White chocolate and berry cheesecake

I’ve always heard my dad saying that children need rituals in their lives. Rituals reassure them and give them points of reference. When I was a child, I used to love our family rituals indeed:

• The Mini mice stories my dad used to invent and tell us at bedtime. I now listen to him telling them to his grandchildren, I love it!
• The Pancake Dinners on Sundays, coming back from hiking in the nearby mountains.
• Saturday lunches, when my dad would look at our school grades of the week and give us “Red coins” to reward us for our good grades
• The strawberries we would have for dessert every single night in spring, and the cherries we would go and scab from the nearby cherry orchards in summer

Growing up, I have found my own rituals. 
Cooking on Sunday afternoons is one of my favourite rituals : I lock myself in the kitchen, I turn the music on and I cook for hours. This helps me overcome my usual Sunday Nights Blues (Sunday nights have always been my week point)

Fortunately for my colleagues : Sunday Afternoon Cooking usually involves Monday Cakes!

White chocolate and berry cheesecake 

It is sooo creamy, soo delicious. I can’t tell you anything else. Just do it, and be happy!

Ingredients:

2 x 150g bars white chocolate

2 x 300g tubs soft cheese (we used Philadelphia)

284ml pot double cream

50g caster sugar

170g punnet raspberries

5 tbsp raspberry jam

85g amaretti biscuits

200g small strawberries

Make the cheesecake:

1/ Break the chocolate into a glass bowl, then put it over a pan of just simmering water to melt, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Line a lightly oiled 900g loaf tin with cling film.  

2/ Whisk the cheese, cream and sugar together, preferably with electric beaters, then stir into the almost-cool melted white chocolate until well combined.

3/ Stir 50g raspberries with 2 tbsp of the jam. Spoon half the cheese mixture into the loaf tin, then spoon the jammy raspberries down the centre. Top with the rest of the cheese mixture, level the top, then press in the biscuits. Cover and chill for 6 hrs or overnight.

Make the sauce and serve cheesecake:

1/ Set aside about 6 strawberries. Halve the rest, then warm in a pan with the remaining jam until soft. Whizz in a food processor or with a hand blender, then rub through a sieve to remove the seeds and make a sauce. Add a drop of water if the sauce is too thick.

2/ To serve, carefully turn the tin onto a plate, lift it away and strip off the cling film. Halve the remaining strawberries, then arrange on top of the cake with the remaining raspberries and blueberries (if using). Pour over a little sauce and serve the rest separately for drizzling over.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you : I met Jamie Oliver with when I was blogging for Samsung during the Games!

As you'll see on the pictures, it was as if I had met Leonardo Dicaprio when I was 15. The teenager who lies in me (not far from the surface as you've probably already guessed) was hysterical. It was short, but very nice. He is as cute and friendly as he is on TV.

The little bear with us is called Chocolat. He is my travelling bear, my mascot, who follows me everywhere. I had to get him on the pictures with Jamie!
http://www.facebook.com/chocolat.lourson