peanut butter-chocolate cheesecake on pretzel crust

Peanut butter-chocolate cheesecake on pretzel crust.
Right?
This is how you do a peanut butter-chocolate cheesecake.
No more graham crust, use pretzel.
OK?
The first cheesecake did not come out well as I used those Pretzel Thins--those do not make a good crust.  Make sure to get normal pretzels that are thicker than the popular Pretzel Thins.
Trial and error, all bakers go through it to find the right recipe; the right balance of flavors.
I tried to get the pretzel crust to go up the side of the cake pan, no luck there either.  I'm a firm
believer in having as much crust as possible in my pies and cheesecakes.
Up the sides, on the bottom--yes indeedy.
Wanting a deep peanut butter flavor in this cheesecake I used not only peanut butter in the batter, but also the swirls are made with a chocolate-peanut butter from The Peanut Butter Company.
This worked perfectly!
The chocolate-peanut butter swirls will not melt away, nor will they bleed out or dissolve; they stayed perfectly in tact.  (notice the before baking and after baking photos--perfection!).
So I highly recommend picking up a jar of for achieving the perfect cheesecake swirls!

Cheesecakes aren't that hard to make.
I firmly believe that it's all about the oven temperature.
Please read my cook notes (in the recipe) on baking: to water bath or not to water bath--
that is your decision. Plus a few other tips on getting the perfect swirls.
Couple of cheesecake tips: I did find, that using a bit of flour does help with having less cracks, and baking cheesecakes with low heat (300 or 285) and slow time does help with no cracks in the end.







chocolate-peanut butter cheesecake with pretzel crust
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2 ½ cups crushed pretzels
½ cup + 2 TB butter, melted
4 (8 oz) blocks cream cheese, softened
½ cup sour cream
¼ -1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 cup granulated sugar
generous pinch of salt
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 TB flour
¼ cup heavy whipping cream

for the chocolate swirl:
 ¼ cup ( +/- )  chocolate-peanut butter from The Peanut Butter Co.

cook notes:
Use small pretzels, they are easier to crush up in the food processor.
DO NOT use pretzel thins, they are not good at forming a crust, trust me I tried!
I have never baked my cheesecakes with a water bath, if this is what you prefer then please go right ahead.  I always bake my cheesecakes with low temps—low and slow. And of course you can use any type of chocolate swirls you wish, I just loved using the chocolate-peanut butter from Peanut Butter Company because it’s so convenient & easy, plus is does NOT dissolve or bleed than say regular melted chocolate would.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 or 10-­inch springform pan on bottom/sides.
Set aside.
Mix crushed pretzels with melted butter. Press firmly and evenly into prepared springform pan. Bake crust for 8-10 minutes or until its set.
Turn oven down to 300F.  (if you want a water bath then place large pan of water on lowest rack).
In bowl of stand mixer, combine softened cream cheese, sour cream and sugar. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, egg yolks, and peanut butter. Mix until smooth, then add in the heavy cream, mix once more, then add in the flour. Final mix until all is nice and incorporated.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
For the chocolate swirls, take a few tablespoons of the chocolate peanut butter, place as gobs on top of cheesecake, then take a chopstick or something similar and make swirls in the batter.  Do not push swirls down! Put as many swirls as you wish.
Place springform pan on large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in center rack, until filling seems mostly set, about 40-50 minutes.
It’s ok if there is a bit of jiggle in the center, it will set up once it’s chilled.
You know the cheesecake is done with the edges are all set up and the center is not gooey.
I turn off the oven, leave the oven door open, and let it come to room temp for about an hour or 2. Then place the cheesecake in fridge for a few hours or overnight to let it truly set up.  You can try to slice it, but it might be a bit gooey, but hey that could be your thing!
When ready to serve, if you see the edges are sticking to the sides you can either use a very thin knife that is slightly wet and run it around the edges or place in freezer for a few minutes to shrink and release.  With a little prayer and luck release the springform latch, slice and serve with fresh whipped cream and/or melted chocolate.

cherry-oat cream bars

Last year around this time I remember buying cherries en masse solely for the purpose of baking new recipes with them.  It never happened as the batch of cherries I got were so good, so sweet, so candy-like that I ate the whole lot. It was about 2 pounds of cherries in two days.
And after that I didn't buy anymore cherries as I was sick to them.

