Calories per serving 160 Serves 8
Preparation time 30 minutes,
plus cooling and chilling
Cooking time 30-35 minutes
Ingredients:
butter, for greasing
3×200 g(7 oz) packets low-fat
cream cheese
6 Tbs granulated sweetener
1½ tsp vanilla extract
finely grated rind of ½ orange
4 eggs, separated
1 Tbs icing sugar, sifted
3 oranges, peeled and cut
into segments, to serve
Preparation:
- Lightly grease a 20 cm (8 inch) springform tin.
- Mix together the cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla extract, orange rind and egg yolks in a bowl until smooth.
- Whisk the egg whites in a clean large bowl until soft peaks form, then fold a large spoonful into the cheese mixture to loosen it.
- Add the remaining egg whites and fold them in gently.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.
- Bake in a preheated oven, 160°C (325°F), Gas Mark 3, for 30-35 minutes until well risen, golden brown and just set in the centre.
- Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool for 15 minutes with the door slightly ajar.
- Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then chill for 4 hours.
- (The cheesecake will sink slightly as it cools).
- Run a knife around the cheesecake, loosen the tin and transfer to a serving plate.
- Dust the top with the icing sugar and caramelize the sugar with a cook’s blowtorch.
- Serve within 30 minutes, while the sugar topping is still hard and brittle.
- Cut into 8 wedges and arrange on plates with the orange segments.
- For lemon drizzle cheesecake, make the cheesecake as above, using the finely grated rind of 1 lemon in place of the orange rind.
- When the cheesecake has been chilled and removed from the tin, mix 3 Tbs sifted icing sugar with enough juice squeezed from the lemon to give a runny syrup.
- Spoon over the cheesecake and sprinkle with the grated rind of another lemon.