Simple Fare, Fairly Simple

This is a cheesecake I've been wanting to make for a long time. I always enjoyed orange dreamsicle popsicles as a kid so I thought...hey! Why not turn it into a real dessert? I just reworked one of my old cheesecake recipes and this turned out to be a winner! I took it to a party not long ago and only came home with a couple of pieces so I can only assume it was a success. I had a small bite of IT Guy's piece and thought it was great. Hmmm...I used to love fudgsicles as a kid, too. I wonder what THAT would be like in a cheesecake????

Orange Dreamsicle Cheesecake



Crust:
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter – melted

In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Stir until all combined. Pour into a 10-inch springform pan. Pat mixture up the sides and on the bottom of the pan.

Wrap springform pan with foil. Place in a large roasting pan.


Filling:

2 8-ounce blocks cream cheese - softened
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon orange zest

Combine cream cheese and condensed milk in a mixer on low speed until smooth. Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, until blended, but do not overmix.

Add orange juice, flour and zest.

Pour over crust. Fill roasting pan with water until half way up the sides of the springform pan and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until almost set.

Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen.

Sprinkle with orange zest.

Chill overnight then remove sides of pan.

Here's the stuff for the cheesecake and the crust.

It's just a simple graham cracker crust.

Press the crumbs into your springform pan. Pop it in the fridge while you work on the cheesecake.

Combine the cream cheese and the sweetened condensed milk until smooth.

Then add the vanilla.

Then add the eggs...one at a time, blending well after each addition.

Throw in the orange zest, O.J. concentrate and the flour. Stir well.

Then pour the batter into your prepared crust.

Wrap the pan in foil then put it inside a larger pan. Fill with hot water to about half way up the sides of the springform pan. Then bake!

Allow to cool. Run a knife around the edge to loosen cake from pan. I was pretty proud that my cheesecake developed NO cracks!!! Yay!

Orange Glaze
1/3 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 c. orange juice
A few drops of orange food coloring (optional)

Here's what you need for the glaze.

Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.

Pour in the orange juice and allow to cook until thick on medium heat, stirring constantly. Allow to cool then pour over cooled cheesecake. I added a few drops of food coloring to give it a more orange look...as you can tell by the NEON orange in the very top picture. Yikes!