Our raspberries just started to ripen over the past weekend, almost two weeks later than normal. But that comes as no surprise after it took so achingly long for our Midwestern winter, followed by a cold and extra rainy spring, to finally depart.
Which makes these vibrant and tasty garden delights seem all the more well deserved!
Picking and enjoying fresh raspberries from the yard feels very natural to me. Growing up on the farm, we had a large raspberry patch, and spent a great deal of time tending to it. I can still envision Mom gently washing the buckets of berries at the sink and the late night bowls of vanilla ice cream toppled with ruby heavenlyness.
When Blake and I were considering buying our current home, the already established raspberry patch was a definite plus in my book. And, since moving in, our family has enjoyed every last bite!
When our berries hit their peak week of producing, we can pick almost a gallon bucket of berries every day. It’s impossible for us to consume them all before they spoil. While we eat plenty of fresh berries every day, and give them away to grateful friends and neighbors, there still needs to be a plan to make sure none of them goes to waste.
We freeze some for future use. And we make a couple batches of our favorite quick and easy Raspberry Blackberry Freezer Jam. It’s so fabulous smeared on a piece of buttery toast, a warm popover, or a fresh steaming yeasted waffle.
And when I’m feeling really indulgent…
I make this Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake!
I love that this Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake filling includes sour cream; I think it adds beautiful texture and tang. This cheesecake is super creamy and luscious, delicately tangy, and swirled with the softly sweet taste and scent of fresh raspberries. The beautiful berry marbling always elicits oohs and ahhs. Every time I make it, I’m reminded of the expression on my mother-in-law’s face when I made this for the first time on her birthday many years ago. I thought she was going to cry.
This cheesecake really is special enough for tears of joy. And I do hope you’ll find that out for yourself by giving this tried and true recipe a go.
Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce
- 6 ounces fresh raspberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
Crust
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 24 ounces brick-style, full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
Raspberry Sauce
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and water. Use a fork to crush the berries a bit. Stir frequently, cooking until the berries start to release their juices. Increase heat to nearly medium, to bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the berries are broken down and the liquid is deep pink to light red in color and slightly thickened.
- Remove saucepan from heat and pour raspberry mixture through a very fine mesh strainer into a bowl. If your strainer is not fine enough to strain the seeds, line it with a double layer of cheesecloth first. Use a spatula to press on the raspberry mixture in the strainer, to get as much juice as possible from the berries. Measure out 2 teaspoons of raspberry seeds from the strainer and add them to the raspberry juice. Discard the rest of the seeds in the strainer. Set raspberry sauce aside to cool – you should have about ⅓ cup of raspberry sauce.
Crust
- Place oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Very lightly spray a 9" springform pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and stir until evenly combined.
- Add the crust mixture to prepared 9" springform pan. Press mixture evenly up the sides, about 1¼" up (so the crust is as tall as the cheesecake filling), and onto the bottom of the pan. A flat-bottomed glass is helpful to gently and evenly press the crust mixture into place. Set crust aside.
Cheesecake Filling
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment, on medium speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until completely smooth. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl as needed, to ensure the mixture is free of lumps.
- Add sour cream and vanilla to cream cheese mixture and mix on low speed until evenly combined.
- In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. With mixer on low speed, very slowly drizzle the beaten eggs into the cream cheese mixture. When nearly all combined, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then mix again to fully and evenly combine.
Assemble
- Pour cheesecake filling over prepared crust and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Add six 1-teaspoon sized dots of prepared raspberry sauce to the top of the filling, spacing the dots out as much as possible. Use the tip of a chopstick, or something similar in your kitchen drawer, to gently swirl the raspberry sauce through the cheesecake filling to create a pretty, swirly pattern. Cover and refrigerate remaining raspberry sauce; save for serving time.
- Place cheesecake in oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until cheesecake is mostly set, with just the center being a little bit jiggly.
- Now turn off the oven, crack the door open 3"-4", and let cheesecake sit in the oven undisturbed for 1 hour. Then remove cheesecake to a cooling rack to cool, until it is no longer warm. Once cooled, place in the refrigerator to chill and set for at least 6 hours. For the thickest, creamiest cheesecake texture, definitely chill overnight.
- Serve slices of raspberry cheesecake with fresh raspberries and reserved raspberry sauce. Dollops of freshly whipped cream are always welcome, too!
Nutrition Information:
I came online looking for your recipe again as I’ve lost my print-out somehow. I’ve made this for many years because it is absolutely delicious (and I’ve used your raspberry puree in lemonade and limeade, and it is soooo good!).
I have a dilemma and hope someone can help. I want to make this cheese cake and have bought all ingredients needed but just realized that my cake pan is a 10 inch and not 9. Can I use the 10 inch pan? Thank you
Hello Lee – I have not made this in a larger 10″ pan, but it should be fine. Just know that all the ingredients will be more spread out, so both the crust and the cheesecake filling will be thinner. Set your timer for less time than the instructions say and just keep an eye on it while it’s baking. Please let me know how it goes for you. :)
Made this for a wedding a year ago and they Loved it! Then I just made it today for Thanksgiving but I am going to add some Peaches and combine the two flavors for a sweet and tart contrast. Cake is done and turned out perfectly. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
This looks amazing and I’m making it soon! I would like to know if it’s ok if I use chocolate swirls instead of raspberry swirls? Like melt semi sweet chocolate chips and swirl it in? Thanks!
OMG it looks so good and I’ll be making it this weekend for Easter! Fingers crossed it looks and tastes as good as yours did! :)
I hope you liked it, Daniel!
I made this for a family dinner last night and received so many compliments! And considering I have never made cheesecake before all of the praise belongs to your recipe.