White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake in a piedish

I always feel a little wistful on the last day of the year. How did 2009 slip away from me so quickly? If only I could get earth to complete its revolution at a more reasonable speed. Does anybody have any time I could borrow? No, we are all fresh out with none to spare. 2009 is dying in the night and I'm left wondering, did I finish everything that I set out to accomplish? Did I make it memorable, happy, and magical for the charges? Did I spend too much time worrying about things that really didn't matter? Did I appreciate the moments that turned into days, then weeks, then months, then years?

These are the questions that fill the pages of my journal on the last day of the year. They are good questions to ask before making New Year's resolutions. I don't want to resolve to do anything deeply meaningful. I'd rather resolve to do little things that make us more contented and unified as a family, before these babies of mine fly the coop. I know they're little, but if every year zooms as fast as 2009, it'll feel like I have approximately 12 minutes left before they are free-thinking adults. Here's one to get started:

New Year's Resolution #1

Watch the entire collection of I Love Lucy with the charges and the Quiet Man. Laugh hard. Rewind. Laugh some more.

New Year's Resolution #2

Make more cheesecake.

All right, Resolution two may not make it past the editing table, but it works nicely into this post, since it should really be about cheesecake and not angst and the unstoppable tidal wave of time. This cheesecake is low and luscious, filled with suprise bits of raspberries and a smooth round richness from melted white chocolate. Best of all, you don't need a springform pan since it bakes neatly in a pie dish and it's ready to bake in less than twenty minutes. It would be a great way to ring in the new year, or it would be a fantastic way to bring cheer to any regular night, since regular days and nights are what life is really made of. Maybe New Year's Resolution #2 really is a good idea, after all. Happy New Year's to you and yours!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Estimated Cost: $7.00
Crust:

1 and 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup frozen raspberries, not thawed

Raspberry Sauce

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 tablespoon water

3/4 cup sugar

squeeze of fresh lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare graham cracker crust by combining crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press into 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Place in freezer while you prepare the filling. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar. Stir in eggs and vanilla, beating until combined well and mixture is free of lumps. Stir in white chocolate. Remove crust from freezer and scatter berries over the bottom of the crust. Pour white chocolate filling over crust. Tap cheesecake on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake is set and lightly browned on the edges but the middle is still jiggly, about 40-45 minutes. Cool on rack for at least one hour. Chill in refrigerator at least three hours before serving.

To prepare sauce, combine raspberries, water, sugar, and lemon in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook, mashing berries for two minutes. Strain sauce. (If big chunks of berries remain, you can blend the sauce before straining.)

Happy New Year:

Be Back in 2010 with my Favorite Soups in the Crock Pot

Tuesdays with Dorie: Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

On Christmas Eve night, we ate this beautiful cheesecake, the 12 of us who were gathered for dinner at my house.

But we also ate miniature brownie hot fudge sundaes.

I must not also forget the Lemon Bundt Cake.

And this was after a satisfying dinner of bruschetta, green salad, lasagna, and fettucini alfredo.

Even for the champion eaters in my Italian family, this is a mountain of delicious food.

And this is why my tall and creamy cheesecake measures only 5 inches across. Knowing that something gigantically tremendous wouldn't be necessary, I scaled down Dorie Greenspan's recipe to fit into a 5 inch springform pan. (You can make cheesecake in just about anything-paperlined muffin cups, pie plates, ramekins, loaf pans, 9 by 13 baking dishes. ) The cheesecake was exactly as Dorie described it, "big, beautiful, lush and creamy." In fact, it's the most delicious cheesecake I've ever eaten, with just the perfect amount of sweetness and the smoothest texture. Dorie's advice to beat the batter "vigorously until satiny," is the key to meltingly smooth cheesecake. Here's my scaled-down version.

Money Saving Tips: This is the best time of year to buy cream cheese, with many stores offering 8 ounce blocks for $1 each. I look for late expiration dates on the packages and stock my fridge.

Tall and Creamy 5 inch Cheesecake

Scaled Down and Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Recipe

Estimated Cost: $4.50 if you can get a good deal on the cream cheese

Notes: Dorie recommends a waterbath, but I skipped that step out of sheer laziness.

For Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tablespoon sugar

For Cheesecake:

1 8 ounce block cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream

juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla

berries or fruit for serving

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. To make crust, combine crumbs, butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Press up the sides of a 5 inch springform pan, or into 3 or 4 little custard cups. Prebake crust for about 7 minutes. Cool completely and store in freezer. (Can be done weeks in advance.) In a mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and beat for one minute. Scrape down mixer with spatula and check to make sure there are no lumps. Beat until completely smooth. With mixer on low, add sour cream, lemon juice and zest and vanilla. Pour into crust and bake for 30-45 minutes at 325 degrees. (I test the cheesecake for doneness by tapping the outside of the pan. When only the middle 2 inches jiggle, I'll remove it from the oven. OR if the cheesecake has a crack, I'll take it out right away. The crack will usually close back up as the cheesecake cools down.) Cool cheesecake completely and store in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve with fruit.

Coming Tomorrow:

Easy Appetizer for New Year's