will want to eat for the rest of your life (probably considerably shortening it in the process; I can't be blamed if you die of vitamin deficiencies or whatever). This is the recipe I make repeatedly at the slightest excuse, and this is the recipe I made on Saturday for a potluck dinner with my friends before we all go our separate ways to university.


But you know, if you wanted to make it, you wouldn't need a momentous occasion like that. After the first time, you get good at making up occasions. You start inviting people round specially and pretending it's a big deal when really you see them every other day/they deliver your post. In my family, we started off making this recipe because it was Christmas, and finished up making it because it was Tuesday.

I've wanted to blog about this cheesecake more or less since Happy Love Strawberry was created (actually, it might have been the reason it was created; I forget) but as it's usually made for a big occasion there's never a chance for decent photos, and I really wanted to do this justice. And then, of course, I got my beautiful Nikon D40, and -- actually, it might have been the reason I got the Nikon D40, too. Hm.

Ohh, look at that texture. That's worth buying £300 worth of camera for.

I can only go on about this cheesecake before so long before you all want to beat my face in with a shovel (er, a surprisingly violent imagination just emerged there) so I will say only this: make this. Make this now. Make this if you want everyone who tastes it to fall in love with you. Make it to celebrate your birthday/Christmas/Easter/wedding/funeral/diabetes diagnosis -- okay, perhaps not that one.

The first person who comments and says 'I made this and I didn't like it...' gets their face beaten in with a shovel. I simply won't believe you.


White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake
Recipe adapted from The People's Cookbook, as seen in Good Food magazine (July 07).
Serves 12

For the base:
85g (3oz) digestive biscuits, crushed (Americans; graham crackers. I usually use 100g of each for the base cause I like a little bit more)
85g (30z) ginger nut biscuits, crushed
85g (3oz) butter, melted

For the filling:
500g (1lb 2oz) white chocolate, broken into pieces
50g (2oz) butter
1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthways
500g (1lb 2oz) full fat soft cheese
50g caster sugar
175ml whipping cream
225g punnet fresh raspberries, plus extra to decorate

1. For the base, combine biscuits & butter, then press into the base of a 23cm (9.5") springform tin.

2. For the filling, put the chocolate, butter and vanilla pod in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 20-second bursts to melt it. Allow to cool slightly.

3. In another bowl, mix the soft cheese, sugar and whipping cream til smooth.

4. Remove the vanilla pod from the chocolate mixture and stir the chocolate into the cream. Gently stir in raspberries with a spatula, then spoon on top of the base, smooth carefully, and leave in the fridge to set (8-24 hours).

5. Remove from tin and decorate with raspberries to serve.

I go to uni on Saturday, so blog posts may be sporadic for a while - I'm hoping to get in this month's Daring Baker challenge but time might be against me this week. Bear with me a bit and I'll be back with part two of the sugarcraft flower tutorial soon ^__^.

Also, I made a Flickr account! I'm not sure why. But it makes me feel cool.



Yeah, I ate this. Win.

45 comments:

Clumbsy Cookie said...

And then... no recipe! You mean girl! But let me tell you it looks amazing with those raspberries tuck inside that cream cheese(?)!

Anna said...

Ah, I've fixed it now! Blogspot posted my entry before I'd finished waxing lyrical about my cheesecake XD. I've made the sacrifice and shared the recipe now!

Y said...

Looks lovely! I love how much raspberry you've got in there. Before I attempt this, I have to ask, how long is your shovel exactly..? hehehe ;P

Sihan said...

Thanks for sharing the recipe. white chocolate in cheesecake. SOunds perfect. Wonder if i can sub the raspberries for something else.

Finla said...

Well if i eata piece from this i will be also inlove :-)

grace said...

i felt no urge to bash your face in with a shovel simply because the longer you went on about the cheesecake, the more awesome pictures of it i got to see. :)
truthfully, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake is the best i've ever had, but i've never had a good recipe to make my own. not anymore! :)

Anonymous said...

I LUFF YOU WIFF ALL MY HEAAAAAAAAAAAAAART <3

Jules said...

my goodness does this look good! Have a great time in uni.

Natasha said...

Whoa, half a kilo of chocolate! You mean business!

Anonymous said...

I'm in love...
with YOU!!

I must say I enjoyed this cheesecake and every other one you have made from when I first met you MANY years ago...yes even those fateful "you can make whatever you want home ec lessons" (and you made cheesecake :P)

Love you!!

I leave soon :( I hope you are still up for "something" tomorrow!

Clair.x
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Anonymous said...

Nothing can go wrong with that much chocolate.

Anonymous said...

looks yummy- ? do you not bake it at all?

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Okay, I really like white chocolate, raspberries , and cheesecake......I'm gonna LOVE this I'm sure especially as I don't have to cook it! (don't want any swinging shovel coming my way!) Here in the Sunshine State it's still quite warm as in hot!

Your photos came out splendid!

~ingrid

Andrea said...

