Blood Orange Cheesecake

Total Time: 2 hrs 25 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 1/4 cups butter cookie crumbs
• 1/4 cup pecans, toasted and ground
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese, drained
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon blood orange zest
• 1/3 cup blood orange juice
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon blood orange zest
• 2 tablespoons blood orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon blood orange zest

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°; grease a 9-inch springform pan with 3 inch sides.
• 2 make the crust: in a bowl, combine cookie crumbs, pecans, and butter; press mixture into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.
• 3 filling: in a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, and sugar on med-high speed for 3 minutes.
• 4 add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
• 5 mix in flour, blood orange juice, zest, nutmeg, and vanilla; pour over frozen crust.
• 6 bake for 45-55 minutes or until top is light brown and the center has a slight jiggle to it.
• 7 cool on the counter for 10 minutes (do not turn the oven off); the cake will sink slightly.
• 8 topping: in a bowl, combine the sour cream, sugar, zest, juice, and vanilla; pour mixture into center of cooled cake and spread out to edges.
• 9 bake for 5 minutes; cool on a rack for 2 hours.
• 10 cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before decorating or serving.
• 11 decoration: do this just before ready to serve--in a well-chilled bowl, whip cream on med-high speed until soft peaks form.
• 12 with the mixer still running, sprinkle sugar into cream and continue whipping until firm peaks form.
• 13 ice top of cake with whipped cream or piped rosettes around top of cake; sprinkle with zest; serve immediately.