8 to 10 servings
YouTube instructional video is at the bottom
What you’ll need
2 pounds cream cheese (Room temp)
Sour cream (Room temp)
Large eggs (Room temp)
Heavy whipping cream
Whole milk (Room temp)
Unsalted butter
2 or 3 large lemons
All purpose flour
Sugar
Salt
Cornstarch
Graham crackers
Vanilla extract
Orange extract
Confectioners sugar
Orange gel paste or liquid food coloring
Tools you’ll need
Baker’s joy Non-stick baking spray
9 inch round spring form pan
11 x 17 inch baking pan
Hand or stand mixer
Food processor
Citrus juicer
Citrus zester
Mesh strainer
Disposable piping bag
Wilton # 1M tip
Preparation and assembling of Graham cracker crust
Step 1- Add 13 whole graham crackers into a food processor. Blend for 1 minute or until mixture is fine crumbs.
Step 2- Transfer Graham crackers into a medium sized bowl. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon orange extract. Stir until mixture is moist crumbs.
Baking the crust
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Step 3- Spray bottom of spring form pan with baker’s joy non-stick baking spray. Add wet graham crackers into spring form pan. Press down with your hands and bring the crumbs up 1/2 inch on the sides and press the down with your fingers. Place into a preheated 375 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the crust out of oven and let cool completely.
Cleaning and preparing oranges
Note- You can do the following step(s) “4” below while the graham cracker crust is in the oven.
Step 4- Rinse off 2 or 3 oranges. Zest 2 oranges using the citrus zester. Juice 2 oranges using the Citrus juicer. Pour orange juice into a mesh strainer with a small measuring cup or bowl underneath it. You should have 3/4 cup orange juice. Cut a the third orange into thin slices. (This is optional)
Preparing the orange cheesecake batter
Step 5- Add 2 pounds cream cheese (Room temp), 1/4 cup sour cream (Room temp), and 4 large eggs (Room temp) into stand mixer bowl. Mix on a medium low speed for 1 minute or until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl.
Step 6- Add 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup All purpose flour. Dip a toothpick into the gel paste of liquid food coloring and swirl the tooth pick into a batter. Mix on a medium low speed for 1 minute or until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl.
Step 7- Add 1/4 cup Whole milk (Room temp), 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup squeezed orange juice, 1/4 cup orange zest, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 or 2 teaspoons orange extract and squeeze a half of a lemon. The lemon ingredient is optional. Mix on a medium low speed for 1 minute or until incorporated.
Baking your Cheesecake
Preheat oven to 260 degrees.
Step 8- Place spring form pan into an 11 by 17 inch baking pan or a pan of your choice as long as the spring form pan fits inside the pan. This will prevent any spillage in the oven while baking. Add prepared cheesecake batter into spring form pan. Shake pan slightly to make batter more even.
Step 9- Place into a preheated 260 degree oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Making the orange sauce (You can make this while the Cheesecake is baking and you can make this a day or two in advance.)
Step 10- Add 1/4 cup cold water, 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 1/8 teaspoon gel paste of liquid food coloring into a small bowl. Stir with a whisk until combined and set aside.
Preheat fire to medium high heat.
Step 11- Add 2/3 cup water, 1/3 cup orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon orange extract, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons orange zest and 1/8 teaspoon salt into a small pot. Stir all ingredients together and let simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.
Step 12- Add mixture into a mesh strainer with a small bowl underneath it. Once done add the orange mixture back into the small pot. Add the orange cornstarch mixture and stir all ingredients together. Let simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly.
Making the orange whipped cream (You can make this while the Cheesecake is baking or you can make this a day in advance.)
Step 13- Add 1 cup heavy whipping cream (Cold), 1/4 cup confectioners sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons orange sauce or 1 teaspoon orange extract, and 1/8 teaspoon orange gel paste or liquid food coloring into (cold) stand mixer bowl. Mix on high speed for 2 minutes or until mixture thickens. Once done add this into a disposable piping bag fitted with Wilton #1M tip. Do this part right before decorating of the cheesecake.
Final preparations
Step 14- Remove cheesecake from oven. If you tap the sides of the spring form pan and the cheesecake slight jiggles in the center or if it doesn’t jiggle at all, the cheesecake is done. Let cool completely before removing the cheesecake from the pan. From there place into fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
Removing the cheesecake from the spring form pan
Step 15- On the side of the spring form pan there is a latch that disconnects the siding of the spring form pan from the bottom of the pan. Flip the latch onto the other side and the sides of the spring form pan will separate from the bottom. Make sure you remove the bottom part of the spring form pan before decorating the cheesecake. This can be done by simply by adding a piece of parchment paper on top of the cheesecake, flip the cheesecake over onto a hard surface, remove the bottom portion of the spring form pan off of the cheesecake and add a serving dish on top of the bottom of the cheesecake and flip the cheesecake over once again. From there carefully peel the parchment paper off of the cheese cake.
Decorating the cheesecake
Step 16- Pipe small to medium sized circles onto the edge of the cheesecake. You can also pipe all of the whipped cream on top of the whole cheesecake if you like.
Step 17- Add thin orange slices around the edge or on the entire cheesecake. This step is optional if you have a additional orange bring the total to 3 oranges for the recipe altogether.
Step 18- Add Orange sauce into a squeeze bottle. Add orange sauce onto the edge or the entire cheesecake. Place in fridge and serve within 30 minutes. Keep cheesecake in fridge at all times. Will last 5 days in fridge.
YouTube instructional video
