Amaretto Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Base:
30g butter
280g almonds, chopped
2 tbsp granulated sugar

For the Filling:
360g cream cheese, softened (or you can use my home-made cream cheese recipe to prepare your own)
100g granulated sugar
3 eggs
240ml sour cream
2 tbsp Amaretto
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

For the Sauce:
550g unsweetened frozen raspberries, thawed
2 tbsp Amaretto
sugar

Method:

Melt the butter in a pan then stir in the almonds and sugar. Combine until evenly coated in the butter then press the mixture into the base and sides of a 22cm diameter springform pan. Transfer to an oven pre-heat to 180°C and bake for about 10 minutes, or until firm and lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

For the filling, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition. Now add the sour cream and the Amaretto along with the vanilla extract and almond extract. Beat until smooth then pour over the prepared crust. Return to the oven and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the cheesecake is just set in the centre. Remove from the oven, set aside to cool completely then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours, or until serving time.

When ready to serve, prepare the sauce. Reserve some of the raspberries for a garnish then purée the remaining fruit before pushing through a fine-meshed sieve to remove the seeds. Stir 2 tbs Amaretto into the fruit purée and add sugar to taste. To serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin, slice into wedges then spoon some of the sauce onto plates before setting a slice of the cheesecake on top. Arrange a few of the reserved raspberries on top and serve.