Alas, I could not resist matching up deliciously gorgeous and in-season blood oranges with Valentine’s Day. If the name bothers you, you can do what my friend Cameron has done when attempting to get her kids to eat the blood oranges off of a tree in her yard. Just call them rainbow oranges. My rainbow orange valentine. That works too.
Blood oranges remind me of the trip we took to Italy a couple of springs ago. We spent some time in a teeny tiny little fishing village where a little pastry and coffee shop served blood orange juice in the mornings. As soon as the server set down the sunset-colored juice on that first morning, I knew I had a new favorite color. I’ve taken advantage of using blood oranges at any turn ever since. So, while looking at the heaping bowl of blood oranges I brought home from the market a couple of weekends ago I thought, why not blood orange cheesecake?
This recipe is actually adapted from a recipe I found in, gasp, Cooking Light magazine (though the original calls for normal oranges…how pedestrian!). While this blog does not claim to ever attempt to be healthy, it’s always nice when recipe happens to naturally lean in that direction. And I this one does it well.
This recipe starts with about a dozen blood oranges that have been sectioned. To do this, first lop-off the top and bottom of the orange so that you have a stable base. Then, with a sharp knife, cut the peel from the orange while following its contours from top to bottom. Make sure to remove any of the pith that might remain.
Then, I like to hold the naked orange with one hand and using a pairing knife, carefully cut between the membranes so that the two cuts come together in a V shape. If done right, your original orange will look like this:
And your sections will look like this:
This part is a little time consuming but can be done well in advance.
Now it’s time to make a base. The original recipe is scaled to an eight-inch spring-form pan. Mine is nine inches. Even with adjustments in the original, I thought the final crust was too thin so I’ve made some changes in the recipe I’ve included here.
The crust begins with either ground graham crackers or gingersnaps. I love the combination of ginger and orange and so ground up some of my new favorite ginger cookies.
Melted butter and a bit of sugar are added to the crumbed cookies.
And then into the pan and into the oven for a few minutes. The strange greasy looking spots in the photo below are actually pieces of crystallized ginger.
While the crust is in the oven, it’s time to mix together what seems like an unfathomably ridiculous amount of dairy. There is so much cream cheese and yogurt in this recipe that as soon as I opened the first envelope of reduced-fat cream cheese, Petting Zoo’s bionic cow product senors activated and she appeared out of nowhere demanding a piece of the action. As gentle as Bella the cat is, I did have a quick moment of wondering whether I’d have to physically defend my bowl of “cream.” Luckily, she was easily distracted by the promise of a kitty treat or two. In addition to 24 ounces combined fat-free and reduced-fat cream cheese, I used a lowfat Greek yogurt in place of the originally called for sour cream and really liked the outcome.
Then, into the oven with just enough time for me to make a confession. Before this post I was a virgin. Well, a cheesecake virgin. As in, I’d never made it. I have no idea why not, I just never had. Which probably explains why my beautifully spongy looking cheesecake after one-hour of baking looked like the Bride of Frankenstein at 75 minutes. I think I went wrong at a couple of junctures. First, I should have used a water bath. Even without any previous cheesecake experience, I should have known better. Second, I should have re-oiled the sides of the pan after baking the crust. Finally, I’m pretty sure I over-baked the poor thing. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to keep trying.
Luckily, when it comes to cheesecake, a crack or two does not have to mean disaster. Remember those blood oranges? Well, we are going to make a little sauce with marmalade and then decorate the top.
You can add the orange sections in whatever pattern you’d like. I went for a sort of spiral-rose design.
Look at that color.
Seriously–how enticing is this hue?
I was a little skeptical about what kind of texture reduced fat dairy could derive. Turns out, it’s lovely. And, if I hadn’t made it and been privy to the less than full-octane ingredients, I wouldn’t have had any idea.
I’m telling you, this was good stuff. If I was my Valentine, this is what I would make for me.
(Blood) Orange-Glazed Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
heavily adapted from Cooking Light, October 2001
Crust:
- 2 C gingersnap crumbs
- 4 Tbs sugar
- 2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
- Cooking spray
Filling
- 3 (8 ounce) blocks reduced fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 (8 ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
- 7 ounces Greek yogurt (I used 2%)
- .25 C all-purpose flour
- 1.5 C sugar
- .25 C thawed orange juice concentrate
- 2 Tbs blood orange juice
- 2 t vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large egg whites
Topping
- .5 C orange marmalade
- 2 Tbs blood orange juice
- Blood oranges, sectioned (I sectioned about a dozen to make the pattern shown here but you can mix it up however you would like)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
For crust, combine gingersnap crumbs, sugar and butter tossing with a fork until moist. Press into a bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated in cooking oil. Bake for 5 minutes.
To prepare filling, beat together cheese and yogurt in a large bowl or standing mixer at high speed until smooth. Add the flour, sugar, orange juice and vanilla. Add the eggs and whites one-at-a-time until combined.
Pour the cheesecake mix into prepared pan and bake for 70 minutes or until almost set. The cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when the pan is touched. Remove cheesecake from oven and run a knife around the outside edge. Cool to room temp and remove sides.
To prepare the topping, combine marmalade and juice. Spread half of the mixture over the top of the cheesecake. Arrange oranges over cheesecake and top with remaining marmalade mixture. Cover and chills at least eight hours.