Lucidia

Lucinda’s Raspberry Chambord Cheesecake
(adapted from White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake recipe at the Chambord website)

Ingredients
Crust
1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 cups fresh raspberries, plus more for serving

Filling
24 oz. Cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Chambord Liqueur
1 lemon, both juice and zest
1/2 tsp salt
2 T flour
3 eggs

Topping/Foam [optional]
2 cups Chambord Liqueur
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 325°.

Prepare 9” springform pan by lining bottom with parchment and surrounding outside with heavy duty aluminun foil.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a small bowl. Add melted butter and combine with a fork. Press the mixture into the bottom and partially up the sides of your prepared pan. (A straight-sided measuring cup is helpful for getting an even crust.)

Arrange raspberries on top of the crust. (Or arrange half of the raspberries on top of the crust and stir half of them into the filling just before pouring over crust.)

In a standing mixer, beat cream cheese for 20-30 minutes. About half way through the beating, once the cream cheese starts to get light and smooth, add the sugar. Continue beating until you are sure the sugar has dissolved. Add vanilla, Chambord Liqueur, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Beat until smooth. At this point stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and beaters and beat again until everything is smooth. [I didn’t do this and ended up with some lumps.]

Add flour and beat until combined (once the flour is added you want to beat as little as possible). Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one just until combined.

[If you are going to add raspberries to the filling, remember to stir them in gently now.]

Pour filling over crust and raspberries.

Bake for approximately 60 minutes. Turn off oven and let cake continue to cook and then cool in the oven. After an hour or so take it out of the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Only then can you refrigerate the cake, which you will need to do for another 6-12 hours at least.

I stop at this point and just enjoy the cheesecake the next day.

The original recipe topped it with a foam made from 2 cups Chambord Liqueur (heated until reduced by half) combined with 1/2 cup heavy cream (heated separately) and combined and then blended in a blender until foamy.

With or without the foam, you can top with additional raspberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries.

Notes:

• For twenty years I made cheesecake with a hand mixer. Needless to say, I never beat the cream cheese for 20-30 minutes as this recipe recommends. The cheesecakes were somewhat heavier and not as smooth, but certainly edible. Moral of the story: if you have access to a standing mixer, use it. All that air beaten into the cream cheese is just heavenly!
• Some folks recommend using either a water bath or a pan of water in the oven to prevent cracking. I can’t be bothered and/or haven’t had a problem with cracking and/or don’t care if there are cracks. Using slow heat and cooling in the turned off oven seems to solve most of the problems with cracking and/or sinking.