I used to hate cheesecake. I could never understand why anyone would order cheesecake off the menu if there was chocolate mousse, tiramisu or plain old brownies a la mode to be had. The cheesecakes I encountered were dry, sticky, overly sweet and rarely improved with a blob of strawberry sauce heaped on top.
And then I came across this recipe a couple of years ago in Real Simple magazine. Something about the idea of ginger and pears made me want to try it, so I did. I brought the cheesecake to Thanksgiving and it was a hit. Even my father-in-law (a curmudgeon if there ever was one) was very complimentary about it.
But honestly, I didn't think that either the pears or the sour cream topping added enough extra oomph to be worth the effort (I am a very lazy cook). The gingersnaps compliment a wide range of other flavors, though, so I began experimenting a bit. The following recipe is what I've come up with:
Orange Ginger Cheesecake
6 Tbls unsalted butter, melted
8 oz gingersnap cookies
16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 C plus 1 Tbls granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Zest of 1 large orange
Juice of 1 large orange
Heat oven to 350° F.
In a food processor, grind the gingersnaps to the consistency of medium coarse sand. Add the melted butter and pulse until fully mixed. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan, working the crumbs over the bottom and then up the sides. Bake for 20 minutes.
While crust is baking, beat the cream cheese for 2 minutes in a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium. Add 1 cup of the sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix until combined. Stir in orange zest. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Place in the oven and check at 30 minutes, then every 5 minutes after until until the top is barely set but still slightly wobbly.* Remove from oven and let cool.
In a saucepan, combine the orange juice with the remaining Tbls of sugar. Bring to a boil then simmer gently over medium-low heat until the juice has reduced by about half. Let cool until it is no longer hot but can still be poured easily. Pour it onto the cooled cheesecake.
Cover and refrigerate the cheesecake until ready to eat.
*Turns out, most of my life I've been subjected to over-cooked cheesecake. The secret is cooking it just enough to set it. This keeps it creamy rather than cake-y. (This of course, is subject to personal opinion--some people like their cheesecake dry and they are free to cook it to their hearts' content...as long as I don't have to eat it.)
A few other thoughts:
- I've found that there tends to be a bit more of the cream cheese mixture than will fit in the pie crust. Pour any extra into a ramekin or two and bake along with the cake. Check the ramekins after about 20 minutes--they will cook faster than the cake. I've tried to make the cream cheese mixture more ginger-y by adding ground ginger or grated fresh ginger. So far, neither has had much effect on the taste. If you can figure out how to get more ginger taste in there, please let me know!I haven't done this yet, but I plan to try this recipe with other citrus zests/juices. I think it would be good with lime, for example, or even grapefruit.
