White Chocolate (Blood Orange Mirror) Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Crust

Say Cheese…CAKE! Well, White Chocolate Vanilla Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Crust and an optional Blood Orange Mirror with Candied Blood Orange Slices and 1000 White Chocolate Straws/Curls (well, not really 1000, but it seems like it lol).

Yep, it’s that time of the month again, Daring Bakers.  Hmmm..what could the challenge be? Oh, once again, I gave it away above.  Silly me.

White Chocolate Blood Orange Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and a Deconstructed version of it as Parfaits using cheesecake mousse!

Every month, Daring Bakers wait eagerly for the announcement of the next month’s challenge.  When the day comes, you keep refreshing the page in hopes of seeing..’Insert Month’  challenge is here’ or something along those lines. OR, you come home looking forward to checking it out (for people who have lives; a category that eludes me at this juncture).

This month was no exception, and when I saw cheesecake, my brain went into overdrive, especially when I read we could take this particular recipe and dress it up beautifully, and/or add any flavors we wanted to “..be creative!!”  I must have made a thousand different cheesecakes in my life, so wow, I was going to run with this one.  Then something weird happened. I went blank.

NO freakin’ idea why my frontal lobes suddenly put up a velvet rope and wouldn’t let me in no matter how much I pleaded.  Holy moly, I had cheesecake block! How could this happen? Cheesecake is an empty canvas of countless possibilities! It must be a tumor or an aneurysm waiting to burst (I’d like to introduce you to hypochondriac me).  Nope, it’s just plain old cheesecake block.

What the…?

White Chocolate Blood Orange Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and a Deconstructed version of it as Parfaits using cheesecake mousse!

I resorted to surfing recipe sites and numerous food blogs, pouring through my vast collection of cookbooks, and pulling out dozens of my own or handed down recipes for unique cheesecake ideas, but NOTHING, and I mean, NADA, inspired or excited me. This was getting bad.  Okay, it’s probably the pain meds I still take on occasion for my knee when I have physical therapy..it has to be.

White Chocolate Blood Orange Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and a Deconstructed version of it as Parfaits using cheesecake mousse!

I finally gave up, and decided to keep it simple.  I’d always wanted to try the Strawberry Mirror Cake from a past DB Challenge B.I.J (before I joined), so I figured I’d make the mirror part of that recipe, but, I really wasn’t feelin’ the strawberry mirror, I wanted something a little off the beaten path.  So, a simple white chocolate vanilla cheesecake with a fruity mirror would be my boring, albeit tasty, submission. But, what fruit?

After eating a lunch of blood orange slices mixed into plain yogurt, I decided on a blood orange mirror, which came out a little darker than I’d anticipated, and my lousy photo skills and lack of natural light failed to capture the ‘mirror effect’.  But, it was there; I could sort of see myself in it. Well, if you count a slight shadow as ‘sort of seeing’ oneself.

I knew I would have to gussy it up as best I could, so I made 1000 white chocolate straws/tubes/curls (whatever you want to call them), candied blood orange slices, and blood orange dust (I dried some strips of blood orange peel in the oven, then ground it into a powder).  I also add some fresh ginger and salted cashews to the graham cracker crust.

Then a light-bulb moment: I know how I could make it more interesting – make the cheesecake as planned, then make a deconstructed version of it!

White Chocolate Blood Orange Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and a Deconstructed version of it as Parfaits using cheesecake mousse!I should have cut the white chocolate curls in half or made shorter ones.  It looks like my cheesecake is incarcerated.

If you use the blood orange mirror (or make just an orange mirror), with the added orange zest combined with the creamy white chocolate in the cheesecake, it’s like eating a dreamsicle/creamsicle; an orange dreamsicle/creamsicle cheesecake! Without the white chocolate it just tastes like an orange cheesecake (not that that’s a bad thing, but we want true orangey vanilla flavor in this cheesecake!)

I’m sure many of you remember the deconstruction fad of the late 90’s – early millennium, and in fact, it’s still going on, but there was a time when every restaurant seemed to deconstruct almost everything on their menu.  In the best case scenarios, you got a decent plate of food, arranged in ways that were delicious and incredibly creative.