So this year, same story and I've made a recipe with them.
Plus another ice cream recipe--are you sick of ice cream yet?
I know I keep posting just ice cream
recipes, but that base recipe of no cook and no churn makes it so easy to whip up a batch.

Not fond of cherries?

Use blueberries, peaches, apricots would be fabulous (jam works too!)

So we've got a cookie-like base, with a cream cheese filling with added fresh cherries and then a crumb-cake like topping for added crunch.

cherry-oat cream bars
print recipe

for the dough:
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 ts vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 ts baking soda
½ ts baking powder
½  ts salt

cheesecake filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 ts vanilla extract
1 cup (or more*) chopped fresh cherries

crumb topping:
½ cup butter, very soft
¾ cup sugar
1 cup flour
½ ts salt
¾ cup rolled oats

cook notes:
I used about a cup of *chopped cherries.  Looking back I should have added more; there wasn’t enough cherries.
If you don’t like or don’t have cherries you can use any type of other fruit or jam.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix till just combined.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap, set in fridge a few hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, mix up the cream cheese filling.
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla until nice and smooth. Set side.
Take out chilled dough, and press into a well-greased 9x13 baking pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Next put the cream cheese filling over the crust, making sure not to get to the edges.
Take your chopped fresh cherries and place over the cream cheese filling.
For the crumb topping, mix the softened butter with the sugar, flour, salt and oats.  Mix well.  Place in large clumps over the top of the cherries and cream cheese filling.  Make sure to get into the corners of the pan.
Bake the bars for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom is golden brown as well.
Please let these cool in the place before slicing.

frosted pumpkin cheesecake bars with chocolate crust

With a hefty title comes a hefty dessert.
No doubt judging from the photos these bars are rich and delish.
The original bars came from the cookbook Baked Elements and they have a plain vanilla shortbread crust but I wanted to see if a chocolate crust would work and it did.
Also since I'm still on my pumpkin butter kick, I wanted to see if using pumpkin butter would work in these and yes it did. Saves a lot of time using a few tablespoons of pumpkin butter than using pumpkin.
The original recipe can be found here, and my modifications are below.


Not too many steps, the crust is fairly easy to make.
All that stuff about baking the crust with pie weights, nah, I'm not into that, I don't have any pie weights and my crust turned out fine.



This is a really good frosting base. Tasty.

See that wasn't too hard, right?

When it all comes together it's really good. Three nice layers of flavor.  Makes a lot, so you can share without feeling you will short yourself.  LOL!  I tease.



And congrats to the winners of the G.H. Cretors Popcorn Giveaway!
#33 BeeBubba and #70 Lisaiscooking.
I'll be emailing you today!

frosted pumpkin cheesecake bars with chocolate crust
adapted from Baked Elements
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chocolate crust:
2 ¼ cups flour
5 TB high quality cocoa powder (not dutch process)
½ cup sugar
¾ ts salt
16 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large eggs

pumpkin cheesecake filling:
1 lb cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
½ cup canned pumpkin (plain, not pumpkin pie)
3 oversized TB of pumpkin butter
½  ts salt
2 large eggs

cream cheese frosting:
4 oz unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 TB pure vanilla extract
1/2 ts salt

Grease the sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan. Line with parchment paper and then grease again.  Or do whatever greasing method works for you.

