me, and my first recipe post....

I have been enjoying making yummy desserts for years and now I make desserts for a restaurant in my neighborhood called "Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe".  I do Bourbon Peach Cobblers (several a week), and 2 different "Cheesecake Specials" per week.
I love the challenge of coming up with new cheesecake flavors every week.  I try my best to come up with something you can't buy anywhere else.  I get inspiration from all over - sometimes it's the hot tea I'm drinking, sometimes it's the weather, the season, shopping trips, etc.
This week, the inspiration is seasonal fruit.  If you haven't tried a Blood Orange, you are missing out.  Not only are they pretty on the inside, they are delicious and rich.  So, I decided to make a Spiced Blood Orange Cheesecake.  Although I have a normal go-to recipe for citrus cheesecakes, I wanted to try out different recipes and a quick search brought up this recipe.  I, decided to make some changes, though.  I prefer warm spices with my blood oranges.  I couldn't find the actual blood orange, but was able to find Blood Orange juice, so I made a simple syrup from it and infused the flavor into the cheesecake that way.  I'm happy to report the cheesecake is delish!  :)

I apologize for the crappy iphone picture of the cheesecake.  I need to break out the actual camera for this, now that I plan to blog about it. :)

Here is the recipe, with my changes bolded in parentheses:



Blood Orange Cheesecake - adapted from Aimée's recipe recipe
makes a 10-inch round, serves between 8 and 16, depending on how generous you are.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
(1-2 tbsp cinnamon orange spice - loose tea (ground to a powder with a magic bullet).)1/3 cup butter

Filling:
675 grams cream cheese (I used 3 - 8 ounce packages = 24 ounces, slightly over 680 grams)
3/4 cup sugar (I used a tad over 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup sour cream
(pinch of salt)
(1 tsp ground cinnamon)
(1/2 tsp ground cardamom)
(1/4 tsp ground cloves)
zest and juice of one lemon (I skipped this)
zest and juice of one blood orange (or regular orange) (used 1/4 cup Blood Orange Simple Syrup instead)
5 large eggs, room temperature




Blood Orange Simple Syrup:
2 cups blood orange juice
3/4 cup sugar


bring blood orange juice to a boil and reduce to 1 to 1 1/2 cups and add sugar - stir, remove from heat when it starts to become a syrup consistency.  let cool before using in recipe.

Topping:
1 1/2 cups sour cream 
juice and zest of one blood orange (1 tablespoon blood orange simple syrup)
1/4 cup sugar (I used 1/3 cup and also added a tsp of vanilla)


Preheat oven to 350F.
For the crust, melt butter and add to crumbs. Mix well and press into a ten-inch springform pan. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until slightly golden. Cool.

Beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add citrus zest and juice (or blood orange simple syrup). Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition, but not too vigorously.  Pour over crumb crust and bake for about 40 minutes (or until internal temperature is 150 degrees). Middle will still be slightly jiggly.

Remove from oven and run a sharp knife around the sides, but do not remove ring. Cool 15 minutes on the counter.


(my cheesecake cracked after it started to cool a little... it may need to stay in the oven with the oven off and oven door ajar for about 15 minutes - so it cools slowly).

Meanwhile, prepare topping.  Pour over slightly cooled cheesecake and let stand for half an hour at room temperature. 
Chill completely. Remove ring and serve.