Unfortunately, at many of the more expensive restaurants in the city, you got a plate of almost nothing; translation –  “I’ll have the deconstructed lemon meringue pie for dessert”.  Cut to several minutes later; an elegant looking plate containing one candied lemon slice, one toasted homemade marshmallow, and a small shortbread cookie, was placed in front of me.  $17.00 for this plate of bird kibble? Are you freakin’ kidding me?

Waiter – “Well, you’re supposed to eat it all at once so you get the lemon meringue pie in one bite.”

Me – “Then you better give me ten more plates of this so it equates to an actual slice of pie ; no extra charge, Skippy!”

I digress.

What makes this deconstruction slightly cool is that it’s an exact replica of Jen’s recipe and my additions, but each component is prepared in a different way, except for the blood orange mirror.  I made a sort of a sabayon, en Francais…zabaglione en Italiano, by beating half the eggs (well, one egg and one yolk) over a bain marie (a bowl placed over a pot of hot, simmering water, the bottom of the bowl not touching the water.) with the sugar, orange liqueur, and lemon juice until light and fluffy, then folding it into the cream cheese-white chocolate mixture along with the heavy cream, which I whipped to make a cheesecake mousse.

After using half the graham cracker crust for the cheesecake with 1000 ‘too tall’ white chocolate straws/tubes/curls, I took the rest and toasted it in the oven to make a streusel for my – *insert flashing bulbs around this title* :

White Chocolate-Blood Orange Cheesecake Mousse Parfaits with Salted Cashew-Ginger Graham Streusel 

OK, hoopla over.  Yes, many have created amazing cheesecake parfaits, and the JELLO company would probably be having a good laugh right about now if it ran into this post (not likely), but it’s special to me.

White Chocolate Blood Orange Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and a Deconstructed version of it as Parfaits using cheesecake mousse!

SO, for the parfaits, I juiced the oranges in one of those grinding super juicers.  Unless you feel like skimming tons of foam off the top of the juice, (no matter how much you skim it, it seems to keep multiplying and never clears – like The Blob in foam form), DO NOT use one of those juicers if you’re going to make a gelee or mirror. I couldn’t get that damn juice clear, like it was for the cheesecake with 1000 ‘to tall’white chocolate straws/curls, in which I squeezed the juice out each orange with a hand juicing gadget.

This in turn led to a cloudy ‘gel’, and nope, I couldn’t see myself in it, not to mention, it didn’t seem to set up as well, resulting in a sloppy looking, bleeding parfait.  Even the color was off! BAH! Thank god it tasted good, or I probably would have decorated my trash with it.

WOW, I’ve really veered off the DB challenge, but what else is new?  I’m a rambling woman.  Okay, first let me start out by saying that the recipe from Jenny, of Jenny Bakes, is one the best cheesecake recipes I’ve ever baked/tasted; no lie.  This cheesecake is heaven, so everyone who reads this must try it as is, without my additions, at least once.  Of course you can take it in many different directions, but just go with it plain to start, and you’ll see what I mean.  I’ll post the original recipe, then just add my additions afterwards with these —> **.

White Chocolate Blood Orange Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and a Deconstructed version of it as Parfaits using cheesecake mousse!

OH – I forgot THE PARAGRAPH – blahhddy, blahhddy, blah, blah, blah.  Just kidding, here it is;

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.  Thanks Jenny and Abbey!

White Chocolate Blood Orange Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and a Deconstructed version of it as Parfaits using cheesecake mousse!

How to make white chocolate straws/curls

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake with White Chocolate and a Cashew Ginger Graham Crust

White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Crust

Plain ol’ white chocolate vanilla cheesecake without all the froo froo adornment.

By the way, if you can’t find blood oranges, I love sweet satsuma oranges for this cheesecake since they’re so citrus-y and juicy!

Extremely Creamy White Chocolate Blood Orange Mirror Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Crust
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 12 - 16 servings
 
