Raspberry Tuxedo Cheesecake

For the crust:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

In the bowl of a food processor add Oreo cookies, butter, salt and vanilla and process until the consistency of ground coffee is reached. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 1/2 inch springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with heavy aluminum foil. The springform should have fairly high sides to accommodate the batter.

Bake at 350 F for 6-8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let crust cool completely.

For the filling:
In the bowl of a food processor, process 1 cup of raspberries and the white chocolate chips until uniform in size (similar to tiny pebbles). Set aside.

For the batter:
In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Add sugar and beat until incorporated. Add eggs one at a time and beat just until yellow disappears. Add cocoa and Chambord and mix until combined. Pour half of the mixture over the crust.

Gently place the white chocolate and raspberry filling in the center and sprinkle it around into roughly a 7 inch circle leaving an inch or so around the edges. Pour the additional batter on top starting at the sides and working your way in.

Put the foil wrapped springform pan into a large roaster pan with tall sides and fill the roaster pan with hot water so that it reaches half way up the sides of the springform.

Bake at 350 F for roughly 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. When it no longer jiggles in the center remove pan from oven. This is a lot of batter and takes longer to cook than normal cheesecake batters. Remove springform pan from the water and set aside on a rack to cool.

Once cooled completely, run a knife down the sides of the cake to loosen and then remove springform sides. I leave the cake on the bottom disk of the springform pan.

For the ganache:
In a saucepan, bring 1 cup of water, cream, cocoa powder, and Chambord to a boil and let it boil approximately 10 minutes until it’s the consistency of thick fudge sauce. Remove pan from heat and let the mixture cool slightly.

Put 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl and sprinkle the top with unflavored gelatin. Let it sit 2 minutes. Then microwave it for 10-20 seconds until warm and whisk to combine. Add it into the saucepan mixture and stir until smooth.

Put the baked cheesecake (still on the cooling rack) on top of a foil lined baking sheet making sure all sides of the baking sheet are covered. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake. Let the extra ganache drain while you make the whipped cream.

For the whipped cream:
In the bowl of your stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream, sugar and Chambord until medium peaks form.

To decorate top:
Using a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip (or a Ziplock bag with the tip cut off) pipe small, uniform dollops of cream on top of the cake on 8 spots around the edge. Top each with a raspberry.

Break Pirouline cookies in half and stick them to the edges of the cake all the way around the sides if desired. This step should be done once most of the ganache has drained that is going to.