Black Bottom Raspberry Lime Cheesecake
June 24, 2009 by Marye Audet
Filed under Desserts
Or something like that.
Basically, we are talking about a butter cookie crust, filled with rich bittersweet ganache, topped with a cloud of delicately flavored lime cheesecake, and then embellished with the ripest of ripe raspberries, with a quick raspberry coulis poured over the top.
Did I say over the top?
This was better than good. The main problem was that the kitchen was hot and by the time I got the pictures taken the slice I was shooting had begun to look a little droopy. After all it was a good 95 degrees in the kitchen, and I was losing light fast.
I know this tart sounds complex but I swear to you it will go together almost as fast as instant pudding. The shell is the only thing that is baked, the rest of it is no cook. It would be best if you made it enough ahead of time that you could chill it thoroughly before serving.
The lime flavor is not distinct in this. If you are thinking of key lime pie or something it isn’t at all like that. With only a tablespoon or so of lime juice in the cheese mixture it is more of a delicate nuance, a little snap at the end of the swallow. It cuts the sweet intensity of the bittersweet chocolate nicely.
You can add a little non-GMO cornstarch to the coulis and microwave it to make it more of a glaze if you like. I preferred it to be just sweetened and blended. I think it tastes fresher.
Black Bottom Raspberry Lime Cheesecake Tart
Shell:
- 1 cup organic white flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup ice water, more or less
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
- Mix flour, sugar, and salt.
- Rub in the butter with your fingers, until the flour looks like coarse crumbs.
- Mix water and vanilla and add it to the flour mixture until it forms a soft dough. Chill for about 3o minutes for easier handling.
- Roll out on a floured surface and fit carefully into a tart or pie pan. Prick with a fork.
- Bake at 375 until crisp, about 15-20 minutes.
Ganache:
- 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Bring cream to a simmer.
- Remove from heat and stir in chocolate.
- Stir until melted and smooth.
- Pour into crust.
- Chill until firm.
Cheesecake:
- 16 oz cream cheese (full fat), room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Juice of one lime (1-2 tbs)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- Beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed.
- Add cream, lime and vanilla
- Beat until light and creamy, scarping down bowl often. You may need to add a little more cream to get the right consistancy.
- Taste to adjust flavor.
- Spoon over the ganache layer in the tart and return to refrigerator
Raspberry Topping:
- 1 pt raspberries
- Sugar to taste
- Rinse raspberries gently.
- Pick out the softest berries, and the not perfect berries to use for coulis.
- Sprinkle the remaining berries over the top of the cheesecake layer.
- Place the berries you set aside for coulis in a blender and add about 2 tbs water. Blend until a puree is formed.
- Add sugar to taste. Blend until smooth
- Thin with a little more water if necessary. Spoon over tart.
Makes 8-10 servings.
images:marye audet
What a bunch of yummy flavors! Looks great. I just made a turtle cheesecake for Father’s Day. It was GOOD!
Katrina I love turtle cheesecake….I am playing iwth some variations if it.
Raspberries and chocolate are a combination made in heaven:D
Valli, do you get black caps up where you are? We used to get them in Michigan but downhere we get the nearly tasteless commercial variety mostly
It was good. we still have a coffee date..as soon as life chills. ha.
YUMMY! I’ve been searching for a unique cheesecake recipe to bake for a family event coming up, I think the search is now over. Thanks!
Let me know how it works fo ryou Deanna
I’ve been waiting for this post! Saw you experimenting via FB yesterday. Watch out, though – this looks like something a national publication would be all over. Sigh.
It’s really, really lovely.
LOL! thanks Jen. I expect this one to make the cover of Rolling Stone…
My mouth is totally watering right now…
Thanks Rachel. I really liked how it came out
That looks so refreshing and I love the layer of chocolate. Well,Of course I love the layer of chocolate, that was stupid. Bookmarking this one for sure and giving it a Stumble!
The layer of chocolate is just perfect. DOnt use anything but bittersweet though or it wont work flavo wise
That looks sinfully delicious!
Thanks Meg, I try.
So um, theorecically what might happen if you used neufactel cheese instead of full fat?
Just curious.
It IS bikini season.
It will taste nasty and the texture will be off. Eat half a slice or cut back somewhere else.
Seriously the texture will be looser, and with all of the cream in the chocolate ganache, and butter in the crust,neufatchel cheese will not make that much difference calorie wise. It iwll be like drinking a diet coke while eating a dozen eclairs.
I should have gotten on that plane to Texas. This looks worth the trip… though my watermelon sure is sweet.
Anytime!
This looks disgusting.
Thanks.
Oh my goodness. That sounds divine!
Thanks Michelle, it disappeared awfully fast!
Did any one else have trouble with the dough?
Shana, what kind of trouble did you have? If you can explain it may be I can help
Oh man, I’m about to make this!! sooooo excited! Looks AMAZING
Rachel, how did it go?
How ironic is it that the dieting ad below your recipe says “2 tips to a sexy stomach”? The first tip should be “LEAVE NOW and never return to this or any other food blog that keeps sharing with readers different ways to get and stay FAT!”
Seriously, isn’t that you’re net effect? keeping Americans fat, dumb and happy?
umm…No? I don;t know about anyone else but noone in my family is overweight except me, and I have to have my thyroid removed because I am hypothyroid and they suspect a precancerous condition.
Moderation in all things and lots of activity is the way to stay thin, not diets.
Oh, and as for the dumb part? Obviously eating well, with natural ingredients, including fats keeps the brain healthy. I would tell you the IQs of my husband, myself and each of our children but boasting is so icky.
I had trouble with the crust: it stayed very soft and slid down off the sides of the pie plate to make a crust that was too thick & a little undercooked. I could not roll it out so I patted it into the pyrex pie plate and tried to prick it but it was sooo gooey. I think that I will use a sugar cookie dough for the crust next time. Also, I had a very thick ganache; if I fix it again, I will use 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream to 4 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate to have a less thick ganache. I also used spreadable Philadelphia cream cheese & my chef friend, told me that spreadable cream cheese cannot be substituted for BLOCK cream cheese. Maybe, then the cheesecake layer will firm up better. STILL, it tasted delish & my husband who found your recipe site, has been eating it up!!
Jackie,
For the crust the butter needs to be very cold and the amount of water used will vary. Yeah spreadable cream cheese, or margarine or any changes in the recipe can really change the recipe! Glad you liked it anyway!
Wow, this looks amazing! Raspberries, Lime, and Chocolate… can’t get any better than this! Can’t wait to make it.
thanks Tanya….we loved it.