Recently, my husband and I had all the directing pastors, ministers, directors, and their spouses from our church staff over to our home for our semi-annual “Ministers’ Night Out.” It’s a time when we enjoy good food, fellowship, and some fun.

This time, I tried a movie theme for the night which turned out to be more fun than I expected. You see, I seldom ever watch movies so I had to go onto the Internet to find titles that could work for the various games and recipes prepared for the evening.

While I can’t tell you anything about the movie, “Raspberry Heaven,” it is the name I assigned to the fabulous white chocolate, raspberry cheesecake I made. For me, the test of a “successful” dish or dessert is when someone asks you for the recipe. After serving this cheesecake at our gathering, several asked me for the recipe.

I originally found this recipe on AllRecipes.com. After attempting this recipe two different times and incorporating my own process and tricks, I now share this with you as my own.

So, I happily share this experience with you. It’s not hard to make at all because I don’t bother with difficult recipes, and this was only the second time I’ve made this dessert. Therefore, decide for yourself and at the end of this, I believe you too will think this is a dessert “to die for!”

Raspberry Heaven Cheesecake

You will need a 9 inch springform pan for this recipe AND you will want to make this recipe a day before you plan to eat it!

Crust:

1 package of original Oreo Cookies

1 tbl. white sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

Filling:

3 -  8 ounce packages of softened cream cheese

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup half ‘n half

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 – 12 ounce package of white chocolate chips

1 small jar of seedless raspberry preserves (you will need 6 tbl.)

Decorative Topping:

While this is not a necessary ingredient, you can purchase some white chocolate bark or a candy bar and put chocolate shavings on top of the cheesecake when it’s cooled.

Initial Preparations:

1. To begin, preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. Take the round bottom part of your springform pan and place a piece of foil over the top of it. Make the foil curve gently over the edges of the round base and then reinsert the base into the pan.
3. After the base is secured into the pan, bring the remaining foil up the sides of the outside of the pan. This step will help to keep your cheesecake mixture from leaking out of the pan during baking.
4. Gently spray the inside of the pan with foil with a non-stick spray.
5. You will then need to place this pan inside of a bigger cookie sheet or jellyroll pan when baking. You want some type of 9 x 13 pan with sides so it will hold hot water while the cheesecake is baking. (The hot water will be added just as the cake is put into the oven for baking.)

Making the Crust:

1. To begin the crust, you’ll want to take about 1/2 of the Oreo package of cookies and crunch them up. This can be accomplished with a food processor, or take a ziploc bag and a rolling pin and break them up into fine crumbs–the smaller the better they will hold together for the crust.
2. Melt the butter in a microwaveable bowl at 10 to 15 second intervals, then gently swirl the butter around in the bowl to even out the temperature. Continue until butter is completely melted, but not hot.
3. Add the white sugar to the butter and stir.
4. Measure out two cups of crumbs and add to the butter mixture. Stir mixture until completely blended.
5. Now press this cookie mixture firmly into the bottom of the springform pan.
6. Set aside and begin to make the cheesecake filling.

Filling:

1. Place all 3 cream cheese packages into a medium bowl.
2. Add sugar and blend well with a mixer.
3. Add half ‘n half until thoroughly blended.
4. Add eggs and vanilla and mix completely.
5. Place the package of white chocolate chips into a microwaveable bowl. Heat these up at 10 to 15 second intervals, gently stirring the chips each time until thoroughly melted. Once again, you want them completely melted, but not hot.
6. Add the melted chips to the cream cheese mixture and blend thoroughly.
7. Take 6 tablespoons of raspberry preserves, place in a microwaveable bowl, and gently microwave at short intervals until the preserves are soupy.
8. Pour half of the cheesecake mixture into the springform pan.
9. Drizzle half of the raspberry preserves into the mixture and swirl through the batter.
10. Add the remaining cheesecake mixture to the pan.
11. Drizzle the remaining preserves into the mixture and swirl again.
12. You are now ready to bake your cheesecake.

Baking:

1. Place the springform pan with the cheesecake batter into your pan with elevated sides.
2. Prepare very hot water to pour into this outer pan.
3. Place the pan assembly onto the shelf of your preheated oven.
4. Pour the hot water into the pan with the elevated sides, outside of the cheesecake pan. You will probably want the water level to go up about half way up the sides of the outer pan.
5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour OR until the center of the cheesecake measures 160-165 degrees.
6. Close the oven door and turn OFF the oven.
7. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour.
8. Remove the cheesecake, cover with plastic wrap or foil, and refrigerate.

Prepare to Enjoy:

1. Remove the chilled cheesecake from the springform pan.
2. You may now either cut the cake, or decorate the top with shavings from a white chocolate bar. You can either chop pieces fine with a sharp knife or try using a potato peeler.
3. To cut your cake, use a long, sharp, flat-bladed knife dipped into very hot water, then wiped quickly with a soft cloth or paper towel.
4. Slice from one side of the cheesecake to the other.
5. Repeat the process of heating the knife for each cut you make.
6. Eat and enjoy!

P.S. The next time I make this dessert, I’ll try and remember to take a picture and include it here so you can see how pretty it is.