AS mentioned above, the blood orange mirror, candied orange slices, blood orange dust and white chocolate curls are all optional. Make the cheesecake as is, even without the white chocolate because it is the creamiest most amazing cheesecake you will ever have!
ingredients:
  • Crust
  • 2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoon / 24 g sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ** I added ½ cup finely chopped, toasted, salted cashews, and 2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger
  • Cheesecake
  • 3 packages of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
  • 1 cup / 210 g sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
  • 1 tablespoon liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake
  • ** I added 6 oz melted and cooled white chocolate and 1 tablespoon Cointreau
Optional Blood Orange Mirror
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Cointreau
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
  • 1¼ cups fresh blood orange juice (about 3 to 5 blood oranges)
  • ¼ cup simple syrup (1/4 cup sugar plus ¼ cup water, simmered until sugar is dissolved and is syrupy and clear)
  • Optional Candied Blood Orange Slices
directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
  2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan (springform or a lined cake pan see * notes ). You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
  3. Melt the white chocolate. Set aside to cool. Combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, melted and cooled white chocolate, and alcohol of your choice (if using) and blend until smooth and creamy.
  4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Wrap the springform pan in heavy duty tin foil, or double wrap it in regular tin foil, to prevent any water from seeping in. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is still not airtight, take it out and cover securely with more tin foil.
  5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.
  6. Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.
  7. Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!
Optional Blood Orange Mirror
  1. Place lemon juice, Cointreau and water in a medium bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over this mixture, and set aside until spongy and soft.
  2. Combine fresh blood orange juice and simple syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Pour over gelatin mixture and stir to dissolve gelatin. Place bowl over bowl of ice water and stir occasionally until the mixture is syrupy and just begins to thicken (do not let gel); remove from ice water.
  3. When mixture is syrupy, pour a 1/16-inch layer over the top of set and chilled cheesecake in springform pan. Refrigerate until set.
notes:
* No springform pan? No worries! Just line a 9 or 10-inch round cake pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, making sure you leave some overhang over the sides. Once it's ready to serve and eat, just use the overhang to the cheesecake out of the pan!

NOW let’s take the exact cheesecake recipe above, (dividing the cheesecake batter ingredients in half), and take it apart, then put it back together again in a glass! Everyone will love one of these bad boys!

White Chocolate – Blood Orange Cheesecake Mousse Parfaits with Salted Cashew-Ginger Graham Streusel

White Chocolate Vanilla Cheesecake Mousse
12 oz room temperature cream cheese ( 1 and 1/2 8 oz bars)
3 oz white chocolate, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or the beans from half a vanilla bean)

DIRECTIONS;
1. In a bowl over a simmering pot of water, combine egg, egg yolk, sugar and whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thickened, lifting the bowl off the heat intermittently to prevent the eggs from scrambling.  Continue whisking as you add the lemon juice and orange liqueur at once.  Keep whisking hard until the mixture is thick and doubled in volume  and about 160 F (this is what you call a Sabayon en Francais and Zabaglione en Italiano).  Again, if the mixture is heating too quickly, remove the bowl from the double boiler and continue whisking off the heat.  The whole process should take about 5-10 minutes and you should end up with a thick, fluffy mixture that coats the back of a spoon well.  When ready, set aside to cool.

2. Beat cream cheese until smooth, then beat in the melted white chocolate and vanilla extract or beans.  Lighten with some of the cooled egg (Sabayon/Zabaglione) mixture then fold in the rest.

3. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form and fold into the cream cheese – Sabayon/Zabaglione mixture.

Blood Orange Gelee recipe above

Half of  Salted Cashew-Ginger Graham Crust recipe above

DIRECTIONS:
1 Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.  Spread the salted cashew-ginger graham combination onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet, squeezing some of it into clumps.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, stirring it once or twice to prevent burnt pieces, until lightly toasted.

Assemble Parfaits
1. In 4 to 6 clear glasses, pour a thin layer of the blood orange gelee (mirror) into the bottom of each glass. Place glasses in the fridge to let gelee set.

2. In each glass, top the layer of set blood orange gelee with some of the cheesecake mousse, then with some of the graham cracker streusel, and then another thin layer of the blood orange gelee. Let set again, then repeat above, ending with a thin layer of orange gelee. Top with white chocolate curls, orange dust, gold leaf or whatever suits your fancy, like whipped cream and orange supremes.

NOTE – I messed up and layered it wrong, as you can see in the photos.  I was spacing out, so please forgive me and follow the directions for the correct layering order, instead of the order it is in my photos.

