Raspberry cheesecake with sour cream glaze

I’ve always wanted to create a raspberry version of a wonderful blueberry cheesecake. My earlier attempts at making a baked cheesecake with fresh raspberries weren’t very successful. That’s where freeze-dried fruit comes to the rescue. This raspberry cheesecake with a cream topping is wonderfully smooth and creamy, with an intense raspberry flavour and colour, finished with a light vanilla sour cream topping. Highly recommended!

Ingredients for the base:

• 160 g digestive, wholegrain or oat biscuits
• 40 g butter, melted

Crush the biscuits and mix with the melted butter until the mixture resembles wet sand (using a food processor or by crushing in a bag).

Line the base of a 23 cm springform tin with baking parchment. Press the mixture firmly into the base and chill while preparing the filling.

Wrap the outside of the tin twice with foil — the cheesecake will be baked in a water bath*.

For the raspberry cheesecake filling:

• 750 g full-fat curd cheese, finely ground
• 250 g mascarpone
• 5 large eggs
• 260 g caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons potato starch
• 150 ml double cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 80–100 g freeze-dried raspberries

All the ingredients should be at room temperature. Grind the freeze-dried raspberries in a coffee grinder into a fine powder (you can also buy them already ground). Sieve out the seeds using a fine sieve.

Place all the ingredients for the cheesecake filling – except the double cream and raspberries – into the bowl of a mixer. Mix until just combined; do not overmix, as this will incorporate too much air into the mixture. Add the powdered freeze-dried raspberries and mix until evenly incorporated (at this stage, you can taste the mixture; the raspberries may add a slight tartness – if needed, add a little more sugar and mix again). Finally, add the double cream and gently mix until combined. Pour the prepared cheesecake mixture into a springform tin over the biscuit base and smooth the top.

Bake the raspberry cheesecake at 150°C for about 70 minutes. The cheesecake is ready when the top is set and slightly springy to the touch with a skewer, especially in the centre. Remove from the oven and gently spread the cream topping over the surface (see recipe below), smooth it out, and bake for a further 10 minutes. Leave to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar, then chill in the fridge for about 12 hours.

Before serving, decorate the raspberry cheesecake with cream topping as desired, for example with fresh raspberries.

Ingredients for the cream topping:

• 250 ml crème fraîche or sour cream
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Water bath method:

Place the tin with the cheesecake into a larger tin or ovenproof dish, then pour in boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cheesecake tin. The cheesecake bakes in steam, creating a very humid environment. Thanks to this moisture, it bakes evenly throughout, including the centre, does not crack after baking, and retains a perfectly creamy texture.

Enjoy!