Blood Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake

Today, we welcome guest Blogger, and sweetsaurus.com's very own culinary creative genius, Delee, as she shares her tips for great cheesecake and her original recipe for "Blood Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake."

Enjoy!  We know we sure Did!

Notes before we begin:

I have been putting together cheesecakes for many years, in all sorts of shapes and sizes.  In talking to other people who love them and love to make them even more; we have come to one realization, people who really, and I mean really, make cheesecake, always use the same basic recipe and then adapt that recipe to whatever they want their final result to be.

I will be the first one to tell you that making cheesecake seems daunting at first, but is really quite simple in the end.  As with all baking, the exact proportions and order can be critical to the final result. 

I will try to make sure I make this as plain as I can in the recipe when I put it down.  Also, be assured, that I have made each and every recipe that I submit for publication, most of them many times.  Please don't take that statement as a reason not to experiment with the concoction though.  

All my cheesecake recipes (more to come!) are a variation of my favorite plain (vanilla) cheesecake.  I love the rich and creamy texture that really shows that this was homemade, the slight variations in the crust, the non-uniform surface of the top.  These are all things that let you know that someone didn't run to the supermarket and buy something off the shelf, they made it just for you.

Blood Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake

Crust:

½ Cup Butter (melted)

2 Packs Graham Crackers (about 2 cups)

6 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Cheesecake:

24 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)

2 oz.Torani Vanilla Syrup (8 Pumps)

3 Eggs

Blood Orange:

1 Cup Torani Blood Orange Syrup (32 Pumps)

½ pint light cream

1/4 oz. Torani Vanilla Syrup (1 Pump)

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grind graham crackers into fine crumbs in a food processor or blender.  One pack at a time works the best.

Combine cracker crumbs and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix well.

Pour melted butter into the cracker mixture and combine until uniform.

Press crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9” springform pan.

Bake at 350 for 12 to 13 minutes.

Remove and cool completely.

Note: It is best to sit the pan on a large cookie sheet when pre-baking the crust since some of the butter may leak from the bottom of the pan.

While the crust is baking, combine 1 Cup Torani Blood Orange Syrup, Cream, 1/4 oz Torani Vanilla Syrup and cornstarch in a saucepan and heat over low heat.  DO NOT BOIL!!  Heat the mixture until it just starts to thicken and remove from the heat to cool.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  

Combine Cream Cheese and 2 oz Torani Vanilla Syrup and mix at medium speed until smooth and uniform.  

Add eggs individually and beat well after each addition.

Take 1 ½ cups of the cheesecake mixture and mix well with the Blood Orange mixture.

Pour ½ of the remaining cheesecake mixture into the crust first, then ½ of the Blood Orange, then the rest of the cheesecake and finally the remaining Blood Orange.

Use a table knife to “marble” the two mixtures together.

I would not reverse the order of the mixtures in the pan.  The Blood Orange mixture is thinner than the cheesecake at this point and would result in a soggy crust.

Bake on middle oven rack for about 90 minutes.

Make sure the center has set up before removing from the oven.

Cool completely before removing the ring from the pan.

Chill 6 to 8 hours before serving.

 

Because of the orange component this is a relatively liquid cheesecake.  To check if the middle is set you jiggle the pan slightly (and I mean slightly) at about the 70 minute mark and every ten minutes thereafter.  When the center does not wobble anymore (you'll know) it is done.

I always bake my cheesecakes on a cookie sheet, but that is my personal preference.  It can slow baking slightly but it keeps the edges from browning so much.

And Enjoy!