This is a quick and easy cheesecake recipe that was voted in the top three best desserts by my family. Mmmmm!
A few weeks ago I had a terrible experience. I forgot my daughter’s birthday. How could I, right? Nevertheless, I had to make a quick cheesecake. I only had a few hours so I just had to improvise.
Cheesecake is best after sitting 12-24 hours in the fridge before cutting. I have found that cutting a cheesecake too early can make a mess. The cheesecake tastes great but there won’t be nice clean slices.
I decided to use individual glass cups for the cheesecake so the cooking and cooling process would be faster. This worked very well. My largest glass tray holds a maximum of eight glass cups which I filled with cheesecake filling. I did reduce the cooking time to 45 minutes but the individual cheesecakes were still quite brown. Here’s the recipe for a water bath Birthday Cheesecake.
8-12 pieces 100% organic baking chocolate, melted
3c unfrozen raspberries, stirred well
500mL organic whipping cream
1T organic vanilla extract
1T local honey (optional)
small pinch sea salt
Heat water in a sauce pan big enough to accommodate a 1c Pyrex measuring cup. Put the pieces of 100% baking chocolate into the measuring cup and gently warm until melted. Remove from the heat. After the individual cheesecakes cooled, drizzle some of the melted chocolate onto the cheesecakes. I find a spoon works well for drizzling chocolate. Then return the cheesecakes to the fridge. Use about half of the melted chocolate. The other half will go on top of the whipped cream.
In a food processor, add the vanilla extract, honey and sea salt to the whipping cream and whip up to a firm peak. Just before serving, remove the cheesecakes from the fridge and top with 2-4T of stirred raspberries. Add 1/2c to 2/3c whipping cream to the top of each cheesecake. Don’t skimp on the whipping cream! Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate onto the whipping cream.
When the cheesecakes cool, drizzle some melted chocolate on top. I prefer a very bitter, dark chocolate. I find a spoon works well for drizzling chocolate.
Top the cheesecakes with the unfrozen, stirred raspberries. These raspberries are from our garden and have an intense flavor that is good match for bitter chocolate.
Top with the whipping cream. My teenaged daughter warns me, “Don’t skimp on the whipping cream!” Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate on top.
