2 cups ground almond slivers
1/3 cup sugar
6 tbsp melted butter
Cheesecake:
4-8oz cream cheese (room temp)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk (room temp)
4 eggs (room temp)
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup melted white chocolate
4 tbsp raspberry preserves
Ganache:
8 oz white chocolate, cut in small pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream
For the crust:
Combine all of the crust ingredients and pat on the bottom and up the side of a 10 inch spring form cake pan. Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Turn the oven down to 320 and place a large pan with hot water on the bottom rack of oven. This will provide a moist atmosphere for your cheesecake.
For the cheesecake:
Mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. It is very important that all of your ingredients are at room temp so that you will have a smooth and creamy cheesecake. Next, blend in milk, then mix in eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, vanilla, melted white chocolate and flour until smooth. Stir into batter until combined. Make sure not to over mix the cheesecake as it will be gritty and not creamy. Pour into crust. Heat raspberry preserves in a small pot or microwave until smooth (not hot) and dollop 4 tbsp full around the batter. Take a toothpick or skewer and swirl into batter. Bake in oven for about 1 hour. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT OPEN OVEN DURING BAKING OR AFTER!! Turn your oven off and leave in oven for 4 - 6 hours. This should prevent cracking! Take out of oven and let cool. Refrigerate until cold.
For the ganache:
This part is to be done after the cheesecake is cold. Heat cream in small pot. Pour hot cream over chocolate pieces in bowl and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Let cool for about 2 minutes. Pour mixture all over the top of the cheesecake making sure that it does not run off the sides. Refrigerate. Decorate with whip cream and/or fresh raspberries. Enjoy!
Note* I brushed my fresh raspberries with raspberry preserves to give it a gloss and sweeter taste.