White Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

When I was in high school, every year Spanish club would sell white chocolate daisies filled with raspberry. It became an instant favorite of mine, and these two flavors are only better with cheesecake. Something that's really great about this particular cheesecake is the way the white chocolate simply enhances the flavor of the cheesecake. If you didn't tell someone that it contained white chocolate, he or she may not even realize it's there. The taster would just be stuck wondering why this cheesecake is so delicious and different from other cheesecakes.

Ingredients:

crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

filling

8 ounces fine-quality white chocolate

4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

4 whole large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

raspberry sauce

1 cup of fresh raspberries

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon lemon vest

topping

2 oz. shaved semi-sweet chocolate

Directions
For the crust, combine the graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter until moistened. Pour into a 9-inch spring form pan. With your hands, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and about 1-inch up the sides.

Preheat oven to 350

Melt white chocolate in a double boiler or a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, and remove from heat. Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy, then beat in sugar. Add whole eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, beating well at low speed and scraping down bowl after each addition. Beat in flour and vanilla until just combined, then slowly add melted white chocolate, beating until filling is well combined.

Bake in middle of oven until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still wobbly when pan is gently shaken, 45 to 55 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of cake to loosen, then cool completely in pan on a rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.)

Once the cake has cooled or has been chilled for serving, add the raspberry sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes or until the raspberries are broken down. Remove from heat and allow a few minutes to cool. Cake can be served at room temperature or chilled. Pour raspberry sauce over cake slices and top with shaved semi-sweet chocolate before serving.

(note: cake can be made and chilled three days before serving)