Orange Cheesecake

A delicious cheesecake is not difficult to make as long as you go about it in the right way. Simple steps such as waiting for the cream cheese to become room temperature and using a water bath make quite a large difference in the final product. You wouldn’t want to taste chunks of cream cheese in the cake or for your cheesecake to crack.

I usually make Oreo cheesecakes, but I wanted to make a plain vanilla cheesecake for once. Instead, since James wanted to be more experimental, we ended up making an orange cheesecake using Moro blood oranges. We only used this type of orange because we bought them just before making our cheesecake, but you can use any type of orange. 

We scaled down Alton Brown’s Sour Cream Cheesecake recipe and made it in an 8 in. springform pan. James and I have slightly edited the directions and added our own comments, but the most significant change that affects the recipe is the time in the oven. The time is increased to 1.5 hours which is done because the original recipe's baking time creates a cheesecake that's too soft and custard-like.

 
Ingredients

Crust:
18 graham cracker squares, crumbled
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar

Filling:
16 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of grated orange zest
2 large eggs
2 yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream
A pinch of salt

Directions

· Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. 

· In a small bowl, combine crumbled graham crackers, the melted butter, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Place remaining crumbs on a sheet pan and bake both the crust and the remaining mixture for 7-8 minutes. Cool. Reserve additional crumb mixture for sides. 

· In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese and sugar until mixture is smooth and lightened. Make sure there are no lumps as they don't disappear after baking. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth.
· In a separate bowl, combine vanilla, orange zest, eggs, yolks, and heavy cream. Pour the liquids into the cream cheese mixture and whisk to incorporate. Once completely combined, pour into the cooled crust. 

· Lower oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Place cheesecake into a preheated water bath, in the oven for 1.5 hours. After 1.5 hours, check the cheesecake to see if it is done. When jiggled, the cheesecake should only slightly wobble in the center. Once done, turn the oven off and open the door for one minute. Close the door for one more hour. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and let it come to room temperature on a cooling rack before storing it in the refrigerator. Allow the cheesecake to set in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, but preferably 6 hours to ensure that it will fully set. 
· When ready to serve, run a plastic knife along the sides of the pan and carefully unmold  the cake onto a serving dish or plate. Take the remaining graham cracker mixture and press into the sides of the cake by rotating the unmolded cake over the sink and gently pressing the crumbs into the cake. 
· To slice, place your knife into some hot/warm water and wipe clean each time you make a pass through the cake.  

Our finished cheesecake was light and creamy and had a subtle orange taste which was more noticeable towards the end of each bite. It tasted remarkably like an orange creamsicle. It's not as dense as a typical New York style cheesecake, but it is still rich, tasty, and definitely a crowd pleaser.

Our finished product!

We had extra graham cracker crumbs so we decided to sprinkle some on top of our first slice

Cheesecake with a slice cut out (Almost looks like Pacman!)

- Judith

Knives 101

From top to bottom: Hiromoto G3 sujihiki, Ichimonji TKC gyuto
Takagi Honyaki gyuto, Misono UX10 petty, Henckels MC66 Utility

                                                

I think it’s appropriate to start off with the basics and something I’m deeply interested in – kitchen cutlery. I have been looking into and using mid to high end kitchen cutlery since 2009 and have been a member of a few forums dedicated to cooking and cutlery. From my own experience and reading forums, I can say that I've learned a few things. I’ll start off with writing a few general tips and give some more in-depth information later in the future. So without further ado, here are some things to keep in mind.

A sharp knife is less dangerous than a dull one.

Yep, you read that correctly. A sharp knife is indeed less dangerous than a dull one. How? Imagine you’re using a dull knife to dice an onion. At first, the knife does not cut the onion. To compensate, you push harder down on the knife. This additional force increases the likelihood of slipping or accidentally moving the knife, ergo increasing the chances of actually cutting yourself.

Claw Position

Keep the hand holding the food in a claw when chopping.

Knife face constantly contacts the knuckles

There are many instances in which this which keeping your hand in a claw will not be suitable for a cutting task (slicing sashimi, deboning pretty much anything, hulling strawberries, etc etc), but frankly, for chopping and push cutting, I think it works great. The claw position allows you to control the size of the cut food, and keeps your thumb and the rest of your fingers out of trouble. Keep the face of the knife in contact with your knuckles and as you’re chopping or push cutting, slowly move your fingers left (or right for you lefties) closer to your thumb. As your fingers are moving, keep the blade cutting and in contact with your knuckles.

Use a cutting board (wood, bamboo, plastic or rubber).

I cannot stress this enough. Cutting on a plate, stovetop, glass or any other hard surface damages the knife’s fine edge. Depending on the steel and abuse, you’ll see rolling (shiny areas when you look at the edge dead on) or chips (the knife’s edge will look almost serrated). Rolling and chips are evidence of dulling. Lesson here – if you want to keep your knives sharp, use a cutting board.

Do not twist when cutting and do not cut frozen foods/bones.

When you twist while you’re cutting, you’re bending the portion of edge that is lodged in the food. This, like using a bad cutting surface, will cause chips and rolling of the knife’s edge. For more fragile knives made of brittle steels (zdp-189 comes to mind), torqueing can cause breakage. Frozen foods and bones are very hard cutting so cutting into them will cause dulling so don’t use your main knives on them. When deboning, cut around bones and use a meat cleaver if you really need to split them. Meat cleavers boast very robust edges, soft steel, and thick edges. This allows them to take minimal damage when used on bones.

I think that’s enough knife information for now. Knives are an essential part of any kitchen; they should be an extension of your arm. Take care of them, keep them sharp, and they’ll serve you well. I’ll keep the knife posts coming, but for now, in the words of Jacques Pepin, happy cooking!

- James

It Begins...

People have told me on many occasions that I should start a baking blog and I’ve always thought about creating one. It seems like there have been so many obstacles that prevented me from starting any food related blog that I’m only beginning now. I didn’t think I had the time to devote to a blog while I was at school, I wasn’t able to bake as much as I wanted to, and I even had the hardest time trying to come up with a unique blog title that wasn’t already taken. Even with creating a shared food blog with my boyfriend James, two people trying to come up with a good name took a lot longer than expected. Luckily, after looking at known food blogs to try to get inspired, looking for inspiration helped me come up with our simple (and not taken) blog title, Cooking Inspiration. Hopefully our blog can inspire others in cooking and/or baking!

Considering I've taken pictures of some of the baked goods I've made in the past, I decided to share some in this first post. Enjoy!

- Judith 

 White cake with whipped cream frosting, decorated with semi-sweet chocolate chips

  Nutella brownies with whipped cream and fudge drizzle on top

 Lemon square