Not long after making a Lemon/Rosemary Cheesecake, I had another opportunity to make a cheesecake for someone, and with some raspberries in the fridge, knew that lemon and raspberry make a tasty combo. Once again, I eschewed the traditional graham cracker crust and opted to work with some Oreos. The Thins work, but so do the regular. I’ll get to the raspberry part below.
LEMONBERRY CHEESECAKE
INGREDIENTS (all ingredients should be at room temperature)
For the crust you’ll need
1 pkg Oreo Lemon Creme cookies (regular or thin, but get the family size of the regular)
1/4 cup sugar (optional)
2 Tbsp of butter, melted (optional)
For the cheesecake you’ll need
4 – 8oz packages of cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar,
three large eggs (eggs from chickens that are pastured tend to have larger yolks, and add some richness to the batter),
Zest of one lemon (see TIPS)
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt.
DIRECTIONS
Prepare a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray, preferably one that contains flour. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment, and spray the bottom again. Hold back 14-15 of the cookies for finishing.
Put the remaining Oreos (and the 1/4 cup sugar, if using) in a food processor and pulse until the cookies are completely and uniformly chopped up. Drizzle in the melted butter, if desired, processing to thoroughly incorporate the butter into the cookie mixture. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan (coming up the sides is a matter of preference, but not required). Line the side of the pan with Oreos on edge.
Place a roasting pan or casserole dish on the bottom shelf of your oven, add an inch of boiling water, then preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
Blend the cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar on low to medium speed until blended, smooth, and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. Add the vanilla, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice, and continue beating until blended and very smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan and shake slightly to ensure even distribution. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hr and 20 mins, or until the center is almost set.
Turn the oven off and prop the door slightly open with a wooden spoon; allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven for an hour.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven. Allow the cake to cool for a couple more hours, then cover and chill for 8 hrs. Remove the sides of the pan, put the cheesecake on a cake plate or cardboard round, and it’s ready for any next steps.
RASPBERRY COMPOTE (TOPPING)
Berry compotes are easy, and a great way to use berries before the get all fuzzy and bad in the fridge. Use a single type, or mix, its up to you, and will be delicious, whichever way you go with it.
Put the berries in a deep sauce pan; doesn’t have to be a large one. Add some sugar (i usually go with a shy 1/4 cup of sugar), and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Turn on the heat to medium low, and give it a stir. After a few minutes, using a silicone spatula, or something similar, start smashing up the berries. How much or little you smash them is totally dependent upon the look you want. After it all smashed and relatively uniform (meaning the seeds are evenly disbursed), raise the heat slightly until the mixture starts bubbling around the edges. At this point, your eye is your guide. The longer it cooks, the thicker it will become, so for a sauce, leave it loose; for something akin to jam, let it thicken. If you want thicker, sprinkle in some cornstarch or arrowroot. For topping a cheesecake, I like it a bit loose, and like to put it on the top before the cake is sliced. That allows the topping to run down the sides of each slice. A whipped cream dam will hold it in place. Of course, you can have extra on hand for those wanting more.
TIPS
When making cheesecake, I like to line the bottom of the springform pan with a larger piece of parchment so that, as you can see, there’s an excess of parchment once the cake is baked and the pan removed. This makes it easier to slide the cake onto a platter or cardboard round, at which point you can trim the excess with a sharp knife point.
Any time you are adding zest to a recipe that calls for sugar, it’s always a good idea to put the zest in the sugar, mixing it well to incorporate. This pulls more flavor from the zest (much like macerating berries in sugar makes juice).
When whipping cream to top a cheesecake, I find that I get a better result using powdered sugar instead of granulated. Most powdered sugar that you buy has come cornstarch in it, and that helps to stabilize the whipped cream to keep it from drooping and sagging.
never 2 old 2 start cooking 
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