For the pastry dough, put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse a few times, until it resembles coarse sand. In a separate small bowl, whisk the eggs. Add it to the food processor and pulse just until the dough starts to come together.  Pat the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.  I did all this by hand, using my hands to incorporate the butter with the flours and then the eggs; worked fine.  I also left dough in fridge for 3 days and it was fine.
When ready to use dough, roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until it is a bit larger than the pan (9x13-inches). Turn the dough into the pan and lightly press it into the bottom and corners. Trim off any excess. Freeze for 30 minutes.  After I rolled out the dough, I used wet fingers to push the dough into the corners.  Then back into the freezer to set up again before baking.
Preheat the oven to 375.
Line the dough with aluminum foil and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
I don’t have pie weights and this step was NOT necessary at all, my crust came out perfectly.
Allow the crust to cool while you make the filling.
Reduce the oven to 300.
For the pumpkin cheesecake filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium until it is smooth. Add the sugar and beat again until combined.
Add in the pumpkin, and the pumpkin butter, and mix. Add in the salt, and then the eggs and mix again until nice and smooth.
Pour the cheesecake into the prepared crust and bake for 20-27 minutes, or until set and the middle is not runny; a little jiggle is ok.
You must let this cool for at least an hour and it needs to go in the fridge to set up for at least 2 hours.
For the cream cheese frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I don’t have a mixer so I mixed all this by hand):  cream together the butter and cream cheese until well combined and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and mix until smooth.
Using an offset spatula spread the frosting over the pumpkin cheesecake filling. Allow to set up in the fridge for 30 minutes before cutting and serving (I skipped this step).

peanut butter cheesecake with chocolate chip cookie crust

Have you heard of my obsession with cheesecakes?
I should re-phrase that: my obsession with kicked up cheesecakes.
Cheesecake is my comfort food.
Why do I create so many cheesecakes?
It stems from having one really bad cheesecake.
Baby Watson Cheesecakes.
Remember those?
I hated that cheesecake.  I was like "where's the crust?"
That was all cake, no crust, no add in's, nada.
Like, what's the point of having all those calories?
If I'm going to ingest all that fat, calories, and flavor there should be crust, a little bit of texture, maybe some fruit, or other add in.
It's like my argument on soft serve ice cream: too plain, too boring for me; I need something with all that plainness to jazz it up, unless I have the flu or stomach bug and have to eat soft foods.  LOL.
Get to the cheesecake already!
OK, so the latest cheesecake invention involves peanut butter, but I didn't just want another graham or chocolate crust, I wanted to see if crushed chocolate chip cookies would "crust".
And they did.  Perfectly actually.
You must give this crust a go.



The perfect bite: cheesecake, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.



Do you like crust on your cheesecake?
Thick or thin crust?

peanut butter swirl cheesecake with chocolate chip cookie crust

print recipe

crust:

2 cups of crushed (fine) chocolate chip cookies (choose a hard/crisp cookie—I used Trader Joe’s mini crispy chocolate chip cookies)

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Generous pinch of sea salt

cheesecake filling:

4 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temp

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup heavy cream

3 large eggs AND 2 large egg yolks

peanut butter swirl:

½ - ¾ cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

cook notes: This makes a nice thick crust.  If you don’t like a thick crust then use less. To make peanut butter swirl easily, just warm it up in the microwave a bit.

It really helps to have a chopstick or other narrow stick to make the peanut butter swirls in the cheesecake.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a measuring cup, crack open the eggs and egg yolks, set aside until ready to use.

Spray a 9 or 10-inch springform pan with non stick spray.

In a food processor grind up the cookies into a fine crumb. In a bowl, combine the cookies, a pinch of salt, and the melted butter. Mix, then press into the bottom and partially up the sides of the springform pan. (I use a flat bottomed glass to press it in evenly). Recipe by vanillasugarblog.com

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust is just lightly brown around the edges, set aside and let cool. Reduce the oven heat to 300°F.

In a food processor or mixer, mix the cream cheese, with the eggs, eggs yolks, sugar and heavy cream.  Mix until you have a nice custard-like consistency and no lumps are visible.

Pour cheesecake batter into cooled crust pan.  Take your peanut butter, and GENTLY place down three or four glops/piles, spaced evenly, around the batter. 

