Desserts Recipes - Chocolate and Orange Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 50 g/2 oz butter or margarine

• 125 g/4 oz digestive biscuits, finely crushed

• 25 g/1 oz demerara sugar

• 175 g/6 oz plain dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

• 250 g/8 oz full-fat soft cheese

• finely grated rind of 2 oranges

• 75 g/3 oz caster sugar

• 2 eggs, separated

• 150 ml/1/4 pint whipping cream

• 1 teaspoon powdered gelatine dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

To decorate:

• 150 ml/1/4 pint double cream, whipped

• 2 oranges, peeled and thinly sliced

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Method:

1. Melt the butter or margarine in a small pan, then mix in the biscuit crumbs and demerara sugar.

2. Press the mixture over the base of a lightly oiled 20 cm/8 inch loose-bottomed cake tin, then chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes until firm.

3. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Beat together the soft cheese, orange rind, caster sugar and egg yolks until thoroughly blended.

4. Whip the cream until it stands in soft peaks. Fold the warm chocolate into the cheese mixture with the dissolved gelatine, then fold in the whipped cream.

5. Whisk the egg whites until fairly stiff and quickly fold into the chocolate mixture. Spoon over the biscuit base, level the surface and chill in the refrigerator for 1-1 1/2 hours or until set.

6. Remove from the tin. Pipe a decorative border of whipped cream around the edge of the cheesecake and decorate with the orange slices. Serve chilled.