What you’ll need:
2 lbs cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
3/4 cup raspberry pie filling, preserves or doughnut filling
3 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
10 Tbsp butter, melted
Start off with the crust by chopping the cookies in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. Add in melted butter and mix thoroughly. Put into a 9″ springform pan and press up the sides about 2/3rd’s of the way up and on the bottom. Set aside.
Melt the white chocolate in a bowl in the microwave for about a minute, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Set aside.
For the batter, in a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat cream cheese for 2-3 minutes or until nice and smooth. Scrape down the beater and bowl and mix again until no lumps remain. Add in sugar and beat until incorporated. Scrap down beater and bowl and mix again. Add in the eggs, one at a time, just until incorporated. Do NOT over mix! After adding the first 2 eggs and yolk, again scrape down beater and bowl. When eggs are incorporated add in flour, vanilla and white chocolate. Mix just until incorporated. Again, scrape beater and bowl and give it one last mix to make sure everything is mixed well. Pour into prepared crust.
Preheat oven to 350*F and bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove top. Microwave the raspberry filling or preserves for about 30 seconds just until warm. Drop by spoonfuls onto the batter and using a knife, swirl into the batter. Use an up and down motion to get a nice swirl all the way to the bottom of the batter. Put springform pan into a 10″ cake pan and then into a roaster in the preheated oven. (Thanks to America’s Test Kitchen for this tip to avoid a leaky water bath). Add boiling water to the roaster being careful not to splash it into your cheesecake. Add enough to come up 2/3rd’s of the way up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes and reduce oven temp to 250*F and bake another hour and 20 minutes. **DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!!** After 80 minutes is up, turn oven off and let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 3 hours or until room temp. **AGAIN, DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR!!** Remove the cheesecake from the cake pan and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove spring form pan and cut into slices. Serves 12-18. Enjoy!!