Using a chopstick (or other small, pointed stick) gently swirl the cookie butter around until you have a nice array of swirls.

baking:

Most people like to do a water bath for their cheesecake. I never do, I find all too annoying. But if you want to do this feel free; it’s best to bake your cheesecake how ever you feel most comfortable.

I baked this cheesecake at 300°F for 50-55 minutes; turned off oven and left it alone for a couple hours.  You know the cheesecake is done when there is no jiggle in the middle and the middle batter has set up.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, and then you need to cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, slice with a wet knife and serve with fresh whipped cream.

mini peach cheesecake tarts

Even in the dead heat of summer I crave cheesecake.
That tart, cold cheesecake batter paired with a nice salty, buttery crust and sweet fresh fruits.
Oh yes please!
But the last thing I want to do is bake a cheesecake for an hour or longer let alone turn on the oven for a long period of time.
AND who wants to wait for a giant cheesecake to cool in this heat?
Why not make mini's?
They require far less baking time, you don't need as much cheesecake batter, and the cooling time is a lot less which means you can eat them sooner (ok that last part is important to me).
Plus you can dress them up with any of the wonderful seasonal summer fruits.
I haven't done a peach cheesecake, so it was time.
But as luck would have it, in the middle of making the cheesecake I realized I had no sour cream,
and no greek yogurt.
I did have a Siggi's yogurt which is pretty much just like greek yogurt only thicker and far less sugar.
It was one of the best last-minute substitutions I've ever had.
This cheesecake recipe is a keeper for me--I loved the flavor this yogurt added to the cheesecake.
These mini cheesecakes literally took 5 minutes to put together, no pre-baking the crust, and then 15 minutes to bake.
So easy right?

Please give this cheesecake recipe a go, you can add in any type of fruit you wish: cherries, pineapple,
plums...
If you can't find the Siggi's yogurt use a greek style yogurt--a thick yogurt or just use sour cream (sour cream is thinner in consistency so only use about 3 TB).



Secret, tasty ingredient.

It's ok to fill these to the almost top, they don't rise much.
But they do bake up fast, so at the 15-minute mark make sure to check on them.


If you don't have tart pans, you can use cupcake tins, but make sure to really grease up the tins and/or
use liners.

Mini Peach Cheesecakes

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Crust

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

a pinch sea salt

1 TB dark brown sugar

9 TB unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake

8-oz cream cheese, softened

4 ounces (1 single container) of Siggi’s Icelandic peach yogurt (or 3 TB sour cream)

½ cup powdered sugar

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

¼ cup chopped peaches, small chop

extra chopped peaches for garnish, optional

Cook Notes:

Make sure to dry the peaches with paper towels and get as much moisture out as possible. If you can’t find Iggy’s yogurt, choose a thick style yogurt.

Iggy’s does NOT have sugar in it; so if you do use another yogurt make sure to adjust sugar in the recipe.

I would not use a Yoplait yogurt as it is too watery—look for a thick style yogurt instead.

I used tart pans for this recipe. If you don’t have tart pans, then use cupcakes, but make sure to line the tins with cupcake liners and/or non-stick spray.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, make the graham cracker crust.

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and salt and stir to combine.

Add in the melted butter and stir well.

Evenly divide the crumbs among the tart pans or cupcakes tins.

Make sure to press down the crumbs to make an even layer.

For the cheesecake:

Cream the cream cheese, yogurt and sugar until smooth, add in the egg and egg yolk and mix well.  Then add in the chopped peaches.

Fill the tart pan or cupcake tins with cheesecake mixture to almost the top. The cheesecake will rise a bit during baking, so don’t overfill the pans with batter.

These bake up fast! 

Bake for 16-20 minutes, until cheesecakes are set and no longer jiggly in the middle.

Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, then carefully transfer cheesecakes to a cooling rack to cool completely before refrigerating.

cookie butter swirl cheesecake

First off, congrats to the winners of the Baked cookbook and brownie giveaway: #42 Beth and #76 Pam. Please email me your shipping address!

