Chocolate orange cheesecake

Tam West

A recent delivery of irresistible New Zealand cheeses had us talking cheeseboards and how much we love our Kiwi custom of serving platters laden with cheeses, dips, spreads, pastes — you name it — to nibble at over drinks with friends. The Zany Zeus cream cheese that was also part of the delivery turned our thoughts to cheesecake. In Nigella Express, Nigella Lawson tops her cheesecake with a jar of cherry preserve. It is a recipe I have adapted this basic cheesecake recipe and served many times with many different straight-out-of-a-jar toppings, or you can have no topping if you wish. We used Can Bech Preserves orange cacao spread, which is like a chocolate marmalade, to turn this into a chocolate orange cheesecake.

Ingredients

250 g	Chocolate digestives, or biscuit of choice (Main)
150 g	Butter, softened
500 g	Cream cheese (Main)
1 tsp	Vanilla
1 tsp	Lemon juice
½ cup	Icing sugar
400 ml	Cream (Main)
1 jar	Preserves, a low-sugar variety for the topping, I used Can Bech Preserves orange cacao spread

Directions

1. Place the biscuits in the food processor and blitz to crumbs.
2. Add the butter and blitz to combine.
3. Press the mix into the base and a little up the sides of a 20cm springform cake tin.
4. Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, lemon juice and icing sugar together until smooth.
5. Beat thecream to soft peaks, and fold through the cream cheese mixture.
6. Spoon this filling over the top of the biscuit base. Chill in the fridge overnight.
7. To serve, unmould the cheesecake on to a serving plate and top with Can Bech's orange cacao preserve, or use your favourite low-sugar fruit preserve.

Cook's notes

• We used Can Bech Preserves orange preserves with cacao in this recipe - it is a Spanish range available from Sabato. The line of preserved figs, fruit preserves, jellies and chutneys is 100% natural without artificial colours. The orange cacao and raspbery cacao preserves are delicious, and there is a rose petal jelly that we're longing to try.
• Try using Nairn's dark chocolate chip oat biscuits for the base. These Scottish bikkies are wheat-free and relatively low in sugar. You can find them at speciality food stores and larger supermarkets.