CHEESECAKE WITH GINGER COOKIE CRUST + ORANGE ZEST

A few days ago I was craving cheesecake…and I mean craving. I wanted one that was super rich—none of that light, low fat junk— but also not too sweet. Thankfully cheesecake is one of those things you can slightly alter a bit here and there with the amount of sugar, and it won’t totally butcher the result, unlike so many other desserts. I started with a really basic cheesecake recipe from a textbook from my culinary school days, and tweaked it a little (a lot, actually), and was pleasantly surprised when it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.
Apologies for the lack of photos of the process— but I honestly didn’t expect it to be share-worthy. Also, the cookies for the crust are gluten free, which makes this whole cheesecake gluten free! I’m able to find them at my local Walmart, and most grocery stores I go to.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust:

1 package of Tate’s Bakeshop GF ginger zinger cookies
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
zest of half an orange - the rest of the orange can be zested over the top after the cheesecake is baked

Cheesecake Filling:

2 packages cream cheese (16 oz total)
3 eggs
1 cup greek yogurt (8 oz)
3/4 cup sour cream (6 oz)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

Optional garnish:
4 oz heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons or more cocoa powder
remaining orange zest



Notes:
-You’ll need a springform pan for this recipe.
-This cheesecake needs a minimum of 4 hours to chill AFTER baking—keep this in mind and try to start this in the morning if you’re serving after dinner, or the day before, ideally.
-You may notice I didn’t do a bain-marie for this cheesecake—I find that I really like the texture of the outside of the cheesecake more when I don’t. It gets a little more lightly brown and caramelized. The water in a dish on the side still keeps the top moist enough to not brown or split.
-Make sure all of your ingredients for the filling are room temperature! This includes the eggs as well. Set them out 30 minutes-one hour before you begin.
-You can sub basically any cookie or graham crackers for the ginger cookies.




Make the crust:

Put the butter for the crust into the springform pan and place in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes, or until it’s melted. Meanwhile, put all of the ginger cookies into a blender or food processor and pulse just until they resemble bread crumbs—don’t grind them too fine. Alternatively, you can put them all in a ziploc bag, seal it tightly, wrap it in a dish towel and whack it with a wooden spoon or rolling pin. Remove the butter from the oven and add remaining ingredients— ginger cookies, salt, cinnamon and orange zest. When cool enough to touch, work everything together with your fingers, then press into the bottom of the pan evenly, and up the sides about an inch. Put back into the oven for 10 minutes. In the meantime, move onto the filling.

Make the filling:

Add the room temperature cream cheese, greek yogurt and sour cream into the bowl of a mixer, or regular bowl if mixing by hand, and beat on low-medium for 2-4 minutes, or until they’re all incorporated together and start to get a little fluffy. Pause the mixer every minute or so and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and incorporate. On low, add one egg at a time and blend until just incorporated. Don’t blend too long or on a high setting once you add the eggs—you don’t want to add in a lot of air at this point.

Once the filling is ready and the crust is done, turn the oven temperature down to 300 degrees and make sure the oven rack is positioned on the middle rack or lower so the top doesn’t brown too quickly, but don’t put it on the very lowest rack.

Pour the filling over the crust and place in the oven. Place a small oven-safe pan, bowl or cup full of water in next to the cheesecake, and set the timer for 50 minutes.

After 50 minutes, check the cheesecake— when it is done, the edges will have risen a bit and should be lightly browned and very firm. The center should jiggle a bit and still look quite wet. If the whole cheesecake jiggles all the way across, it may need 5-10 more minutes, depending on the oven. If time allows, don’t remove your cheesecake from the oven once it’s done! Just turn the oven off and stick a metal or wooden spatula or spoon in the door to it stays cracked. This will allow the cheesecake to cool very gradually and should prevent cracks in the top. After about an hour, remove cheesecake, run a butter knife around the edge to make sure the crust comes loose from the tin, and let it sit out at room temperature till it’s no longer warm to the touch. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Once the cheesecake is chilled, it is ready to serve. The garnish is optional, but delicious. Pipe (or just dollop it right on with a spoon) very lightly sweetened whipped cream over the top, dust with cocoa powder and grate the rest of the orange zest over the top.