Florentine orange cheesecake

Florentine orange cheesecake is a wonderfully impressive no-bake orange cheesecake that’s as delicious as it is beautiful. The creamy cheesecake filling is made with traditional Polish curd cheese, although you can easily use mascarpone or Philadelphia instead. The whole thing is finished with an original base made from Italian Florentine biscuits, packed with almonds, candied fruit and candied orange peel. Once baked, the base isn’t quite as crisp as the biscuits themselves, but it’s wonderfully aromatic and pairs beautifully with the delicate cheesecake filling. Cutting the base can be slightly tricky because of the larger pieces of fruit and nuts, but it shouldn’t be too difficult if you use a sharp knife. The cheesecake can also easily be made gluten-free – simply replace the plain flour in the base with potato starch. Highly recommended!

Ingredients for the Florentine biscuit base:

• 25 g candied cherries, roughly chopped
• 25 g candied orange peel
• 50 g raisins or dried cranberries
• 100 g flaked or slivered almonds
• 25 g plain flour
• 50 g butter
• 60 g sugar
• 25 ml double cream

Place the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over a low heat. Heat until the butter and some of the sugar have melted (the sugar will not dissolve completely). Remove from the heat, pour in the double cream and leave to cool slightly.

Place the cherries, candied orange peel, raisins and almonds in a bowl. Add the flour and mix together. Add the cooled butter and sugar mixture and mix until combined.

Line the base of a 23 cm springform tin with baking paper. Tip the biscuit mixture into the tin, then flatten it with the back of a spoon and gently press it into the base.

Bake at 160°C for about 12–15 minutes, until the base is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling:

• 500 g full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, ground three times
• 250 g Greek or natural yoghurt
• 100 g icing sugar (or less, to taste)
• zest of 2 organic oranges
• 1 tsp orange extract
• 50 g candied cherries, finely chopped
• 9 g powdered gelatine + 45 ml cold water

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Pour the powdered gelatine over the cold water, mix and leave to bloom for 10 minutes. Place over a low heat and warm, stirring, until the gelatine has completely dissolved, or heat in the microwave. Do not let it boil, as the gelatine will lose its setting properties. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Place the curd cheese and yoghurt in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth. Add the icing sugar, orange zest, orange extract and candied cherries and mix until combined. Finally, add the cooled gelatine (first mix it with 2 tbsp of the cheesecake mixture) and beat thoroughly until fully combined.

Pour the cheesecake mixture over the chilled biscuit base. Refrigerate until completely set – preferably overnight.

Additionally:

• a few squares of milk chocolate, melted in a bain-marie or microwave
• candied cherries, to decorate

Place the melted chocolate in a disposable piping bag or sturdy resealable bag and snip off one corner. Pipe zigzags over the cheesecake. Arrange the cherries on top.

Store the Florentine orange cheesecake in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!