The Creamiest (EVER), seriously) White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Crust and an optional Blood Orange Mirror with Candied Blood Orange Slices and 1000 White Chocolate Curls (well, not really 1000, butt it seems like it lol). #whitechocolatecheesecake #bloodorange #cashew #ginger #whitechocolatecurls
The CREAMIEST White Chooclate Cheesecake with a Ginger Cashew Graham Crust. #whitechocolatecheesecake #whitechocolate #cheesecake #cashews #ginger

 


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111 Responses to White Chocolate (Blood Orange Mirror) Cheesecake with a Salted Cashew Ginger Graham Crust

  1. Zita says:

    Ohh…a single double decker cheese cake, and more…. simply fabolous, Lisa!

  2. Wow. Puts my plain caramel cheesecake to shame. Well done! 🙂

  3. Lisa says:

    This is really gorgeous, creative stuff… and I was GIGGLING at your rant about deconstruction! Bravo!

  4. Lisa, they’re both just gorgeous! And a cheesecake with blood orange mirror could never be considered boring!!

    I love the deconstructed parfait, but the original cheesecake holds my heart. Maybe it’s because the white chocolate curls bring back happy memories of my wedding cake, but I’d go back for slice upon slice of it. Fantastic work!!

  5. ooOOOh, they both look wonderful. I love the idea of a fruit “mirror” on top. I’ll bet it was a nice burst of orange without mucking up the lovliness of the cheesecake.

    Nice work. I really enjoyed your post 🙂

  6. One of the nicest cheesecakes I have seen and the blood orange mirror what a finish. Yes sometimes I get the “mind blanks’ and nothing will fix it good to see that it went away eventually. I just love the 1000 white chocolate curls and the intricate blood orange “curls” you did. Bravo on a wonderful effort. Yours from Audax in Australia

  7. A&N says:

    Wow i really loved the idea of ‘assembled cheesecake’. that is certainly creative! the mousse is a fantastic addition to this as well 🙂

    and i wont write anything about the yankees because…well…you know what happened over the weekend 🙁

  8. Elle says:

    Parfait…cheesecake…parfait…cheesecake? Well, I’ll have some of each please! Totally gorgeous full cake and darling parfaits! Creativity and a hell of a lot of effort and absolutely wonderful.

  9. leanne says:

    my jaw dropped when i saw your cake! gorgeous! so many little things to make it incredible. and blood oranges are always interesting to me!

  10. Sweet Pea says:

    How beautiful, great job!

  11. Kitchen Goddess says:

    OMG That is stunning. What a great take on cheesecake, well done 🙂

  12. jo says:

    Oh wow, this is a masterpiece. Love the cake size one with the white choc spirals around it. Beautiful presentation.

  13. liz2024 says:

    You really outdid yourself! Those are fantastic!

  14. Kendra says:

    Wow! Your cheesecake totally puts my blood orange cheesecake to shame! lol. Guess that’s what I get starting on mine last minute 😛 Fantastic job, I love the styling 🙂

  15. Rosa says:

    Wow, what a beauty! Your cheesecake looks so delicious! A great choice of flavors!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  16. rose says:

    Just gorgeous! Yours really is one of the best!!! Are those white chocolate curls? I am in AWE!

  17. Frank says:

    Wow, this is delicious. Can I get a piece? hehehe…

    yadaboss.com

  18. anna says:

    That’s absolutely beautiful! Blood oranges sound like they’d go so well with the cheesecake.

  19. Alana says:

    Unbelievable! Your cheesecake looks so fabulous. I too surprised myself by struggling to be creative on this one- but I think that the muse certainly struck you well!

  20. Shelly W says:

    Absolutely gorgeous, Lisa! You’re so talented!

  21. Arlette says:

    what a great job you did Lisa,
    as usual… I love your chocolate curls

  22. Candice says:

    That looks awesome. I love the blood orange color!

  23. Andrea says:

    Your cake looks beautiful, but that parfait has stolen my heart. Lovely job!

  24. theanchovist says:

    Your cheesecake is everything BUT boring!! I love the combination..I generally love everything that has a component called “ginger” in it 😉

  25. bonobocakes says:

    I have yet to try a blood orange, however your dessert looks amazing! I love the dark color of the “mirror” against the white of the chocolate and the cheesecake!

  26. Maris says:

    I’m not huge on oranges, so I’ve never tried blood oranges. But really, what could be bad about cheesecake?!

