Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake With Hazelnut Crust
Creamy white chocolate cheesecake studded with fresh raspberries. What could be better? Well turns out it’s hazelnuts. This recipe for no-bake raspberry white chocolate cheesecake has a toasted hazelnut and biscuit crumb base which is divine. The combination of rich filling and nutty crunch makes it the perfect dessert for dinner parties and summer gatherings.
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I came across this combination of ingredients in cheesecake form on a recent trip to Swanage. We were staying with friends who highly recommended the Love Cake Cafe and we weren’t disappointed. It’s an excellent place to chat to friends and enjoy a cup of tea and slice of cake. CT and I indulged in a slice accompanied by a really good hot chocolate. It was so good, we had to go back the next day and have it all over again.
This raspberry white chocolate cheesecake is my attempt at recreating it. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s equally good if, dare I say it, even better.
Dive Right In
- Why Make Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake?
- No-Bake Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
- Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
- How To Make Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
- Other Cheesecake Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Why Make Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake?
Really all I can say is, why wouldn’t you want to make this raspberry white chocolate cheesecake with its scrummy hazelnut base? But just in case you need convincing, here are a few reasons.
- Fresh and fruity – Studded with juicy raspberries for a burst of tartness which balances the sweetness of the white chocolate beautifully.
- Lusciously creamy – A rich filling made with mascarpone, cream cheese, white chocolate and double cream gives this cheesecake a luxurious texture that simply melts in the mouth.
- Great for entertaining – Decorate with fresh or dried flowers, white chocolate shavings and more raspberries to create a real showstopper that looks impressive but is surprisingly easy to put together. Ideal for dinner parties, outdoor entertaining or any celebration.
- Make-ahead friendly – This raspberry white chocolate cheesecake sets in the fridge, so you can prepare it in advance and simply decorate, slice and serve when needed.
- No oven required – Perfect for warm days or busy kitchens. No baking means less fuss and no need to heat up the house.
- Nutty, buttery base – Toasted hazelnuts in the biscuit crust add a layer of flavour and texture that makes this cheesecake extra special.
No-Bake Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
Cheesecakes are CT’s absolute favourite. Sadly for him, I don’t make them very often. I’m not sure why because they’re really quite easy, though you do need to plan ahead as both the crumb and filling take a while to set.
This raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake went down a treat, with both of us. And we managed to make it last a few days. It’s actually at its best consumed within twenty four hours, but it will keep in the fridge for up to four days.
It’s very rich and a little goes a long way. This is probably a good thing as the ingredients are quite expensive. It’s very much a special occasion dessert.
Toasted hazelnuts infuse the biscuit crumb with their flavour so the whole crust tastes like hazelnuts rather than biscuit. It’s absolutely delicious. Add a wonderful smooth and creamy filling studded with tart raspberries and this cheesecake is a total winner.
Dress up the top with more fresh raspberries, shaved white chocolate or edible flowers and you have a dessert fit for the very best dinner parties. Both fresh and dried flowers work well as does a dusting of dried raspberry powder.
And the best bit is that this raspberry white chocolate cheesecake slices really well and holds its shape once cut.
Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions
The ingredients are few, but they all play a key role in making this rich and decadent raspberry white chocolate cheesecake truly irresistible.
Biscuits
I generally use digestive biscuits to make a buttery biscuit base. They have a relatively neutral flavour, are healthier than most commercial biscuits and are not overly sweet. If you’re in America, graham crackers make a good substitute.
If you fancy something different, however, most crunchy biscuits will work.
Cream Cheese
I’ve gone for two types of cream cheese in this recipe. Cream cheese for body and mascarpone for richness. Please use a full fat cream cheese rather than a reduced fat one though. It’s best to forget about calories altogether if you’re making this dessert and just enjoy a small slice.
Hazelnuts
Although you can buy ready roasted hazelnuts, they really taste so much better if you roast raw whole hazelnuts yourself just before you need to use them.
Raspberries
Use the freshest raspberries you can find so that the cheesecake has a chance of lasting. Small ones are much better for this recipe than large ones, if you can find them. If you grow your own and can use them, so much the better.
We’ve not been successful with raspberries since we moved, but our old allotment used to produce masses. I miss them.
White Chocolate
White chocolate provides flavour, body and sweetness. It works brilliantly in cheesecakes. There’s no need to add sugar at all.
Melting white chocolate can be problematic. It needs a very low temperature, so can easily seize if it gets too hot or just not melt at all. Use the white chocolate you find in the baking aisle of your local supermarket, it’s much easier to work with than a standard confectionary bar.
To Decorate
Go simple with just a few raspberries or add as many extras as you like. Fresh or dried edible flowers give elegance, white chocolate sprinkles, shavings or curls highlight what the cheesecake is made of and a sprinkling of dried raspberry powder adds interest.
How To Make Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
For such a gorgeous dessert, this raspberry white chocolate cheesecake doesn’t require too much hands on time. You do need a bit of time for it to set though, so plan ahead.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking temperatures and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Roast Hazelnuts
Place the hazelnuts into a high sided baking tray or tin in a single layer. Roast in a preheated oven at
180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for ten minutes. Alternatively use an air fryer and roast for eight minutes at 160℃ (320℉).
When they’re done, the nuts should be aromatic and golden with loosened skins.
Turn the nuts out onto a tea towel, wrap them up then rub the hazelnuts vigorously to remove the skins. Then pick out the hazelnuts leaving the skins behind.
Alternatively swirl the nuts around in the tin they’re roasted in (or a sieve), then use your breath to blow the skins away. This is best done outside. Or you can use your hands to rub them off. Just make sure they’ve cooled down a bit first.
