How about a baked cheesecake made with creamy white chocolate and mascarpone to impress your guests with next time you entertain? It’s got a ginger cookie base that compliments the cheesecake perfectly, and it looks incredible drizzled with raspberry coulis. The best thing is, it’s really easy to make!
To the surprise of many who know me, I’m not a huge fan of entertaining. Don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy having friends and family over for the socialising part, but I really don’t care for spending all day stressing at the shops, and then in the kitchen, before they arrive.
And what I most definitely don’t want to be doing is flapping around in the kitchen after my guests have arrived. So what’s a girl who doesn’t want to buy ready-made or spend all day slaving over homemade to do?
Well, I think I might have come up with a winning formula, which is simply to choose dishes that can as much as possible be prepared in advance.
So this past weekend our next door neighbour came over for a 3-course dinner that I’d prepared more or less entirely ahead – once we’d got over our little false start, that is (we didn’t hear him knock, he thought he’d got the wrong day, he left us a note, we didn’t see the note, we waited an hour, began to think he must have forgotten, then knocked on his door… and over he came! Phew! All very ‘too polite’ British, I tell you.)
Our first course was these INCREDIBLE (honestly, they’re amazing!) crispy halloumi fries, which I pre-sliced and rolled in flour.
Then we had my Greek lemon chicken, which is so simple it’s almost ridiculous, but it’s delicious and goes so, so, so well with this perfect Greek salad and tzatziki. You can pre-slice the potatoes, whisk up the marinade, pre-make the tzatziki, and assemble the salad ahead of time.
And then what better dessert to choose than a cheesecake? I’m pretty sure almost everyone likes it, don’t they? And actually you have to make it ahead – it needs to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
So this white chocolate baked cheesecake is the first baked one I’ve attempted. I guess I always thought they were tricky to make. But really, the trickiest part is knowing when it’s cooked, and letting it cool slowly so it doesn’t crack. Let’s face it, though, this isn’t exactly rocket science either!
And who cares if it does crack a bit, or the middle sinks a bit? Not me (not that I’m speaking from experience of course). To be honest with you – because we always like to say it how it is around here – when I last made this, I broke my spring form pan and a bit of the cheesecake oozed out in the oven.
As a result the top of my finished cheesecake was by no means perfect, but I think it still looked pretty snazzy when I served it up. Don’t you?
Rustic rules!
I know that some people like to bake cheesecake in a bath of water to help it cook slowly and evenly, but I wanted to keep this as simple as possible, so I didn’t bother with that.
What I did do though is switch the oven off as soon as the cheesecake looked set around the edges but still a bit jiggly (like wobbly jelly) in the middle. Then I opened the oven door slightly and let the cheesecake cool slowly – to avoid cracks.
Another delicious cheesecake idea for you – caramel cupcake cheesecakes
Because that doesn’t take any effort at all to do now, does it?
Then while the cheesecake’s busy setting in the fridge, you make your raspberry coulis to slosh over the top when you serve it. I know a ‘coulis’ sounds posh and difficult, but to make it you literally just dump raspberries in a pan, add a bit of icing sugar and lemon juice, then heat for a couple of minutes until the fruit starts to break down. Whizz up in a food processor with a few drizzles of water, and there’s your posh coulis!
My inspiration for this recipe came from two sources: a similar Jamie Oliver cheesecake that Mr. Scrummy and I tasted in one of his restaurants on our wedding anniversary a few weeks ago, and a white chocolate baked cheesecake recipe by the lovely Mary Berry, food goddess extraordinaire here in the UK.
I fiddled around with the cheeses in Mary’s recipe, because I wanted mine to be a mascarpone cheesecake like Jamie’s, and I also made my own base and raspberry topping, but essentially I (and you!) have Mary to thank for this deliciousness.
Thank you, Mary!
White chocolate baked cheesecake (with raspberry coulis)
Ingredients
For the base
- 7 ounces ginger cookies
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
For the cheesecake
- 10.5 ounces white chocolate
- 2 eggs
- 7 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 7 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2/3 cup heavy / double cream
For the raspberry topping
- 10-11 ounces raspberries
- 1 tablespoon confectioners’ / icing sugar
- a couple of big squeezes of lemon juice
Instructions
For the base
-
Line the base of a spring form pan (roughly 9 inches in diameter) with baking paper.
-
Whizz the ginger cookies up in a food processor until they become fine crumbs. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then add the ginger cookie crumbs and stir until well combined.
-
Tip the crumbs into the prepared pan and flatten down and push to the edges with the back of a metal spoon. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.
For the cheesecake
-
Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 150C / 300F.
-
Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 30-second bursts. Whisk the eggs into the mascarpone and cream cheeses with a hand-held whisk, then whisk in the cream and vanilla essence.
-
Finally, gradually whisk in the white chocolate, then remove the cookie base from the fridge and pour the cheesecake mixture on top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but still jiggles in the middle like a jelly that hasn’t quite set.
-
Switch the oven off and slightly open the door, but leave the cheesecake in to cool slowly. After about an hour, take the cheesecake out of the oven. When it’s cooled completely, cover it and put it in the fridge to set for at least four hours (preferably overnight).