  27. Lisa says:

    Wow – looks amazing and sounds like a lot of work! So very shi-shi of you!! Your posts always make me laugh. How many white chocolate curls again?… 😉

  28. Jenny Tan says:

    OMG…that looks sooo yummy!!! There are so many DB’posts that makes me feel like diving into the screen if I could, and yours is one of them! I am so intimidated w/ the chocolate curls! 1000 curls — salute to u! 😉

  29. Kitty says:

    My jaw is on the floor! You are amazing!

  30. Esi says:

    It looks like you overcame your cheesecake block quite well. This is amazing. I am so loving blood oranges right now.

  31. Cupcake says:

    Your cheesecake colors are lovely! What a creative presentation and flavor combo!

  32. Elissa says:

    Ohmygod. This is a ridiculously good idea. The curls around the cheesecake are amazing! I’m really impressed! It’s hard to say which version is more stunning… what a great job!

  33. isabelle says:

    wow Lisa !! c’est absolument magnifique ! et quelle belle présentation !
    c’est l’un des plus beau défis que j’ai vus 🙂

  34. Lauren says:

    Mmm, your cheesecake looks amazing!! I love what you did with the recipe =D.

  35. Jamie says:

    Ummm this is freaking gorgeous! LOVE LOVE LOVE the parfait version!

  36. Claire says:

    Okay…can I just say that BOTH forms of your cheesecake are GORGEOUS! I love the white chocolate rolls. I think that I would devour the deconstructed version…it is WONDERFUL!

  37. rachel says:

    Your cake looks really worth all that effort.

  38. Barbara says:

    Both versions are stunning!

  39. Patricia says:

    Wow! Very clever. You obviously have a lot of energy (and talent). I forgive you for not being a SF Giants fan : )

  40. kitchenm says:

    Wow, very creative and they look amazing!! Very well done!

  41. Y says:

    Wow and wow again, Lisa! The parfait version is so stunning! I want to try it (and I don’t even like cheesecake)!!

  42. Little Miss Cupcake says:

    Geez Louise, do these look fabulous! Love your creative take on the cheesecake recipe and the flavor combinations sound amazing! Great job!

  43. shellyfish says:

    Wow! More than amazing! I am blown away by your effort and creativity – and my mouth is watering to boot! Bravo for a beautiful challenge (I think the parfait is my favourite).

  44. littlelisa says:

    WOW. The parfaits blew me away. Actually, all of it is just amazing. Congratulations on such a great result.

  45. sunita says:

    Absolutely fabulous creations 🙂

  46. Tina says:

    Your cheesecake looks amazing and the colour of the blood orange… wow!

  47. morgana says:

    What an original presentation. I love your cheese cakes.

  48. thedcdish says:

    Thank you for such warm welcomes! Your cheesecake is so beautiful and the color of that blood orange is absolutely stunning.

  49. deeba says:

    WOW Lisa, just gorgeous. I love everything about your challenge, & the parfaits too. Drop-dead gorgeous lady! Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

  50. Lisa, WOW! You’ve really excelled here. That is jaw droppingly beautiful!! 😀 I am so in awe!

  51. pixie o says:

    stunning, both of them! and the photographic skills are ther! My mouth is watering! bravo!!!!

  52. pixie o says:

    stunning, both of them! and the photographic skills are ther! My mouth is watering! bravo!!!!

  53. Hexe says:

    Beautiful color contrast between the blood oranges and the creamy cheesecake. And your parfaits certainly don’t look like the jello version my Mom used to make 🙂

  54. Lori says:

    You crack me up. My husband says things like that, “Oh my God I have a tumor.” Goodness.

    And so funny I say what the fruk and you say what the flock.

    I just bought some blood oranges, hmmmm. Your creation is inspired and I love the parfaits. Very beautiful.

  55. Extraordinary flavor combination: blood oranges, cashews, ginger, vanilla, and white chocolate. I can almost taste it!

  56. I was laughing out loud while reading your post Lisa. It was too funny…:)) I love your cheesecake as well as the parfait! Beautiful!! I can’t believe you made a 1000 cheesecakes before! This was my very first!! 🙂

  57. Junie Moon says:

    I’m so glad to hear that I’m not the only one who suffered angst whilst trying to come up with something unique. It’s fun discovering your thinking process in meeting this challenge–and you conquered the project in such a special way. I’m super impressed!

  58. Ramya says:

    Wow, what an innovative challenge. They look damn cute and very impressive. Good job1

  59. jpmoore88 says:

    lol! great post and great looking cheesecake! I love the white chocolate logs. I bet this tasted delicious 🙂

  60. Juliana says:

    No words to describe…just amazing!

