The Daring Bakers, and an Awesome Creamsicle Cheesecake

Awesome, if I do say so myself. I have to start giving myself a bit more credit for creativity.  Not decorating, mind you, but for making recipes my own. Pay no heed to the lousy picture – I am out of town at the moment, and I made this and froze it before I left.  Of course, I had to taste a bit and it was phenomenal.

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Jenny gave us a basic cheesecake recipe, and set us loose, telling us to make it our own.  I did just that by (1) eliminating the crust – yes, I made this without a crust!; and (2) flavoring it like a creamsicle, that outstanding orange and vanilla frozen concoction hustled by our local Good Humor Man.  Those were the days.  I also used low fat cream cheese, and a mixture of cream and low fat sour cream because that’s what I had on hand.

I made this in a heart-shaped springform pan, which is the only pan I have that will allow me to use a water bath.  I also lowered the temperature to 325 F on convection bake, and the cake turned out creamy, smooth, and perfect, right on schedule.  It did not crack.  It did not burn.  No water leaked into the pan (I double wrapped in heavy duty foil). A shockingly successful endeavor, all around.

Be sure to check Jenny’s blog for the original recipe, and the BRAND NEW Daring Baker’s website!  I am without the internet at the moment, but when I get back in town, I’m looking forward to seeing what everybody made!  My adaptation after the jump.

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake, made into Creamsicle Cheesecake

3 sticks of low fat cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream, mixed with enough low fat sour cream to equal 1 cup total
zest of one large navel orange (about the size of a softball)
1 tsp. orange oil (not extract, but oil – they are different things)
1 tbsp. Cointreau
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Combine cream cheese, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add cream mixture, vanilla, orange oil, orange zest, and Cointreau and blend until smooth and creamy.

3. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Wrap pan twice in heavy duty foil.  Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.

4. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil “casserole” shaped pans from the grocery store. They’re 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!