Wild-Berry New York Cheesecake

It's cheesecake time!

My flatmate has been pestering me about making a New York Cheesecake ever since I moved in last October. And even though making cheesecake is not something I have to be talked into, it took more than four months until I/we finally made one. Well, the search for the perfect recipe might've been a partly reason why it took so long. Most New York Cheesecakes are more of a plain cheesecake and lack the New York part. They're not as dense, not as moist, not as delicious as they're supposed to be. Well, most of them. But not this one. This one is perfect. And it is perfect because of one secret ingredient. Wanna know what it is? Do you? Do you? Do you?

*drum roll*

It's white chocolate.

Best cheesecake ever. And the filling tastes exactly like the one in Starbucks' famous Double Chocolate Muffin which I've wanted to reproduce at home ever since I first tried them in a Starbucks in Leipzig some 5 years ago and sulked over the fact that they're so expensive. Two birds with one stone.

The only thing I didn't like so much about this cake was the crust. It tasted fine but there was just too much of it. Too much overly buttery sugary sweetness. In the recipe below, I reduced the quantities for the crust by a quarter which should make the crust-to-filling-ratio ok.

The recipe is adapted from Leila Lindholms cookbook which I heartily recommend to you, once again.


Wild-Berry New York Cheesecake
Recipe by Leila Lindholm

300 g/1.75 cups digestive crackers
150 g/0.75 cup butter

600 g/2.6 cups cream cheese
250 ml/1 cup curd
110 g/0.5 cup sugar
60 g/0.5 cup corn starch
2 tsp vanilla sugar
3 eggs
125 ml/0.5 cup cream
200 g/1 cup good quality white chocolate

Defrost the berries if you're using frozen ones. When defrosted, pour away the excess liquid.

Preheat your oven to 175° C/350° F and grease a 24 cm/10 in cake tin.

Crush the crackers into fine crumbs. Most people put them in a plastic bag  and crush them with a rolling pin, but tossing them in the blender for a few seconds is quicker, less messy, and less work. Melt the butter, then stir in the cracker crumbs and continue stirring until well combined. Spread the mixture evenly on the bottom and sides of your cake tin and press until firm. Put the tin into the oven for 10 minutes of pre-baking, then set aside to cool.

Melt the white chocolate by putting it in the preheating oven for some 5-10 minutes. Of course, you can also use the microwave but I've stuck with the oven ever since I once burned a cup of chocolate trying to melt it in the microwave, and that's something I don't want to relive. The smell was disgusting.

Meanwhile, combine curd and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla sugar, and corn starch, whisking the entire time. Then add the eggs, one at a time, and the cream. Stir in the molten white chocolate, whisk for another few seconds, then pour the mixture onto the pre-baked crust. Sprinkle the berries on top, then put the tin in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Check on the cake after 20-30 minutes. If it starts to brown, cover with aluminium foil. After 40 minutes just turn off the oven and leave the cake inside for another 30 minutes.

IMPORTANT: Let the cake cool completely before cutting and eating it. Trust me on this. This is one of those weird cakes that taste disappointing when warm and fantastic when cool.