Happy Birthday Lauralita!

Tonight, we are celebrating my friend Laura's birthday! On the menu is a modified cassoulet and a chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Cassoulet is traditionally made with sausage, pork and duck or goose. Duck and goose are a little hard to come by so I use chicken thighs, smoked turkey sausage and pork. My cassoulet comes from Cook's Country and uses a crock-pot for an easy one dish meal.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis

Crust
3 tbsps. butter
1 generous cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter. Stir in vanilla. Add crumbs and mix well. Press into a generously greased 9.5-10 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes - until set and fragrant. Once cool, arrange raspberries on top of the crust. 

Filling
5 blocks cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
8 eggs
4 ounces chocolate - bittersweet or semi-sweet or a combo
1 tsp vanilla
2 pints fresh raspberries

Place sugar and cream cheese into a mixer. Mix on med-low/med for 4-5 minutes - scrapping sides often. Meanwhile, break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a glass bowl. Heat a small amount of water in a saucepan - be sure that when the glass bowl is placed on the saucepan, the bowl doesn't touch the water. Bring the water to a bowl, reduce head to a simmer and place bowl of chocolate on top. Stir chocolate frequently until almost melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir vigorously until completely melted. Allow to cool. Add cooled chocolate to cream cheese mixture and incorporate. Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add the vanilla and pour over the raspberry lined crust.

Be sure to wrap the springform pan in aluminum foil. Place 1-inch of water in a large roasting pan, and place the springform inside.

Bake for 15 minutes at 325, then reduce the temperature to 300 and bake for 1 hour, 20 minutes or until the center barely jiggles when softly shaken. Place cheesecake on a cooling rack. Cool for 10 minutes and then run a thin-edged knife slowly around the edges to release the cheesecake from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool until room temperature. Chill in the fridge for several hours before eating.

Coulis
1 bag  frozen raspberries
1/4 cup raspberry liquer or wine
3 tbsps cointreau
1/2 tsp corn starch
Sugar to taste

Place the frozen raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, cointreau and raspberry wine in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and strain.

To serve, slice cheesecake and drizzle with coulis! Happy Birthday!