How to make a fool-proof, no-crack white chocolate raspberry cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust and raspberry swirl. Rich and creamy, decadent dessert that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day or any other holiday, and it’s so easy to make!
I love a good cheesecake, but it’s no secret that I used to struggle with this family-favorite dessert. It just breaks my heart to spend so much time whipping up this classic, New York style dessert, only to pull it out of the oven chock full of large, gaping cracks. It’s even worse if you add any kind fruit filling, hence the reason I’ve always made Instant Pot raspberry cheesecake to avoid this problem.
But now that I’ve discovered how to bake a cheesecake using the water bath method, everything has changed! This is a truly no-crack white chocolate raspberry cheesecake that anyone can make.
The best part is that this tastes just like the Olive Garden white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, if not better! We don’t always have the money to eat out, so I’m over the moon that I’m able to make this decadent cheesecake dessert right at home.
Ingredients & Substitutions Notes
- Chocolate Cookie Crust – You can buy a store bought chocolate cookie crust, or you can just make a homemade chocolate cookie crust with Oreos. I usually make this recipe gluten free, so I like to make my own.
- Cream Cheese – I use full fat cream cheese for this raspberry cheesecake dessert. While as you can use a low fat cream cheese, it won’t be quite as rich or creamy.
- Vanilla Extract – I recommend purchasing a high quality pure vanilla extract. Ever since our vacation to Mexico, I’ve been really enjoying this Mexican vanilla.
- Egg Yolks – Whether you do it by hand or with an egg separator, you’ll need to separate the egg yolks from the egg whites for this cheesecake.
- Raspberry Sauce – The raspberry sauce is swirled into the cheesecake batter before baking to make this a raspberry swirl cheesecake. Fortunately, homemade raspberry sauce is really easy to make!
- White Chocolate – Last but not least, you’ll need a white chocolate baking bar for the white chocolate topping on this decadent dessert. Yum!
How to Make White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Before getting started, you’ll need to buy or make the chocolate cookie crust and the raspberry sauce. Transfer or press your chocolate cookie crust into a 9-inch springform pan for the cheesecake. Finally, use an egg separator to separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, and set aside in a small bowl.
Mixing & Assembling Your Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
- Start by whipping the softened cream cheese, pure cane sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add your egg yolks into the mixture, mixing ’til well combined.
- When your batter is creamy and smooth, pour half the batter into your crust in the springform pan that you prepped in the first step.
- Spoon about 1/3 cup raspberry sauce on top of the batter, adding small dollops of sauce here and there.
- Swirl the sauce into the batter with a table knife.
- Then pour the rest of the batter on. Add another 1/3 cup raspberry sauce, adding small dollops of sauce here and there all around the top of the batter. Again, swirl the sauce into the batter with a table knife.
How to Bake a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Using the Water Bath Method
I first learned how to bake a cheesecake using the water bath method from an article from the Kitchn on how to make the perfect cheesecake. This provides a steam bath environment for your cheesecake as it bakes to keep it very moist. I found that this method really helped to prevent cracking, and so I’ve been baking my cheesecakes this way ever since!
- Start by wrapping the outside of the cheesecake pan with a couple layers of aluminum foil. Then place the pan down into a bigger roasting pan that has about 1 inch of water in the bottom; A turkey roasting pan works perfectly for this.
- Bake at 325° for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the cheesecake is cooked through. It should be firm around the edges and a little jiggly in the middle.
Once it’s fully cooked, leave the cheesecake in the oven, and turn the oven off. Allow it to cool in the oven, with the oven door open, for about 30 to 45 minutes. You want a slow cooling process, in order to prevent crack from forming.
After 30-45 minutes has passed, remove your cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool completely. Once cooled down to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and place it in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
Topping Your White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake
It’s time to add the white chocolate part of this white chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipe. Shred the white chocolate with a vegetable peeler, and sprinkle it all over the top of your cheesecake.
That’s it! Top it off with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh berries, and serve. This Olive Garden copycat recipe requires a few extra steps and a little patience, but all in all, it’s a pretty simple dessert. If I can make it, you can too.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ’s
This is a common problem with homemade cheesecakes, so don’t feel bad! Fortunately, it only affects the appearance and not the actual flavor of a cheesecake. This happens because the cheesecake dried out too much, causing it to crack. Although the water bath baking method described above will usually prevent this problem, it can still happen if you bake your cheesecake for too long, and sometimes even when it’s cooled too quickly. Remember, your cheesecake is done when it becomes firm around the edge but still a little jiggly in the middle. Also be sure to let it cool down slowly as instructed in the recipe.
Stored in an airtight container or wrapped with plastic wrap, this raspberry swirl cheesecake should last up to 3 days in the refrigerator before the raspberry sauce starts to discolor.
Yes, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake freezes well. Once cooled and chilled completely, you can wrap it up with a couple layers of plastic wrap followed by another layer of aluminum foil. Stored this way in the freezer, it should stay good for up to 6 months.
