Raspberry Cheesecake Foolproof Recipe

Craving more raspberry treats? Try my raspberry bars, raspberry brownies, and chocolate raspberry cake. Come summertime, you can find me at my local market filling my basket with pints of raspberries. They’re my favorite summertime fruit, and I love to use them in my desserts. This time, I’m making cheesecake. The raspberries are cooked down into a sweet sauce and then drizzled over the top of the cheesecake. The heaviness of the cream cheese is beautifully contrasted by the tart berries, making for a wildly refreshing dessert.

Why I love this recipe

Made with fresh OR frozen raspberries. I prefer fresh raspberries, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t use frozen raspberries in a pinch. Easy peasy. There are no fancy kitchen gadgets needed, and the whole thing comes together in a few simple steps. That sauce! Do yourself a favor and double-batch that raspberry sauce so you can use it on everything. It works with other berries. Even though ‘raspberry’ is in the name, you can in fact use other types of berries. I won’t tell!

Ingredients needed

Pie crust. Use a store-bought or homemade pie crust, graham cracker crust, or even a chocolate crust! Blind bake it if needed. Cream cheese. Use a good quality, full-fat cream cheese softened to room temperature. If you forget to let it come to room temperature, microwave it unwrapped for 15 seconds. Sour cream. I used sour cream to add a nice tangy element to the filling. It also balances out the richness. Sugar. To sweeten and stabilize the filling. Vanilla extract. For flavor. Eggs. To bind the filling and give the cheesecake a silky smooth texture.

For the raspberry sauce:

Raspberries. Use fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries that have been thawed overnight. Cornstarch. To thicken the raspberry sauce. Sugar. To sweeten the sauce and break down the berries.

How to make a raspberry cheesecake

I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Make my foolproof graham cracker crust if you want to skip the store-bought crust. Here is how: Combine 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers, five tablespoons of white sugar, and six tablespoons of unsalted butter. Transfer into a lightly greased 9-inch pie dish and press up the sides.

Arman’s recipe tips

Use room temperature ingredients. This helps the filling become smooth and silky, allowing the cheesecake to bake more evenly. Don’t overmix. Only beat the filling mixture until it becomes smooth. Overmixing will knock the air out, causing the cake to sink. Cracks in the cheesecake? That probably happened because there were bubbles in the batter, but don’t worry! The raspberry sauce will cover them. Let the cake cool completely. The cake needs to be completely cooled before adding the raspberry sauce, but you can place it in the fridge to speed up the cooling time.

Storage instructions

To store: Cover the cheesecake or individual slices with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Add a raspberry swirl. Drop spoonfuls of raspberry jam onto the unbaked cheesecake, then use a toothpick to make swirls. Or make a pink cheesecake! Beat in a spoonful of pureed raspberries (or juices from frozen raspberries) until you have a pink-colored cheesecake. Add white chocolate. If you love white chocolate and raspberry together, melt white chocolate chips until smooth, then slowly mix them into the batter.

To freeze: Store the individual slices in airtight containers, then freeze for up to six months.