Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
This Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake is out of this world with the golden, buttery graham cracker crust, a velvety smooth cheesecake that’s swirled with a homemade raspberry sauce. This raspberry cheesecake is one you have to try today.
I made a homemade raspberry sauce, that is sweet, slightly tangy from the lemon, and compliments the cheesecake perfectly.
Most raspberry cheesecakes have white chocolate as a big flavor. I wanted a cheesecake that was classic and didn’t offer the white chocolate element. This recipe hit the nail on the head when it comes to the perfect cheesecake recipe.
Ingredients You Will Need
For the full list of ingredients and recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
- Raspberries
- Granulated Sugar
- Cornstarch
- Flour
- Lemon
- Graham Crackers
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Eggs
- Sour Cream
- Heavy Cream
How to Make Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
- Start by working on your raspberry sauce. You will cook it up in a saucepan on the stovetop. Make sure to press down the berries to release the juices.
- Once the mixture boils, let it cook for 3-5 minutes stirring continuously until it thickens.
- Strain the mixture, and then set it aside. Refrigerate the sauce.
- For the crust, you will preheat the oven and then grease your springform pan. Add your graham crackers, sugar, and butter together in a bowl. Mix and press into pan.
- Refrigerate while working on the cheesecake layer.
- For the cheesecake cream your cream cheese on medium speed till nice and creamy.
- Add in sugar, flour, lemon zest, and juice followed by one egg at a time. Scrape down the sides.
- Next, add the heavy cream and sour cream. Work it into the dough.
- Pour into the prepared crust, and then drizzle the raspberry sauce on top.
- With a butter knife or skewer swirl around the raspberry sauce.
- Create a water bath and bake the cheesecake as directed in the recipe card below.
Tip: Due to the cornstarch in the sauce, if you don’t want your cheesecake to split/crack, don’t have large amounts of raspberry sauce on top of the cheesecake. Only make one pass through the small amount of sauce with the skewer or butter knife. You can pour most of the sauce in the center to still have the pockets of raspberry sauce throughout it.
How to Store Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
Store your cheesecake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5-7 days. You will find the cheesecake is best eaten within the first 2-3 days of being made.
You can also freeze your cheesecake if you would like. Place in a freezer container and then freeze for 3-4 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, or do a quick thaw on the counter for an hour.
Recipe FAQs
Cream cheese needs to be softened first or it will not give you a creamy cheesecake batter. It will be curdled like cottage cheese.
Add some warm water, not hot water to a bowl. Place your aluminum wrapped cream cheese in the water for 5 minutes. This will soften the cream cheese. If you need it a bit more softened, repeat the steps.
Cheesecake is delicate and it takes a long time for the cheesecake to cool down and set up once it is baked. Allowing the cheesecake to set will help in ensuring your cheesecake is velvety, creamy, and slices up nicely.
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Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups raspberries fresh or frozen
Crust
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 7 tablespoons butter melted
Cheesecake
- 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Raspberry Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and zest.
- Add in the lemon juice and raspberries. Using a spatula, press the raspberries to help release the juices and stir until combined.
- Place over medium heat and allow to come up to a boil. Once the mixture is up to a boil, let boil for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring continuously until thickened.
- Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the raspberry sauce into the strainer. Press the sauce through the strainer until only the seeds remain in the strainer. Scrape the seeds into the garbage.
- Cover the sauce with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill.
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the sides of a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray and line the sides of the pan with parchment paper.
- Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar in a medium bowl until well combined.
- Press the crust evenly into the bottom of the springform pan.
- Place in the fridge to set up while you work on the cheesecake.
Cheesecake
- To a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and beat on medium until smooth.
- Add in the sugar, flour, lemon juice, lemon zest. Mix until well blended.
- Add in the eggs one at a time and beat each egg just until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding the next.
- Add in the sour cream and heavy cream. Beat just until everything is combined. Don’t overmix after adding the eggs!
- Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the graham cracker crust
- Using a spoon, drizzle the raspberry sauce on top of the cheesecake batter.
- Using a skewer or butter knife, swirl the raspberry sauce into the cheesecake batter. Try not to dig up the crust while swirling the cheesecake.
- Place the springform pan in a slightly larger pan to prevent water from the water bath leaking into the cheesecake. You can also double wrap the springform pan with heavy-duty tin foil instead.
- Place the two pans or foil-wrapped springform pan in an even larger pan. Fill the largest pan with about 1 inch of hot water.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 1 hour 40 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes or until done. To test the recipe, gently jiggle the pan. The edges of the cheesecake shouldn’t move and the center would slightly jiggle like jello.
- Turn off the oven and open the door slightly. Let the cheesecake cool in the oven for about an hour. Remove from the oven and if it’s not cooled to room temperature let it continue to cool on the counter until it reaches room temperature.
- Cover the cooled cheesecake and place it in the fridge overnight or for 8 hours until it’s set up and chilled.
