from chef karen harper, pastry chef for the black rabbit restaurant at mcmenamins edgefield in troutdale, oregon, courtesy of chef harper and mozzarella fresca. the cheesecake must be made a day in advance. (i first saw this recipe in a newspaper, but it's readily found throughout the internet.) |
for cheesecake |
all refrigerated ingredients should be at room temperature. |
1-1/2 pounds mascarpone (you can |
substitute cream cheese) |
1 cup sugar |
1 tablespoon grand marnier |
3 large eggs |
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt |
for garnish: orange slices marinated |
in grand marnier |
directions |
must be done in advance; cover and refrigerate. |
preheat the oven to 300°f. |
beat the mascarpone/cream cheese until creamy. gradually beat in the sugar, salt and grand marnier. |
one at a time add the eggs, scraping the sides of the bowl often. |
scrape batter into the crust and smooth the top. bake on a cookie sheet until the center barely jiggles when the pan is tapped, 45 to 55 minutes. let cool in the pan on a rack for 2 hours. |
unmold, cover and refrigerate overnight. |
chocolate graham cracker crust |
ingredients |
16 squares chocolate graham crackers |
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter |
10 springform pan |
directions |
preheat oven to 375°f. |
in a food processor, blend graham crackers and butter until completely incorporated. |
mash the crumb mixture evenly into bottom of a 10” springform pan. bake 10 minutes; cool completely. |
chocolate ganache |
ingredients |
8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (use top quality chocolate) |
3/4 cup heavy cream |
1 tablespoon grand marnier |
directions |
can be done in advance, covered and refrigerated. |
bring cream just to the boil. remove from heat and stir in chocolate till incorporated. |
using a whisk, very gently stir in grand marnier. let ganache cool till is thick enough to spread. if ganache becomes too thick, warm it in a water bath or double boiler. |
candied orange slices |
ingredients |
2 unpeeled oranges, sliced from top to bottom in 1/4 thick slices |
4 cups sugar |
4 cups water |
directions |
can be done in advance, covered and refrigerated. |
boil orange slices in water for 10 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. |
stir in sugar and cook for another five minutes. remove orange slices with tongs to a baking sheet and allow them to cool completely. reserve the orange simple syrup for other culinary uses |
mousse |
do not do this step till ready to build the dessert. |
ingredients |
2 cups mascarpone |
zest from 1 orange |
2 cups heavy cream, whipped stiff |
1/2 cup sugar |
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin |
2 tablespoons cold water |
