It's National Cheesecake Day!!!

Did you know that July 30th is National Cheesecake Day?  Well, neither did I until the folks at Driscoll's Berries pointed it out to me.  They sent me some fabulous coupons for raspberries and Albertsons kindly cooperated by putting them on sale to boot!  (I paid $.56 for an 11 ounce container!!!!!!) So armed with raspberries, I turned my attention to their Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake recipe.

Driscoll's Picture: Doesn't that look heavenly?

Here is their recipe: 

Decadent Chocolate Raspberry CheesecakePrep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Makes 16 servings
 
2  packages (8-oz each) cream cheese, softened
2  packages (8-oz each) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4  large eggs
2  packages (6-oz each) Driscoll’s Raspberries
2  ounce bar of semi-sweet chocolate
 
 
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch round springform pan.

Beat cream cheeses in a large bowl of electric mixer until smooth. Beat in sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla, starting on low speed then increasing to high, until thoroughly mixed.

Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping edges well after each addition. Pour into pan.

Bake about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until just barely set in center. Edges may crack slightly. Turn oven off and leave in oven 1 hour with door ajar. Remove from oven and cool completely.  Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Run a knife around edge and remove rim. 

Top cheesecake with raspberries. Hold chocolate bar over cheesecake; firmly slide a sharp vegetable peeler along edge of chocolate allowing shavings to fall on cake. 
  
Lighten Up: 
Use four 1/3 less fat packages of cream cheese, or two 1/3 less fat and two fat-free packages. Cheesecake will be denser.

 

Now here's what I did. (Come on, you knew that was coming!)

1. I used oreos, graham crackers and butter and made a crust.
2. I made a thick raspberry filling and put it in the middle of the chocolate (creating two layers of chocolate)
3. I put a pan of water in the oven while it baked.  That's a personal choice.  I just like how they come out when baked like that.
4. I made a chocolate sauce to put on top.
5. I used white chocolate for the curls.  I found out I am lousy at making curls.  They were more like shavings.

The raspberry layer: 

1 11 ounce container Driscoll's raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

4 Tbsp cornstarch

Mash the raspberries and cook with the water until they boil.  Combine the sugar and cornstarch and add, stirring until thickened.  Pour half the cheesecake batter into the crust (or no crust), pour on the thick sauce, then, when adding the second half of the chocolate, pour it around the edge first and move it toward the center.  If you do it the other way, moving it toward the edges, you will cause the raspberry layer  to move toward the edge, too.

The chocolate sauce really was overkill, but here's the recipe: 

1 stick butter

4 Tbsp cocoa

2 Tbsp boiling water (you may need a little more)

2 cups powdered sugar 

In a glass bowl, melt the butter with the cocoa in the microwave.  Start adding the sugar, adding the hot water as needed to thin it out. When it's a soft, spreadable consistency, you are done.

Happy Cheesecake Day!

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