Raspberry Cheesecake for Beginners

My husband's birthday was in the recent past. His favorite cake is the Cheesecake! He absolutely loves cheesecake. So, I set about making a cheesecake for him. I have made "no-bake" cheesecake before and didn't quite like it. This time I wanted to make a cheesecake that is baked. At the recommendation of a close friend, I decided to follow a simple recipe from the wrapper of the Philadelphia cheese. The recipe was for a classic cheesecake. I modified it  and transformed it into a raspberry cheesecake.The cheesecake was very simple and easy to make and the result was delicious!!

My colleagues loved it, but it was my husband who raised the bar. My husband, who is a man of few words, announced that this cake was as good as what you get in the stores!! For me, there is no higher compliment!!

The only downside of this cake is that you cannot make it in a rush.The advantage is that you can make it ahead of time and therefore is perfect for gatherings like birthdays, thanksgiving & holidays! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it!!

Servings: makes one 10 inch cake ( 16-18 servings)

Prep time: 20minsCook time: 55 minsTotal time: 5 hours 45 mins (including refrigerating time)

Ingredients:

Cream cheese: 4 packages ( 8 oz/226 gms each) ( room temperature)
Sugar: 1 cup
Eggs: 4, large
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp

For the crust:
Graham cracker crumbs: 1 1/2 cups
Butter: 1/3 cup

For the topping:

Fresh raspberries: 1 cup
Pink fruit jelly: 1/4 cup( preferably something pink or red)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 325 deg F.

Mix the graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. You can use your hands or pulse it in a food processor.

Press it onto the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Keep aside.

In a bowl add the 4 packages of cream cheese, vanilla essence  & 1 cup sugar. Beat well using a hand blender. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each egg, on low until just blended.

Pour over the crust in the springform pan. 

Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 50-55 mins or until the center is set. Leave it in the oven with the oven turned off and the door open for another 30 mins.

Take it out of the oven and let it cool down completely on the countertop ( around 2 hours).

While the cake is cooling, prepare the topping.

Rinse, drain and keep the raspberries in a bowl.

Heat the jelly in a saucepan on the stovetop until melted. Turn off the flame. Pour the melted jelly on  the raspberries in the bowl.

Once the cake is cooled, release the edges of the cake from the pan gently using a spatula or a butter knife. Release the springform pan and keep the cake on a rack it serving plate/ cooling rack.

Arrange/pour the raspberries with the jelly on the Cheesecake.

Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours or until serving.

Enjoy!!

I am bringing this to Fiesta Friday #147,  & Saucy Saturdays#72. Angie's co-hosts this week are: Julianna @ Foodie On Board and Hilda @ Along The Grapevine.

Cooking made easy:

To slice the cheesecake easily, use a knife that has been dipped in warm water. Keep a bowl of warm water handy and dip the knife in warm water before cutting each slice.

Tip for healthy living:

To enjoy this cake without packing the pounds, make the serving portions small by making thinner slices. You will still enjoy the dessert, but guilt-free!

Food for thought:

We do not remember days, we remember moments. Cesare Pavese

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!

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Nutella-Strawberry Cheesecake Bites; Meatless Monday

Each day you come across hundreds of recipes that I look at and keep going. Some interest me and bookmark/save them to try them out some day.Rarely do I actually try get to trying them!  Some recipes however catch your attention and you want to try them right away! This is one such recipe. This delicious dessert was brought by Natalie Browne at one of our Fiesta Friday parties and I just fell in love with it! There are many reasons why I like this dessert. Much as I like desserts, I don't eat them like I did when I was sixteen years old! Then I could eat a horse and nothing in me would be affected. Not the case anymore! I am very careful about what I eat. Plus I don't care for huge portions and sugary sweets. I usually eat fruit for dessert. This particular dessert is do delightful! It can be eaten in a single bite!! Yes, it is only that small. Plus it is so absolute divine. The ingredients used are all that are easily available in your kitchen and something that my kids eat on a regular basis. It has regular glucose biscuits, Nutella , cream cheese and strawberries too. All ingredients that my kids eat and enjoy. Of course, after eating months of Nutella sandwiches for lunch, Nutella is now out  favor with my daughter and I have a huge jar of it in my pantry. So this was the perfect way to use the leftover Nutella! So again, it has a little carbohydrate, protein, fruit which gives some vitamins.. and is super-yum; all in one delicious bite! What more can one want?? I have reduced the amount of sugar and  modified it a little by using leftover glucose biscuits and crumbs instead of baking fresh biscuits. You can find the original recipe here.

Servings: 24

Ingredients:

Parle G biscuits: 10-12 ( any glucose biscuits or graham crackers can be used).
Butter/ ghee( clarified butter): 2 tbsp
Nutella: 1 cup
Cream cheese: 8 oz packet ( 226 grams), at room temperature.
Powdered sugar: 2 tbsp
Strawberries: 8-10, medium-sized, sliced.
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp

Method:

 

Using a food processor, powder the glucose biscuits into a coarse powder.

Take this in a bowl. Add melted butter/ ghee and mix well until you feel the crumbs can be made into a ball and will hold itself together.

Take a mini-muffin pan. Line it with liners. Take 1 tsp of the biscuit crumble mixture and put it in each cup.

Using your fingers press gently at the bottom of the liner to cover the base completely. Do this with all of them.

Now place the mini-muffin tray in the refrigerator to set for atleast an hour.

Get the cheesecake filling ready when the biscuit liner is being set in the fridge.

Add the softened cream cheese, Nutella, vanilla essence, powdered sugar to a bowl. Using a whisk or a hand blender, mix it to a smooth mixture.

Drop one teaspoonful of the above mixture into each of the mini-muffin liners.

When done, place the mini-muffin tray for atleast 30 mins so that the cheese cake can set.

Top each cheesecake with a slice of strawberry just before serving.

 

Keep in refrigerated until ready to serve.

Serve chilled.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

This is one of those desserts that can be made ahead of time when you have a party or get-together. You can make the entire thing and add strawberries just before serving or you could make the crust part ahead of time and the cheesecake part the morning of the event.

You can use any leftover cookie/ cracker crumbs for this recipe.

You could use any kind of berry or fruit instead of strawberries.

Tip for healthy living:

Be mindful while eating desserts. Make healthy choices. This could be done by either swapping fruits for sugary desserts, choosing desserts that are have more healthy ingredients or just plain portion control. Eat just a small portion or a couple of bites of the dessert.

Food for thought:

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. Napoleon Hill