Taste of Home Tuesday: Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Ok, you’re right, it’s Thursday, but I’m sticking with my weekly title. =) I just didn’t have time to get this recipe together earlier this week.

I have been craving some sweets lately and more specifically, a cheesecake. I was packing pots and pans in my kitchen when I came across my springform pan and knew that this was what I needed to make!

I’ve made a chocolate-raspberry swirl cheesecake and figured this couldn’t be too far off from what I made. I was definitely wrong on that count. The recipe I’m sharing with you today from Taste of Home Best Loved Recipes is much richer and you need a taller glass of milk with it.

I actually made this because one of my best friends and I were going to eat dinner and watch a movie at her place since her hubby and daughter were gone for the night.

Now let me say one thing about this, and most of my other recipes, when it comes to mixing something I either have a whisk, a fork or a hand mixer. I don’t have anything fancy like a countertop mixer. I would adore having a KitchenAid some day, but I won’t hold my breath.

Doing 4 packages of cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer is a pain in the rear end. Having a countertop mixer would make these recipes so much easier! So, I’m waiting for that one day!

The longest part of this process is the baking. I always love taking it out of the oven because you know when the top is that golden brown, you’re going to have an amazing cheesecake!

Now, this may seem like a sweet and innocent little cheesecake, but let me reassure you, this thing is a beast! You wouldn’t believe by looking at the ingredients above that this thing weighs a ton! I could weight lift with two of these things!

When I’ve made these cheesecakes in the past, I was always able to find a cookie crust batter already made, you know, the kind you can get in a box and you just add the melted butter? I don’t mean the kind in the pan already. I haven’t been able to find the cookie crumb crust in a box in years!

So, this was my first time actually separating cookies from the white center. I used almost an entire package of cookies doing this. What I did was make double stuffed cookies with the extra cookies that I didn’t use. My boys were thrilled with this idea!

I’ve used other cream cheese before, but it didn’t taste right. I always use Philadelphia when it comes to certain recipes and a cheesecake is definitely one of those recipes! I also don’t have a chopper so my semisweet chocolates weren’t chopped. I usually have minis for Doodle’s pancakes, but we were out of those as well. I know, I’m batting .1000!

My girl friend and I had dinner and watched Mirror, Mirror and while we were eating, we sliced ourselves some cheesecake. I sliced them like you’d slice any cake. Oh man, bad idea. It was SO rich and so thick, it was too much.

When I make cheesecakes, I never keep them. I have a slice or two, then give it away to my neighbors or whoever I can. Imagine eating the rest of that thing! UGH! So, I left some with my bestie then sliced up the rest leaving myself a couple of pieces and taking the rest to work. I definitely solidified friendships that day!

Do you like cheesecake and if so, do you have a favorite?

I’m joining up with Delicious Dish Tuesday in case you want to link up your recipes, too.