It doesn’t matter if some of the skins remain attached, as long as most of them have been removed.
Roughly grind the hazelnuts up in a mini food processor or coffee grinder. Ideally you want a mixture of ground hazelnuts, nibs and a few chunks. You can also use a pestle and mortar for this.
Step 2. Make Crust
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a gentle heat.
Meanwhile, place the biscuits in a large bowl and bash them with the end of a rolling pin until you’ve turned them into crumbs. Alternatively use a food processor, which is what I did on this occasion.
Add the ground hazelnuts and stir into the biscuit crumbs. Pour in the butter and mix with a spoon until it’s thoroughly incorporated.
Scrape the mix into your tart tin. Then use the back of a metal spoon or your fingers to press and mould the crumbs to fit the bottom and sides of your tin in as even a layer as possible – just as you would with pastry.
Place in the fridge for twenty minutes or so to firm up.
Top Tip
A loose bottomed tart tin makes it nice and easy to remove the cheesecake when you’re ready to unmould. But it’s best to keep it on a baking tray until you get to that point so that the bottom stays stable.
I used a silicone mould in this instance, as I find it easier to press the crumb up the sides, but it’s a bit trickier to remove. Though once set, the biscuit base is quite solid.
Step 3. Melt Chocolate
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling water.
Wait until the chocolate has almost melted, then remove the bowl from the heat. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool a little.
Step 4. Make Filling
Stir the cream cheese and mascarpone together until mixed, then beat in the double cream. You can use electric beaters for this, but it’s not really necessary. I use a metal spoon. It takes very little time to incorporate the cream and it becomes stiff quite quickly.
Stir in the cooled melted chocolate and keep stirring until everything is well mixed.
If your raspberries are small, keep them whole, but halve any particularly large ones.
Keep back some of the raspberries for decoration and tip the rest into the cream cheese bowl. Fold them in so that they’re well distributed, but remain mostly unbroken.
Scrape the cheesecake mix onto the biscuit base and spread it out as evenly as you can.
Return the cheesecake to the fridge for an hour to set. At this point you can keep it in the fridge overnight, if you want to get ahead.
Step 5. Serve
Just before serving, remove the cheesecake from the fridge. Unmould it and transfer to a serving plate or cake stand.
Decorate with the reserved raspberries and whatever else grabs your fancy. Edible flowers (fresh or dried) are wonderful, as is a sprinkling of freeze-dried raspberry powder.
I used violets and dandelion petals from my garden with a light dusting of raspberry powder.
Using a sharp knife, cut the cheesecake into eight, ten or twelve slices, depending on preference. I find a twelfth is just the right size.
Other Cheesecake Recipes You Might Like
- Baked chocolate cheesecake with an almond crust
- Baked lemon curd cheesecakes
- Biscoff cheesecake filled Easter eggs
- Double chocolate cheesecake pudding
- Chocolate cashew pie
- Lime cheesecake with a chocolate surprise
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this raspberry white chocolate cheesecake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for making no-bake cheesecakes?
Please rate the recipe too. And do tag me @choclette8 on Instagram with your images, I love to see your take on my recipes.
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Choclette x
Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake. PIN IT.
Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake With Hazelnut Crust
Equipment
Ingredients
Hazelnut Crust
- 140 g unsalted butter
- 60 g hazelnuts roasted or toasted and skins removed
- 230 g digestive biscuits
Cheesecake
- 200 g white chocolate broken into small pieces
- 125 g full fat cream cheese
- 250 g mascarpone cheese
- 200 ml double cream (heavy cream)
- 150 g raspberries small ones are best
Instructions
Hazelnut Crust
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a gentle heat.140 g unsalted butter
- Meanwhile, place the biscuits in a large bowl and bash them with the end of a rolling pin until you’ve turned them into crumbs. Alternatively use a food processor.230 g digestive biscuits
- Using a mini food processor or coffee grinder, blitz the hazelnuts into crumbs. Don't overdo it as it's good to have a few larger bits to crunch on. Stir into the biscuit crumbs.60 g hazelnuts
- Pour in the butter and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Scrape into a round 23cm (9") flan dish or tart tin and use the back of a spoon or your fingers to mould the crumbs to fit the bottom and sides (as you would with pastry).
- Place in the fridge to set, whilst you get on with making the filling.
Cheesecake
- Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling water. Wait until the chocolate has almost melted, then remove the bowl from the heat. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool a little.200 g white chocolate
- Stir the cream cheese and mascarpone together until mixed, then beat in the double cream. You can use electric beaters for this, but it’s not really necessary. It takes very little time to incorporate the cream and it becomes stiff quite quickly.125 g full fat cream cheese, 250 g mascarpone cheese, 200 ml double cream (heavy cream)
- Stir in the melted chocolate and keep stirring until everything is well mixed.
- Keep back 12 whole raspberries and tip the rest into the bowl. Fold them in so that they’re well distributed, but remain mostly unbroken.
- Scrape the cheesecake mix onto the biscuit base and spread it out as evenly as you can using the back of a spoon or a palette knife.
- Return the cheesecake to the fridge for an hour or so to set.
- Just before serving, unmould the tart and transfer to a serving plate or cake stand. Decorate with the reserved raspberries and whatever else grabs your fancy. Edible flowers (fresh or dried) are wonderful, as is a sprinkling of freeze-dried raspberry powder.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
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this looks so pretty! and i am sure is delicious. Raspberries and white chocolate go so well together.
Thanks Sherry, you’re right raspberries and white chocolate rock.