Orange and chocolate cheesecake, baked – how to make your kitchen smell like a million bucks

One of the million perks of being able to cook: you have a secure way to cheer someone up. One of the million perks of being in a relationship: you have someone to cheer up. So if my boyfriend is having a long and exhausting day, I am damn sure going to make him an orange chocolate cheesecake, just to make it all better at the end of the day.

This amazing cheesecake recipe is loosely based on Gordon Ramsay’s baked raspberry cheesecake, but I replaced the fruit with chocolate – and not just any chocolate. For any kind of baking really, I recommend Lindt; and this cheesecake really got the extra kick out of this very specific type:

Not only is the chocolate quality excellent, the taste of orange comes through just enough for it to be sweet and dark at the same time. Gosh, it is just amazing, what can I say…

Anyway, for this recipe, I used:

600g cream cheese – but when people say that, I get confused, so here it is: Philadelphia cream cheese, natural, NOT low fat please…
160g caster sugar
2 tbsp flour
3 eggs, whisked
200g chocolate – or any filling you wish really
Butter, for greasing

Start by preheating your oven to 180 degrees, then whisking together the cream cheese and the sugar. For this, it is advisable to take the cream cheese out of the fridge 30 minutes before using, because this way, you can actually whisk it. No kidding. Once that’s done, add your whisked eggs bit by bit, and combine well.
After the eggs, add your flour and whisk until you see no lumps and you get a relatively runny, creamy cake batter. Finally, fold in your fillings (if you’re using chocolate, chop it up finely before this step).

Butter your cake tin, then fill it with your batter, layering evenly. Pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the edges are set but the middle still feels a bit wobbly. Don’t worry, when you let it cool, it will set.

As a result, you should probably get something as delicious-looking as this…

Now tell me that’s not going to make anyone’s day. Honestly.

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