Orange-Ginger Chocolate Cheesecake
- Ready In:
- 1hr 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
16
ingredients
-
Crust
- 1 (18 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix (without pudding)
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
-
Filling
- 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 3 eggs
- 1⁄2 cup orange juice
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1⁄2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
-
Candied Orange Peel
- 2 oranges, washed and dried
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1⁄4 cups water
directions
- Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a 10 inch springform pan.
-
Make crust:
- Measure out 1/2 cup of cake mix and set aside.Place remaining cake mix in large mixing bowl.
- Add remaining crust ingredients to cake mix. Blend with mixer on low speed for about 2 minutes. Stop machine, scrape down sides of bowl so the batter comes together in a ball.
- With your finger tips, pat dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan until smooth. Set aside.
-
Filling:
- In the same mixing bowl you used for the crust, mix cream cheese and sweetened, condenesed milk on low speed until well mixed.
- Add eggs, reserved cake mix, orange juice and orange zest.
- Beat at medium for 1 minute, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.
- Pour filling onto the crust and smooth with spatula.
- Bake for 68-72 minutes, or until browned and shiny, but center still jiggles slightly when shaken.
- Just before bake time is over, mix sour cream, brown sugar, and ginger in a small bowl.
- Spread topping over cheesecake when it is done, then return pan to oven until topping sets, 7-8 minutes.
- Remove cheesecake from oven, let cool for 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate overnight, or until ready to serve.
- Candied orange zest: (optional garnish for top of cheesecake).
- Use a zester, or a sharp paring knife to cut long strands of orange peel from oranges.
- Place sugar and water into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar completely dissolves and the syrup comes to a simmer.
- Drop the orange zest into the syrup and stir so the strands are covered.
- Let barely simmer for 1-1/2 hours, or until zest is translucent. The longer you cook it, the crunchier the zest will be.
- With metal tongs, remove zest from pan and let dry on a metal rack for several hours.
- After the zest cools, but before it completely dries, it will be flexible so that you can curl or twist it to make it more ornamental.
- When the zest has dried, store it in a tightly covered container.
- For an even tastier treat, dip dried strands into melted chocolate!
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Dragonfly AZ
Chandler, 41
I live in Chandler, Arizona, which is near Phoenix. I have been a registered nurse for almost 25 years. Currently I am a clinical supervisor at a health care clinic. I love to cook rich foods with complex flavors, whether they be main dishes or desserts. I have also been eating low carb for about 5 years, so I am pretty good at modifying recipes to match my lifestyle.