Did anyone try my cookie butter cookies? Weren't they good?
Since I was so thrilled at how many uses one can use for baking with cookie butter, I made a cheesecake with it. The possibilities of this cookie butter are endless.
What have you made with it?
So far, all I've tried is the cookie butter from Trader Joe's. I know there is a biscoff spread too? Have yet to find it. Does it taste just like the one at Trader Joe's? Are there different types of cookie butter out there? I would imagine so. Where is the Oreo cookie butter? :-)




You'll need two packs of cookies. Or use one pack mixed with a combo of another hard cookie. Be as creative as you want.





Gently plop down 2-3 giant globs of cookie butter, spaced apart. Then use a chopstick to gently swirl the cookie butter around. Easy peasy.



cookie butter swirl cheesecake
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crust
2 cups of crushed Trader Joe’s Bistro Biscuits (or any type of hard-cinnamon cookie)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Generous pinch of sea salt

cheesecake filling
4 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temp
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup heavy cream
3 large eggs and 2 large egg yolks

Cookie butter swirl
½ - ¾ cup of cookie butter

½ cup of warm caramel, for garnish, optional but wonderful

cook notes: This makes a nice thick crust. If you don’t like a thick crust then use less cookies crumbs (maybe 1 & ½ cups?).

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
In a measuring cup, crack open the eggs and egg yolks, set aside until ready to use.
Spray a 9 or 10-inch springform pan with non stick spray. In a food processor grind up the cookies into a fine crumb. In a bowl, combine the cookies, a pinch of salt, and the melted butter. Mix, then press into the bottom and partially up the sides of the springform pan. (I use a flat bottomed glass to press it in evenly). Recipe by vanillasugarblog.com
Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is just lightly brown around the edges, set aside and let cool. Reduce the oven heat to 300°F.
In a food processor or mixer, mix the cream cheese, with the eggs, eggs yolks, sugar and heavy cream. Mix until you have a nice custard-like consistency and no lumps are visible.
Pour cheesecake batter into cooled crust pan. Take your cookie butter, and GENTLY place down three or four glops/piles, spaced evenly, around the batter. Using a chopstick (or other small, pointed stick) gently swirl the cookie butter around until you have a nice array of swirls.

baking:
Most people like to do a water bath for their cheesecake. I never do, I find all too annoying. But if you want to do this feel free; it’s best to bake your cheesecake how ever you feel most comfortable.
I baked this cheesecake at 300°F for 50-55 minutes; turned off oven and left it alone for a couple hours. You know the cheesecake is done when there is no jiggle in the middle and the middle batter has set up.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, and then you need to cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
When cheesecake is baking try not to open the oven door a lot, if at all.
You might need a wet knife to slice cheesecake.
When ready to serve, slice with a wet knife and drizzle slices with caramel sauce (optional).

lemon cheesecake w/ lemon cookie-panko crust and white chocolate-raspberry ganache

Is that a title or what? Is there another dish I've made with a longer title? No, I think this is the longest. Oh the flavors abound in this lovely cheesecake.
Everything paired together so perfectly--I was happy. Truly fabulous.

This was my first lemon cheesecake and it won't be my last.
 When I saw those lemon wafers at whole foods, I knew exactly what to do with them; tasting them on the car ride home confirmed there would be a lemon cheesecake happening in the near future.
 Don't you love when you see a product in the store and a "recipe light bulb" goes off in your head? Instant inspiration!
But why is there panko in the crust? Why not? On my 'to create' list, in the notes column, I've had "use panko in a cheesecake". An experiment of sorts. The "crunch" factor in a cheesecake is what I craved for a while. The crunch factor in this crust is not overwhelming at all. Those panko crumbs really stand up to just about any type of cooking; do they ever lose their crunch? Hardy lil critters!
Just don't use seasoned panko crumbs, make sure they're plain!

