Don't be a raspberry hater!

This used to be what I'd call my go-to dessert for date night, which I'd use when trying to woo whoever was making my skirt flutter at that particular moment. I'm pretty sure (although not positive) it came from Keebler in some newpaper or coupon insert I happened upon one day when I was 18 or 19. It looked good, I love raspberries, end of discussion.

I haven't made it for a few years now, but decided to give it a try again this past weekend when we had friends over for dinner. Even though I was late leaving work on Thursday night and still had to stop at the grocery store for a few last-minute items, I still made this in relatively little time and with minimal effort. Don'tcha love desserts like that?

This past weekend was the first time Buppy tried this, and come to find out, he doesn't think he likes frozen raspberries.

Well I don't think we can be friends then anymore Mr. Raspberry-Hatey-McHaterson.

They're my favorite berry, hands down. He said he likes fresh but that frozen are too tart for him, like cranberrys (which I like, too). Hmmmmm. He thinks I should make it again with strawberries and my mom, after I told her about the recipe, thought it'd be great with blueberries. I'm sure it would be, so change up the berries to your heart's content! Hell, spread some peanut butter in there instead and I'm sure that would rock, too. But seriously, how can you not love these beauties??

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

1 Ready Crust (6 oz.) (Original recipe calls for a chocolate crust, but I like it better with a regular one)
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
*Chocolate Glaze

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat cream cheese with mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add egg, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Arrange raspberries on bottom of crust. Slowly pour cheese mixture over fruit. Bake 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Top cheesecake with chocolate glaze; chill. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

*Chocolate Glaze: In small saucepan over low heat, melt 2 (1 oz. each) squares semi-sweet baking chocolate with ¼ c. whipping cream. Cook and stir until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat. (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips this time around and just measured out 2 oz. on my kitchen scale. Still worked great!)

Enjoy!

Update: I'm linking this recipe up to lifeasmom.com this week for her "be cool" ultimate recipe swap. Check her blog for more great recipes!