Orange Cheesecake

My husband doesn't ask for a lot of goodies. Which is a little disappointing when you like to bake. He thinks everything I make is delicious and claims to love it all. So when he asked for something - an orange cheesecake - it was going to happen. I didn't have any orange cheesecake recipes, which was a little shocking because I have recipes for just about everything I thought, so I got on-line and looked around. I found two. Apparently orange cheesecake is not a thing. I didn't like either one. One used Jello to flavor the cheesecake. Um, no. I wanted it to be orange, like with an actual orange. Clearly, I was going to have to come up with my own recipe. So I did. For all the orange in this cheesecake, I bought an orange and grated/ squeezed until I had what I needed.

 

Orange Cheesecake

crust:

1 10 oz. package shortbread cookies.

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest

5 Tbsp. butter, melted

Place the cookies into a gallon sized bag and crush into fine crumbs. Combine the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix together. Press into a springform pan, pressing the crust partway up the sides. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.

filling:

4 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar

3 Tbsp. flour

4 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tsp. freshly grated orange peel

Using an electric mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese. Add in sugar and flour, beating well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla. Grate orange peel into the bowl and squeeze the orange to get 2 Tbsp. juice in the bowl. Mix well, scraping the bottom and sides. Pour filling over the crust and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, checking to see if it is done by gently shaking the pan to see if the center is set. remove and allow to cool.

topping:

1/3 c. freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tsp. freshly grated orange peel

1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

4 Tbsp. butter

Whisk together the juice, peel, sugar, and eggs in a small sauce pan over low heat. Be careful not to boil this. Add the butter and continue stirring until the mixture is thickened and will hold the marks of the whisk. Remove from heat and cool in the fridge. When it has cooled, spread it over the top of the cheesecake. Cool the cheesecake thoroughly - at least overnight.