Chocolate Orange Baked Cheesecake

Chocolate crust, orange topping.

It’s been every kind of winter weather today. Crisp sunshine, sleet, windy gusts, calm and then driving rain. A “spend time in the kitchen” kind of day.

The lovely mandarins I bought for zesting and freshly purchased cocoa seemed the perfect combination for cheesecake.

I was surprised to see how cracked the cheesecake turned out and learned that overbeating is the cause. It’s odd, because when I poured it into the cheesecake pan I thought, ooh!, what a wonderful light mix. Using a whisk is apparently the answer to a perfectly smooth, heavier more settled mix and smoother top. I did use an electric beater, so lesson learned. Be sure to let all your cream cheese come to room temperature if using a whisk, otherwise you’ll be tired out mixing until smooth. Letting ingredients get to room temperature is a challenge for me as my recipes are usually impromptu whims!

The crust is a chocolate keto crust and very fast to throw together. The cheesecake is the basic recipe on the Philadelphia box, with added mandarin/orange juice and zest, then topped with a xylitol sweetened sour cream. You can serve with fresh berries or compote. This is not a sweet recipe, add more sweetener if you prefer.

Ingredients

CRUST:
2 cups almond flour
2 heaped tblsp finely ground sugar (keto and brown if possible)
2 tblsp ground flax
2 heaped tblsp cocoa
2 tblsp melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tblsp vanilla essence
1 beaten egg

FILLING:
4 packets Philadelphia Cream cheese
4 eggs beaten
1/2 cup finely ground xylitol powder or any powdered keto sugar
1 tblsp vanilla bean paste
Zest of a mandarin/orange
Juice of the citrus including pulp

Directions

Crust:

Mix all dry ingredients together. Melt butter.
Add vanilla essence to butter
Beat egg
Add butter and mix to resemble crumbly mix
Add egg to butter/ flour mix
Blend well with fork
Press into cheesecake pan that had been well buttered
Pre-bake 12 minutes at 350⁰F

Cheesecake Mix
Beat softened cream cheese (best is room temperature)
Add powdered sugar and vanilla essence, lightly beat/ whisk
Beat in the 4 eggs and then add the zest and juice of mandarin, lightly mix
Pour gently into pan onto pre-baked crust

Bake in 325⁰F oven 1 hr
Let cool and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight

Option: top with sweetened whipped sour cream with vanilla added and serve with fresh berries or keto berry compote.