YIELDS
8-12
INGREDIENTS
- Crust:
- 1 cup chocolate cookies. Crushed
- 3 tbs granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter. Melted
- Raspberry filling:
- 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen raspberries.
- 2 tbs granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ cup water
- Cheesecake:
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 (8oz) pkg cream cheese. Softened to room temperature.
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Mousse layer:
- 12 oz white chocolate chips
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream (divided)
- Macarons
- ¾ cup finely ground almond flour
- ¾ cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg whites (room temperature)
- Pinch of salt
- Red gel food color
- 4 tbs seedless raspberry preserves
- Garnish:
- Fresh raspberries
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
No nutrition information available
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare the crust:
- In a bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, 3tbs sugar and melted butter.
- Press the mixture into a 9" springform pan which has been lined with parchment paper.
- Set aside.
- Prepare the raspberry filling:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the frozen raspberries, 2 tbs sugar, cornstarch and water.
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling until the sauce is thick, about 5 minutes.
- Strain sauce through a fine sieve to remove seeds.
- Set aside.
- Prepare the cheesecake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In a double boiler, melt 2 cups white chocolate chips with ¼ cup heavy whipping cream until smooth.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix cream cheese with ½ cup sugar until smooth. Be sure to scrape down bowl sides and bottom occasionally.
- Beat in eggs, one at a time until just incorporated. DO NOT OVERMIX!
- Fold in white chocolate mixture with vanilla.
- Pour half of batter over crust.
- Spoon in three tbs of raspberry sauce over batter.
- Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan.
- Spoon in three more tbs of raspberry sauce.
- Using a knife or skewer, swirl raspberry sauce throughout the batter.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes at 325 F. Then turn off oven and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for another hour.
- Prepare the mousse:
- In a medium saucepan, heat ¾ cup of heavy whipping cream on medium heat until it simmers but do not let it boil!
- Turn off the burner and add the remaining white chocolate chips.
- Stir until the chocolate is melted and the cream and chocolate are completely combined.
- Allow mixture to come to room temperature.
- Using a hand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the remaining ¾ cup of heavy whipping cream on high speed until soft peaks form.
- Fold cream into chocolate mixture with beaters on a low speed, until completely incorporated and smooth.
- Spread over the top of the cheesecake and chill overnight.
- Prepare the Macarons:
- Using a food processor, pulse the almond flour and powdered sugar until super fine.
- Add a pinch of salt and run through a fine sieve. Throw out any lumps. Do not crush the lumps, just throw them out.
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until foamy.
- Slowly add ¼ cup of granulated sugar and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Add 2-3 drops of red gel food coloring and whisk until the meringue is the desired color of red.
- Gently fold in almond flour/sugar mixture and mix by hand until you can drip a figure 8 into the bowl without the batter breaking.
- Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a ⅓ inch tip.
- Pipe 24 small disks of batter onto a large cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Gently tap the cookie sheet on the table a couple of times to break any air bubbles and leave the macarons to rest for 30 minutes or so to dry. The macarons will become stiff and shiny.
- Pre-heat oven to 300 F. (Use an oven thermometer!)
- Bake for 7-8 minutes, then open the oven door for about 15 seconds to release any steam. Re-close oven door.
- Bake for another 7-8 minutes or until the macarons have risen and feel firm.
- Allow to cool completely before transferring to a wire rack. (They will break if you try to remove them from the parchment paper too early.)
- Pipe raspberry preserves onto the flat side of one disk, then sandwich together with it's pair.
- Carefully place the completed macarons into an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.
- Complete:
- The next day, ring the top of the cheesecake with the 12 macarons and cover with fresh raspberries.
- Serve with remaining raspberry sauce, if desired.
