This month’s #BakeTogether is cheesecake!! I loooove cheesecake! I cannot stress this enough. So when I heard this month’s assignment I was so ready. As always Abby gave us a basic recipe for a vanilla cheesecake. From there everyone created their own spin.
Are you familiar with the candy Terry’s Chocolate Orange? As the name might suggest it’s a chocolate in the shape of an orange, segmented like an orange. It’s wrapped in foil and you whack it on a hard surface which segments it. As you eat a segment you’ll find that it also has an orange taste to it. I haven’t had a Chocolate Orange in many many years but it used to be one of my very favorite candies.
I love the flavor combination of chocolate and orange. I’ve made my lemon blueberry loaf with orange instead of lemon and chocolate chips instead of blueberries and it was fantastic! So when deciding on my cheesecake direction I almost immediately knew I wanted to do a chocolate orange combo.
I took Abby’s basic vanilla cheesecake, added some ricotta because I love the creamy texture of a ricotta cheesecake. Next I decided to go with a chocolate wafer crust and some chocolate chips. For the citrus component I did a double hit of orange by adding Grand Marnier as well as a ton of orange zest. What resulted was a very creamy, vibrant citrus cheesecake. I had to give most of it away for fear of devouring it all myself. Thank goodness my mother-in-law has an office full of some of my best taste testers!
Enjoy!
~K
One Year Ago: Citrus Zested Sugar Cookies
Print This Recipe
Grand Marnier Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Adapted from Abby Dodge
2 cups finely ground chocolate wafer cookies
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tablespoons flour
good pinch of salt
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
4 eggs, room temperature
cocoa powder, for garnish
– Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 375 degrees.
– Wrap the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a piece of aluminum foil and clasp the outer ring over the foil so the edges hang outside the ring. In a medium bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs and sugar until well blended. Drizzle with the melted butter and mix until well blended.
– Dump the crumbs into a 9-inch springform pan and press evenly over the bottom of the pan and about 2 inches up the side. Bake for about 12 minutes. Place on a cooling rack to cool to room temperature. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
– Beat the cream cheese, ricotta, flour and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Make sure there are no lumps.
– Add the 1 1/4 cups sugar and continue to beat until well blended and smooth.
– Add the vanilla extract, Grand Marnier, chocolate chips and orange zest. Beat until blended, about 30 seconds.
– Add the eggs one at a time and beat just until blended. Do not over beat once the eggs have been added otherwise the cheesecake will puff too much and crack as it cools.
– Bake at 300 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until the edges are puffed and the center jiggles like Jell-o when nudged. The center will still look moist.
– Cool completely on a wire rack. The cake will continue to cook as it cools.
– Once cooled, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
– Unclasp and remove the side of the springform pan. Carefully slide a spatula under the bottom crust and carefully slide cake to a flat serving plate. Dust with cocoa powder.
– Enjoy!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Very beautiful. Love the chocolate orange combo with cheesecake. I too prefer a bit of ricotta in my cheesecake.
Thank you so much Connie!
Love the pix and the flavor profile.
**pressed send** before signing off..
edited to add:
xx
A
Thanks so much, Abby! I loved this month’s #baketogether. Now I want to go make everyone’s variations! So many great ones.
Where does your mother in law work? I am going to apply for a job there. Lucky people !!!!!
Ha!! They do get lucky a lot of the time 🙂 I can’t have all these goodies in my house otherwise I’ll eat them all myself!
This is just fantastic! Chocolate and orange is one of my favorite combos too!! Yum!
Thanks Janwa! It really was quite delicious and a hit by all who ate it.
What a wonderful adaptation. I love Terry’s Chocolate Oranges. This is making my mouth water!
Thanks so much Karen! And those candies are so delicious! Haven’t had one in forever but after this post, I will have to make sure I grab one.
Gorgeous and scrumptuous! I’m working on my version of cheese cake for baketogether too. Yummy!
I can’t wait to see your version of this month’s #baketogether!! I love cheesecake and I think I need to make everyone’s 😉
Making for Valentine’s Day! When you say chocolate wafer cookies are you referring to Oreos or is there just plain chocolate wafer cookies?!
You could certainly use the chocolate part of the Oreos, just not the filling. But yes, Nabisco makes just plain chocolate wafer cookies. Hope you enjoy this!