No wonder this time of the year is referred to as “the season of baking.” The baking bug has definitely caught me. There are so many things I wanna bake and it seems that the neighbors and my mom’s friends are loving me for it. I mean I baked these gorgeous cheesecakes, kept a slice for myself and packed everything else for my mother’s friends. How can they not love me, right? I would love myself for the same. If you know what I mean.
The components of this Cranberry Orange Cheesecake work in harmony with each other. it’s a heavenly combination. Imagine a buttery crust with smooth and silky vanilla cheesecake with a hint of orange in it. Then we have the tart yet sweet cranberry topping that has some orange juice and zest infused in it. Yup, obviously the topping is homemade. You can use canned cranberry sauce but WHY would you?
I guess a lot of people do purchase canned cranberries sauce/topping. Maybe the idea of making a topping or jam seems daunting to them. Trust me on this one. IT IS SO EASY! I am not going to fry your brains like a sunny side up.
It’s basically cooking a bunch of cranberries with some water, sugar, orange juice and orange zest for about 10 minutes. It is as easy as it sounds. No brainer at all and I have to stress this point. Home made cranberries sauce would make a world of difference to your cheesecake. So if you still wanna use canned cranberries sauce just for your convenience, that would sadden me.
I am not going to go on and on about this Cranberry Orange Cheesecake. Give it a try and this dessert will speak for itself.
- For The Crust
- 2 cups graham cookies, crushed until they form fine crumbs
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- For The Cheesecake
- 500 g cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¾ cup fine sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sour cream/yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 orange
- For the topping
- 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries, washed
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- Zest of 1 orange
- ⅔ - 1 cup sugar (depending on how tart the cranberries are)
- ½ cup water
- Bring water and sugar to boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cranberries, orange zest and orange juice and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature and store in the fridge. (You can make this a day in advance too)
- Preheat oven to 160°C. Place graham crumbs in a bowl. Mix in butter and sugar.
- Press mixture firmly into the bottom of a 8-inch spring-form pan (you can also use individual sized spring-form pans) and bake for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool.
- Once cool, wrap the outside of the pan in 2 layers of aluminum foil, being sure that there are no gaps where water could seep through.
- Reduce oven heat to 150°C.
- Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until well blended.
- Add eggs, one at a time.
- Add whipped cream, yogurt, orange zest and vanilla and beat for an additional minute.
- Pour into prepared crust.
- Place the spring-form pan in a roasting pan or any other pan that is big enough.
- Pour boiling water in the larger pan to form a water bath around the spring-form pan (Bain Marie), so that it comes up about 1-inch around the spring-form.
- Bake for about about 1 hour 20 min, or until center is almost set, with a slight jiggle.
- Open oven door slightly and let cheesecake remain in oven for about 1 hour.
- Then remove cheesecake from oven, let it cool and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove spring-form rim, and top cheesecake with cranberry orange topping just before serving.
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