More Cream Cheese Dessert Recipes
- Strawberry Delight
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Creamy Blueberry Delight
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Strawberry Angel Food Cake Layered Dessert
- No Bake Strawberry Shortcake
- No Bake Easy Banana Pudding
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Equipment
- Egg Separator optional
- Electric Hand Mixer optional
- Table Knife
- Decorating Bag optional
- Decorating Tip optional
Ingredients
- 1 Chocolate Cookie Crust
- 32 ounces Cream Cheese
- 3/4 cup Cane Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
- 4 Large Egg Yolks
- 2/3 cup Raspberry Sauce
- 4 ounces White Chocolate
- 2 cups Whipped Cream
Instructions
- First things first, make your chocolate cookie crust in a 9″ springform pan (sprayed with cooking spray). You’ll want it ready to go after the cheesecake batter is all mixed up.
- Line the outside of the springform pan with aluminum foil; this will keep water from getting into your cheesecake during baking.
- Pre-heat the oven to 325°F.
- In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whip together the softened cream cheese, pure cane sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Using an egg separator, separate the egg yolks from the whites, and add the yolks into the cream cheese mixture, mixing well.
- When your batter is creamy and smooth, pour half the batter into your crust.
- Spoon about 1/3 cup raspberry sauce on top of the batter, adding small dollops of sauce here and there.
- Swirl the sauce into the batter with a table knife.
- Pour the rest of the batter on, and add another 1/3 cup raspberry sauce, adding small dollops of sauce here and there all around the top of the batter.
- Again, swirl the sauce into the batter with a table knife.
- Place the cheesecake-filled springform pan in a roasting pan that has an inch or so of water in the bottom.
- Place the whole pan into the oven, and bake at 325°F for about 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the cheesecake is cooked through. It should be firm around the edges and slightly jiggly in the center.
- Once it's fully cooked, leave the cheesecake in the oven, and turn the oven off. Allow it to cool in the oven, with the oven door open, for about 30 to 45 minutes. You want a slow cooling process, in order to avoid cracks.
- Now you can remove your cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
- Once your cheesecake has completely cooled at room temperature, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and place it in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
- Once fully chilled, shave or curl the white chocolate with a vegetable peeler, and then sprinkle the chocolate over the entire top of the cheesecake.
- Use the decorating bag with the large decorating tip to add small swirls of whipped cream all around the edge of the cheesecake.*
- That's it! Your white chocolate raspberry cheesecake is ready to serve.
Hi, when you finish cooking and open the oven door for an hour, do you remove the cheesecake from the water bath/roaster pan and the cheesecake sits in the oven or does the cheesecake stay in the water bath and in the oven for an hour?
Looking forward to making this
So easy and decadent at the same time. Thank you for sharing. I just used homemade raspberry jam for the sauce and it turned out great.
That’s awesome, Kim! Thanks for the handy tip.
I would like recipe for the oreo crust and the raspberry sauce.
Renee, I linked to the recipe for both the OREO cookie crust and raspberry sauce recipes in the “How to Make White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake” section of the post, a few paragraphs down from the top. I hope this helps!
Is the White chocolate only for decoration and not in the batter?
Yes, the chocolate is only for a decorative topping.
This looks amazing! Do you think it could be done in a 9×13 pan? Maybe double the recipe? About how long would it need to bake? I need a decadent dessert for a fundraiser at church and need something I can cut into small pieces for a “flight” of desserts! Thank you!
Hey Joan, this recipe really needs to be made in a springform cheesecake pan. A regular 9×13 pan would not turn out well.
I’m going to make this for our dessert at Christmas. One question, do you just crush Oreos for the crust? Do you add any melted butter to hold it together? The recipe doesn’t say anything on making the crust. Thank you!
Hi, Mel
I made this cheesecake recipe a couple of weeks ago and it came out fantastic. I have never made a cheesecake from scratch and I was so proud of myself. The only problem I had was the whit chocolate shavings for the top. I bought a white chocolate bar in the baking section and tried to shave it with a peeler and it didn’t work very well. So I only had a fine grater and it worked but it looked like very fine snow. Still tasted fantastic, my family really enjoyed it. I had half of the cheesecake left over so I put it in the freezer like you said and now I want to take it out and serve it. I am not sure how to do that. Do I thaw on the counter or in the refrigerator? How long to I allow it to thaw before I can slice it? I would appreciate any tips you can give me. Thanks Sandy
Hey Sandy, I would set it in the refrigerator until it is completely thawed. This can take up to 4-5 hours. Thanks for trying the recipe! I’m glad it turned out so well.
I so enjoyed reading about this wonderful Cheese Cake recipe. I’m curious why you didn’t included the crust and sauce directions with the cake recipe instead of having to hunt for it ?
I’m a cheese cake lover so i will try and find it, but i will skroll right past this kind of posting.Please consider posting in it with all the information. Thank You
Thanks for the feedback, Linda. I do link to my recipe for the sauce in the ingredients list for the raspberry cheesecake. Enjoy the recipe!
Looking forward to trying this! When do you remove the springform pan?
Donna, it can be safely removed once it’s completely cooled and chilled.