For the raspberry coulis
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To make the raspberry coulis, heat half of the raspberries with the confectioners’ / icing sugar and the lemon juice until the raspberries start to bubble and break down (just a couple of minutes).
-
Whizz the mixture in a food processor until smooth. Then whizz in a few drizzles of water until the raspberries are a pouring consistency. Pour into a jug ready for serving.
To serve
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Serve slices of the cheesecake straight from the fridge topped with three or four raspberries and raspberry coulis.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from this recipe by Mary Berry.
If you don’t have a microwave, you can melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water (just don’t allow the bowl to touch the water).
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Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
18 May 16 at 11:44 amCheese cake is always such a great dessert to make for a dinner party, isn’t it! This looks so lovely and fresh, and perfect for summer.
Helen says
19 May 16 at 9:43 pmYes, absolutely perfect!! Making another one of these this weekend 🙂
Shashi @ RunninSrilankan says
18 May 16 at 3:28 pmHelen, Rustic rules indeed! But your cheesecake looks perfect to me! Gosh so perfect I wish I had a slice for a midmorning snack – if only I was your neighbor and could get a knock on my door eh?! :)Jamie Oliver and Mary Berry are 2 of my favs – and I so gotta try this – what a gorgeous first attempt! Thanks for the tip about keeping the oven cracked a bit after turning it off so the cheesecake cools slowly – I’ve always ended up with a cracked one and cannot wait to try this tip!
Helen says
19 May 16 at 9:42 pmIf you were my neighbour, Shashi, you’d be getting plenty of knocks on the door, because I’m sure there would be beautiful smells coming from your kitchen every day! 🙂
Marlene says
18 May 16 at 5:06 pmYum, Helen! This sounds divine. White chocolate and raspberries–what could be better? I may try this as mini cheesecakes for my duaghter’s baby shower next month, using your caramel minis as a guide. Or just make the caramel ones!
Helen says
19 May 16 at 9:41 pmOh, please do, Marlene! I’m sure this would work as mini cheesecakes – you might just have to adjust the cooking time a little. I’m sure it’ll work out great if you follow the caramel cheesecake recipe, as you say!
Eva says
18 May 16 at 9:03 pmTon cheese cake pareil très bon. Jaime bien l’idée de mettre du mascarpone en lieu de philadelphia. J’adore tes assiettes 😉
Helen says
19 May 16 at 9:40 pmMerci Eva! Moi aussi j’adore l’assiette rose! 🙂
Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom says
18 May 16 at 9:26 pmAn easy dessert for a dinner party?! Sign me up! So when it comes to entertaining, I spend all day cooking, cleaning, making sure everything is just so. I drive myself crazy, but I think I secretly love it 😉 That being said, by the time I’m done putting dinner together, I have zero energy for dessert! This cheesecake is perfect for me, easy to put together and completely delicious and gorgeous! 🙂
Helen says
19 May 16 at 9:39 pmI know, Kathleen! Isn’t it a shame entertaining’s so exhausting, as I do love experimenting with all that gorgeous food.
Bam's Kitchen says
19 May 16 at 2:51 pmI would love a bite.. who is kidding who… maybe more like a few peices just to assess for quality assurance wink wink.:) I am also just loving those delicate pink plates. You have an amazingly gentle and sweet neighborhood and hoping the rest of your dinner party went off without a hitch.
Helen says
19 May 16 at 9:36 pmThank you so much, Bam! If you lived closer, you could have plenty of pieces… just for quality control, of course!
[email protected] says
19 May 16 at 3:10 pmI am loving everything about this cheesecake and the ginger cookie base sounds yummy. I need to try this recipe.
Helen says
19 May 16 at 9:35 pmReally hope you do, Janette! It’s divine!
Marissa says
25 May 16 at 10:50 pmI absolutely agree – I love to do 99% of the cooking in advance when we’re having people over. When the host is in the kitchen the whole time no one has fun – including the host! 🙂 Not just a fabulous cheesecake (mascarpone? yes please!), but the whole menu looks amazing.
Helen says
26 May 16 at 9:34 pmThank you, Marissa! I make this particular all the time – always goes down well 🙂
Nancy | Plus Ate Six says
27 May 16 at 1:54 amI’ve never met a cheesecake I don’t like but I’ve never met a white chocolate one and this one sounds and looks divine. I bet your neighbour was happy you went and knocked on his door!
Helen says
29 May 16 at 5:02 pmThanks Nancy! What I like is that you don’t have to add any extra sugar – adding the white chocolate makes it sweet enough.
Amy | Foodetcaetera says
27 May 16 at 12:11 pmYour cheesecake looks like perfection!!!!
Helen says
29 May 16 at 5:01 pmThank you Amy! 🙂
Lauren says
01 Apr 17 at 7:51 pmMade this cheesecake for the family twice and it was all finished up and got lots of complements, thank you for your recipe!
Helen says
02 Apr 17 at 7:42 pmHi Lauren. Thank you so much for taking the time to pass by and let me know. These kinds of comments make my day! 🙂