Lastly the raspberry coulis is a natural pairing with anything lemon.
This time of year I just adore the smell of raspberry coulis cooking and then that "snap" "twang" flavor when you first taste it.

lemon cheesecake w/ lemon cookie-panko crust & white chocolate-raspberry coulis
recipe by vanillasugarblog.com
print recipe

crust
1- 9 oz box of lemon wafer cookies
½ cup plain panko crumbs
3/4 stick salted butter, melted (6 ounces)
1 TB lemon zest
medium pinch of sea salt

cheesecake filling:
4 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temp
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup heavy cream
3 large eggs and 2 large egg yolks
1 TB lemon zest
2 TB of fresh pink lemonade, preferably with pulp! (don’t know if frozen from concentrate would work, feel free to try it)

cook notes:
Please invest in a good/sturdy cheesecake pan. They make all the difference in terms of baking and not overbaking. Williams Sonoma has some good ones.
I do not like my cheesecake batter too sweet, so please taste test as you go along and before it goes in the pan for baking to see if you like it as is or if you want more sugar. This makes a lot of crust for the 10-inch pan, but I like to have it thick, so if you don’t like it thick you could probably halve it. But with the remaining leftover crust I just put it in a bag and freeze or make a mini cheesecake. There will also be a small amount of leftover cheesecake batter—haven’t figured out how to scale it down yet. But with the leftover crust and batter you can easily make 2 mini cheesecakes if you have the mini springform pans. Also, I do not have a mixer, I know, everyone always ask how I do it, but I do, been that way for decades. So I just use a food processer, works perfectly. But use what you feel comfortable with.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
In a measuring cup, crack open the eggs and egg yolks, set aside until ready to use.
Spray a 10-inch springform pan with non stick spray.
In a food processor grind up the cookies into a fine crumb. In a bowl, combine the cookies, a pinch of salt, panko crumbs, lemon zest, and the melted butter. Mix, then press into the bottom and partially up the sides of the springform pan. (I use a flat bottomed glass to press it in evenly AND up the sides). Recipe & photos by Dawn Finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com
Bake crust for 12-15 minutes, set aside and let cool or until sides of crust are lightly brown. Reduce the oven heat to 325°F.
I used my food processor to make the cheesecake batter—I suppose you could use a mixer, but I don’t have one (I know, weird). With the food processor, mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and lump free. Add in the sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. .
Add in the eggs one at a time until all is mixed well; add in the heavy cream, the zest, and pink lemonade. Process until all is well mixed. Do a taste test see if you like it and if you want more sugar.

baking:
Most people like to do a water bath for their cheesecake. I never do, I find all too annoying. But if you want to do this please feel free; it’s best to bake your cheesecake how ever you feel most comfortable.
I baked this cheesecake at 325°F for one hour then at 300°F for an additional 40-50 minutes or until the center is set. Please put a tray under the cheesecake to catch any spills. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

raspberry coulis

1 or 2 pints raspberries
Use ¼ cup of superfine sugar for every pint of raspberries you use
½ lemon (the juice of) for every pint of fresh raspberries you use
1 TB cornstarch for every pint of fresh raspberries

Over medium heat, heat up the raspberries with the lemon juice, and sugar. Let it come to a boil, stirring occasionally to help break up the raspberries. Once the raspberries are dissolved strain the mixture in a fine sieve. Take strained juices back to pan and over low heat add in the cornstarch until it’s thickened. Do not leave the stove at this point since the coulis heats up fast once seeds are gone and cornstarch is added. Should only take 5 minutes. Let cool in pan or in a separate bowl. Then refrigerate.

white chocolate-raspberry ganache

Is nothing more than melted white chocolate (3/4 cup),
with a splash or two of heavy cream, mixed till creamy (stir well).
Then take small portions of it, pour into a bowl and then add in tiny swirls of the raspberry coulis. (this part you have to work fast before the white chocolate hardens). Alternatively, you can put a layer of the white chocolate Ganache on the cheesecake and small swirls of the raspberry coulis and swirl with a toothpick.