Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

Happy Monday All!

August is here! (Thank goodness) Hopefully this signals an end to the craziness that was July and I can get back into my blogging groove. It has been hard to hole up indoors when there are so few sunny days in this part of the world. Mr Humble and the Little Humble have been demanding a few less desserts and a few more hours of sunshine.

The throwing of river rocks is best done
outside of the Humble Kitchen

However the mornings are beginning to be foggy and chilly once again and we've been spending more and more time indoors. This has resulted in some real time in the kitchen and I have plenty lined up for this week.

Mother Humble is in town visiting as well, helping herself to all my butter and whatever I'm currently turning out, be it gelato, pastries or today's cheesecake. The rapidly disappearing butter has been made up for by her trip to the local farmers market and I am flush with oodles of local fresh fruit.



The plan was to make jams but since that hasn't materialized, I'm stealing some for this week's cooking and today's desert: Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake



Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
serves 8-10
adapted from Martha Stewart Living May 2004
(cupcake version can be found in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)
1 cup (5oz) finely ground graham crackers
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 packages (32 ounces total) cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch salt
4 large eggs, room temperature

pot boiling water, for the roasting pan

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

Place a 9" spring form pan onto a double layer of wide aluminum foil. Wrap up the sides of the pan to make it water tight. You don't want any foil seams or edges on the bottom or low on the sides of the pan, or water may creep in while it is baking.

Combine the graham crackers, 2 tablespoons sugar and the melted butter in a large bowl and mix. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of your spring form pan. I find that a flat bottomed ramekin or coffee cup is useful for pressing the crumbs evenly and tightly into the pan.

Bake the crust until set, roughly 10 minutes and then allow it to cool on a wire rack.

Reduce your oven's temperature to 325°F.

Purée the raspberries and then strain out the seeds and any solids. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the strained puree. Pour into a small sauce pan and bring the raspberry sauce to a bare simmer over medium low heat. Reduce the sauce for 1-2 minutes until it has thickened slightly and then set aside to cool.

In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and fluffy (roughly 3 minutes). Reduce the mixer's speed to low and add the 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a slow steady stream. Beat in the salt and vanilla and then on low speed, beat in the eggs, one at at time. Adding the next after the first has been incorporated. Take care not to over mix as the eggs can trap air in the batter and this leads to all sorts of cheesecake trouble.

Once you've mixed in the last egg, pour the batter into your prepared crust. Dot the top of the batter with drops of the raspberry sauce and with a knife or wooden skewer, swirl the surface of the batter to create the marbled effect. Reserve the remaining sauce for garnishing later.







Set the cake into a large roasting pan and place into the oven. Carefully ladle the boiling water into the roasting pan. Fill the pan no higher than the lowest edge of the foil, or you run the risk of baking a cheesecake soup.

Bake until the cake is puffy and set but the center is still has a slight wobble. This will take approximately 65 minutes.

If your oven tends to brown your cheesecake, lightly tent the pan with foil.

Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Transfer the cake to the refrigerator and allow to chill overnight (or a minimum of 6 hours).

To serve, run a knife around the edge of the cake to release from the pan and remove the spring form collar.

Slice with a damp clean knife

Serve slices with a little (or a lot) of the remaining raspberry sauce.



Enjoy!

Note on the giveaway: I mentioned I would do the drawing sometime last week, however I'm still waiting to have the gift certificate in hand. To all of you eagerly awaiting to see if you're $150 richer in CSN kitchen swag, patience. Once I have the certificate, will do the final announcement.

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