Chelsea’s white chocolate & berry cheesecake
This is still one of my most popular recipes ever – especially around Christmas time! People make it year after year, and can you blame them? It looks a million bucks and isn’t the slightest bit difficult to make. It can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for a day or so – then you add the berries just before serving. I’ve also had people drizzle it with melted chocolate, and make individual cheesecakes in ring moulds or muffin tins.
You can also freeze the whole cheesecake – chill it in the tin, wrap it tightly in a double layer of clingfilm then a layer of foil, and freeze for up to 4 weeks.
Gluten-free: This recipe is easy to make gluten-free just by choosing gluten-free biscuits for the base. You can find these at most supermarkets. Any sort will work.
Ingredients
350g double or triple chocolate cookies (GF if needed)
75g softened (almost melted) butter
500g cream cheese – not the spreadable kind, and not light
250g good quality white chocolate, chopped
1 cup cream
3 punnets ripe strawberries (or a mix of summer berries raspberries, even pomegranate seeds)
1/3 cup berry jam melted with 1 tbsp water (optional)
Method
Bring the cream cheese out of the fridge 20 or so minutes before you start, to lose it’s chill. (Or you can microwave on medium power in a heatproof bowl for 10-15 seconds or so).
Line the base of a round 20-25cm diameter springform cake tin with a cut round of baking paper.
Place the biscuits in a food processor and process to a very fine crumb (you can also very finely smash the biscuits in a bag with a rolling pin if you don’t have a food processor). Add the butter and process until well combined and smooth. Tip the crumbs into the cake tin and using clean moistened fingers, press the crumb firmly into the base.
Beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Set aside.
Place the chopped white chocolate in a heatproof bowl sitting over a saucepan of gently simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water), and heat until just melted, stirring only every now and then. (If it seizes and goes grainy, remove from the heat, add a little cream and stir in a circular motion until it’s smooth again. You can also add a splash of rice bran oil to help it along.) Remove the chocolate from the heat and and let sit for 10 minutes.
Fold a quarter of the melted chocolate into the cream cheese, then repeat with the remaining chocolate in three parts.
Whip the cream until thick and cloudy, but stop before it gets too firm. Gently fold it through the cream cheese mixture. At this point, you can also fold in a handful of fresh raspberries if you like.
Scrape the mixture on to the biscuit base and smooth out the top. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set, or until needed (it’s fine overnight or for a couple of nights, if it’s well sealed).
Just before you’re ready to tuck in to your cheesecake, sit the tin on a sturdy wide bowl. Carefully release the spring latch on the tin and let the sides of the tin drop down. Gently remove the metal base with a metal spatula or fish slice, and peel off the baking paper if you can. Carefully slide the cheesecake on to a serving platter (it’s easier doing this when it’s cold straight from the fridge). Smooth out the sides with a warm knife.
Arrange the fresh berries on top.
Drizzle with a little of the melted jam if you like, dust with icing sugar, slice with a hot knife and serve. If you have freeze dried berries, you could also crumble some up and throw some on top for a bit of zing.
It’ll go soft quickly on a hot day so put any leftovers back in the fridge right away. Enjoy, my friends!
Note: You can freeze the whole cheesecake without the berries on it – wrap it tightly in a double layer of glad wrap and a layer of foil, and freeze for up to 4 weeks.
Hi Chelsea
Can you use dark chocolate instead of white?
Thanks
Jan
I have been making this cheesecake for years and it’s always an absolute hit! I make mine with a biscoff base ????
sounds delicious! x
Hey Chelsea and everyone else!
I’m a total newbie to desserts, what biscuits does everyone recommend?
Would love to make this for my husbands birthday but want to make sure I get the best ingredients ????
Do you have a video of you making this cake? As I’m a little confused on the whipped cream until cloudy part ????????
Oreos work ????
Well, well, well! Here I go again! This was asked for this year… again! How could I not! Just finished making this and is in the fridge, all ready for Christmas Day tomorrow!
Hi chelsea, Can I use say frozen or tinned berries If I cannot access fresh berries?
Frozen raspberries could work
A week out from Christmas and I’m making this again for the 3rd year in a row! Will pop in the freezer and that’s one delicious job done, yay!
This is a great recipe, I have made this the last two years for my sons birthday parties as he’s not a big cake fan.
Absolutely delicious.
I doubled the recipe and had white and milk chocolate dipped strawberries round the base as well as coulis on the top and lots of fresh berries. There were also cupcakes for those who preferred cake.
this is a super recipe! I made it for Xmas 2020 and will again this week for my husband’s birthday. We love that is had no gelatin. It’s simply divine. thanks Chelsea :).
It’s Christmas Eve 2020, I am well underway in getting this made for tomorrow, just waiting for the chocolate to cool. ‘Twas an absolute hit last year and we can’t wait to tuck into this tomorrow. Thanks Chelsea and Merry Christmas everyone! ????
I made this last year for mu sons birthday and made a berry coulis to pour of the top – it was a real hit. He wants it again this year for his birthday and im thinking I will make 1.5 times the recipe in a bigger tin as we have to serve 12 pieces – do you think this would work okay? Thank you.
Yep!
Can you use frozen raspberries? I would like to make for a dinner party but would be out of season for the raspberries.
Yes, defrost and pat dry so not too much liquid is being added to the recipe x
What white chocolate works best? Cooking chocolate or just the white block of chocolate?
just made this for my daughters birthday.it looks heavenly.defrosted berry and put though it .it was still firm.thank you so much for the recipe.
I made this on Christmas eve at 11pm for Christmas day. Just like all the other comments, everyone loved it. It was very firm because it was fridged overnight. My suggestion would be to anyone concerned about the firmness is to fridge it overnight. Surprisingly very easy to make, even after pina coladas
I do a pepermint chocolate one same recipe but deff needs a couple of teaspoons gelatin in a tbsp boiling water in otherwise goes soft too quickly out of the fridge and we like it firm.
Looking forward to trying it with white chocolate and maybe caramel instead of berries
Hi Chelsea, would this recipe work as minis in a muffin tin if you don’t have a springform tin?
You will need to put cling film underneath so you can lift them up out of the tin x
Hi Chelsea
For Christmas Day I’m planning on making mini-cheesecakes.
Would this recipe work, dividing the mixture evenly into little cake cup cases?
Thanks heaps
Jan
Have atleast made it a dozen times now. Going to add a hint of coffee and try white choc coffee cheesecake. Hope it works out.