This is a great cheesecake recipe. The white chocolate makes this cake particularly rich. We have served this repeatedly in our test kitchen and in classes and it is always a favorite.
Ingredients
For the crust:
1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the filling:
4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups white chocolate wafers or 8 ounces of white chocolate baking bars
Notes about the ingredients.
Use good quality white chocolate wafers with a high cocoa butter content. Wafers have a finer grind and are richer and smoother than chips. Some white chocolate chips do not melt properly.
Purchasing graham cracker crumbs will save you time and cleanup and usually cost less than crackers. If you use crackers, the easiest way to process them into crumbs is with a food processor.
Directions
Preheat the oven 325 degrees.
- In a springform pan (see notes), mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar together. Press the mixture across the bottom of the pan and up the sides to form the crust. Put the crust in refrigerator while you mix the filling.
- With the paddle attachment of your stand-type mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Melt the chocolate. Drizzle in the melted chocolate while it is still warm and while the beaters are running. Pour into the crust.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until the cake is done. Let cool on a wire rack. After ten minutes, loosen the sides with a spatula and remove the ring. Refrigerate the cheesecake to cool completely.
Notes about springform pans.
For a particularly noteworthy cheesecake, make this in a square cheesecake pan. A silicone cheesecake pan cleans up nicely and easily releases the dessert.
We most often use glass based springform pans. You can slip the cake on the glass bottom onto a serving palter for easy cutting and serving. A glass base avoids the metallic taste that sometimes comes from metal bottoms.
Serving suggestions:
Serve this cheesecake plain or with a topping. Our favorite topping is a simple sauce made with berries. We use these recipes often. They can be made with fresh or frozen fruit.
You can use a pie filling a pastry filling. A pastry filling, because it has to balance with the amount of pastry such as in a donut, is more flavorful. We recommend a raspberry, blueberry, or cherry pastry filling. Professional pastry fillings in 2-pound bags are very economical.
Additional Recipes and References
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