Oooh, I'm in love, too! Wish I had a piece right now. I think my boyfriend would absolutely flip for this. I better not let him see it unless I intend on making it!

Anonymous said...

cheesecake is by far my favorite dessert and i think the white chocolate and raspberry combination sounds simply delicious. great photos too by the way!

Renee said...

Oh, man - I ADORE cheesecake, and this one? Simply DIVINE!!! I'm definitely going to have to make it - and since chocolate comes from cocoa beans, and all beans are vegetables, it's GOOD for you, right? *grin*

P.S. I just got MY D40 too - hoping to be able to take some pictures as beautiful as yours! NICE!!

Renee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Browners said...

Looks and sounds sensational. I almost had a heart tremmor just looking at it!

Deborah said...

Yeah, there is absolutely nothing about this cheesecake that I could ever hate. I could die happy eating only this...

Anonymous said...

Does this beautiful cheesecake really require NO baking time at all???

Abitofafoodie said...

Oh yes. This is a very serious-looking cheesecake. Clearly worth the camera expenditure. Yum.
Good luck with the start of uni later this week!

Maria♥ said...

Indigo I've made this cheesecake and its delish! Yours looks wonderful and lucky you getting that lovely camera. I am hoping on getting one from Father Christmas!!

Maria
x

Anonymous said...

Gosh! I am drooling! Can't you just send some along instead of me trying to make it;)

Cakelaw said...

I can understand why you're in love with this cheesecake - it looks absolutely gorgeous, and the very words "white chocolate" and raspberry" together make me swoon.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

How could anyone not like it? I mean, white chocolate and raspberries? WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE, for pete's sake.

BTW, your friends sure are lucky people.

Aimei said...

Yum! This is just simply divine!

Anonymous said...

I made this yesterday for a BBQ and it went down an absolute storm, thankyou for sharing. I made the mistake of working out the calories in a twelfth, maybe I shouldn't eat until Wednesday ;-)

kylakae said...

,.,.,drool,.,.,.

*want*

Anonymous said...

O I do love you so... both you and the cheesecake, obviously... <3 LUSTS

FOODGASM!

Anna said...

I promise everyone; no baking! People don't seen able to believe that, haha.

Anonymous - I'm so glad you tried it! ^__^ I know; I thought about telling people and then decided ignorance was bliss XD.

Rosie said...

This sure is a one must make cheesecake Indigo and yours looks stunning!

Rosie x

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Gorgeous! You can put your shovel down, I love this :)

Maggie said...

This is the cheesecake my daughter has her eye on! Now I've seen it in 'the flesh' so as to speak, I'll make this for Christmas.

Anonymous said...

Hi! a new baker here. just wondering, can i substitute vanilla essence for vanilla pods? if so, perhaps how much should i add? thanks there (:

Anna said...

Anonymous - you can indeed! I would say get your hands on a vanilla bean if possible, because it gives lovely speckles to the finished product, but you could definitely use essence or extract. Not too much though, as it needs to be fairly subtle with the other flavours - just a few drops if you're using vanilla extract, and perhaps a capful or 1/2-1 tsp if you're using essence (extract is a more concentrated form). I'd also reccomend using the best you can get for this, rather than a nasty cheap one, which always gives a bit of a chemically taste; especially as this is no-bake. ^__^ Sorry for rambling, haha - Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

hi indigo! yup thanks for your advice (:

Anonymous said...

Hi. For this recipe, since its no-bake, do we need gelatine? And as for the full-fat soft cheese, will it be alright to use philedelphia's cream cheese? Thanks!

Anna said...

Hi Pammiez; no, there's no need for gelatine, the cheesecake just sets firm on its own in the fridge (don't ask me to explain the science behind it... the recipe just works, haha). And philadelphia is perfect, that's what's I've used before.

Hope you enjoy it!

Alexandra said...

Thank you so much for this recipe - I've been looking for that perfect no-fuss way to create the ultimate cheesecake and this is definitely it!!

Alexandra
(London, UK)

Eleanor said...

Wow, I just made this after stumbling across your blog and it is AMAZING (judging from the mixture I "accidentally" left clinging to the bowl). Thank you!

Live said...

Hi!

I'm planning on making this for my birthday this month, but I live in Norway, so I highly doubt I can get my hands on ginger nut biscuits. What would be a good substitute?

Thanks in advance!

Anna said...

Hi Live; re: the ginger nuts, any sort of shop-bought biscuit would probably be fine. The base to this cheesecake is great with the combination of digestives/ginger as it gives it a stronger flavour, but if you can't find ginger-flavoured biscuits any not-too-sweet storebought biscuit would work in its place. =]

Bogdan said...

I followed your recipe exactly and I turned out creamy, not solid. Couldn't imagine what went wrong... maybe I should have tried baking it?

Lucie said...

Wow, this is one of the best cheesecakes ever! Almost couldn't tell that it wasn't baked! We loved it, thanks :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi
How stiff should the cream/cream cheese mixture be before adding the white chocolate to it?

Thanks