White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Today was Mr. Z's birthday. I ended up making three cakes for him! One white cake with vanilla icing, one white cake with chocolate icing, strawberry filling, and chocolate covered strawberries on top, and one white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Cheesecake is Mr. Z's favorite dessert, so this is a recipe I've used more times than I care to count in the past few years. I've tried other cheesecake recipes, and this was by far the easiest, along with the best tasting, in my opinion.

This time around, about 15 people tasted this cheesecake, and three hours later, they were still talking about it. They were impressed.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
from Kraft Foods website
(I make this recipe in an 8-inch round pan and serve it in slices rather than in bars)

Ingredients:
12 Oreos, finely crushed
2 tbsp. butter, melted
3 squares of Baker's white chocolate
2-8 oz. blocks of cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 c. red raspberry preserves (I like to use preserves with seeds)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix Oreos and butter together well. Press into the bottom of an 8-inch round glass pan. Melt 2 chocolate squares per package directions.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until well blended (I used my stand mixer). Add melted chocolate and beat until blended. Add eggs one at a time and beat until just blended. Do not overmix. Pour mixture over Oreo crust.

Bake 25-28 minutes or until center is just about set. Cool for 15 minutes (mine needed longer than the 5 minutes the recipe suggests!). Spread with preserves. Melt remaining chocolate square; drizzle over top of cheesecake. Cool cheesecake completely, then refrigerate for 4 hours.