  61. BitterSweet says:

    Absolutely GORGEOUS cake, but I have to say that I like your verrines even more! Such a fantastic combination of flavors and colors.

  62. White Chocolate-Blood Orange Cheesecake Mousse Parfaits with Salted Cashew-Ginger Graham Streuse = genius.

    Gorgeous job Lisa!! LOVE both the parfait and the cake. Beautiful!!!

  63. ingrid says:

    I was laughing the whole time was reading this….you, my friend are a NUT! 🙂 Seriously I have stupid smile on my face. Even when the recipe isn’t a challenge you make it one. You remind me of Devon, one of the twins, he is the same way. Always challenging and pushing himself. Both of you guys are weird, hee-hee! Nope not me I’d have gone with plain ol’ cheesecake. Yours look fantastic and the 1000 white chocolate curls, OH< MY<GOODNESS, over the top. The parfait was a great idea too.

    I’m not even going to bring up the Yankees. Really I’m surprised you could post this. I figured you would be in a deep depression after this weekend’s debacle. I will always be a Yankee fan, win or lose but geez it was hard to listen to them blow leads like they did this weekend. The only good part was getting to show the boys that even the Pros make mistakes as Pedroia did on Saturday with both a fielding and base running mistake. (wish our coach could have seen that as at times he forgets these kids are only 12 & 13)
    Peace out sista! 🙂
    ~ingrid

  64. Jess says:

    WOW! Your cheesecake puts my simple lime one to shame! How Gorgeous! It is a definite work of art, and I’m sure it was delicious too! Your parfaits are awesome too!

  65. jen says:

    Beautiful job – the cheesecake variations and the 1,000,000 chocolate curls – I’m in awe!

  66. What can I say? I’m utterly speechless after I read through your post and saw those incredibly yummy beauties. This is a huge achievement. I wish I could eat all of it up for you. 🙂

  67. Amy says:

    Love the parfait – your creations always look so scrumptious. Thanks for your kind words, Amy

  68. kk says:

    oh my goodness!! both are so amazing!! I especially love the white chocolate curls..how much time you must put in your creations! i’m lost for words…wow!! =P

  69. asti says:

    wow.. how gorgeous is that? I’m lost for words. Very interesting flavout combo Lisa.

  70. bakergirlcreations says:

    I think that your cake is one of the most amazing cheesecakes I have ever seen! WOWOWOW! And to think you weren’t inspired…

  71. Cheesecake, white chocolate, blood oranges, gelee and parfaits! Oh, my! You did a lot for this challenge and it looks wonderful and delicious. Your parfait does not look like Jell-O 1-2-3. Yours are much better. 🙂

  72. JennyBakes says:

    I love the surreal feeling that the blood orange color adds to the contrast of the white chocolate curls, and deconstructed is lovely too! I think I glimpsed some poetry there in the middle of your post too, funny. What a great way to stretch your creativity for this challenge!

  73. Elyse says:

    Wow, that parfait is awesome! I love that you did the cheesecake mousse. Sounds light and delicious! And I just adore blood oranges. You’ve got some totally fabulous flavors going on there. (Oh, and by the way, I’m a total hypochondriac, too 🙂 )

  74. I love all the pictures of your cheesecake!! Beautiful presentation and great flavor combinations!

  75. Sophie says:

    Waw,….your cheese cake is a piece of real Food art!
    You are very creative! Waw!!

  76. anjelikuh says:

    You’ve got my vote for the most creative cheesecake so far! omg, im totally in love with your parfaits…… <3 <3 <3

  77. Chantal says:

    Your cheesecake is so fabulous, I’m absolutely terrified of making chocolate curls.

  78. isa says:

    Absolutely gorgeous cake.
    White chocolate and blood orange are a perfect match.
    The curls around the cheescecake are amazing!

  79. peasepudding says:

    Both your creations are fantastic and look amazing and your photography is great! I struggled with natural lighting on mine but yours certainly doesn’t seem to show that, it’s time for me to invest in photography lights…oh no not more gadgets!

  80. culinography says:

    That. Is. Beautiful.

  81. Jude says:

    What a wonderful way to present cheesecake. Love it! Do you fedex?

  82. I love the combination of flavors and the gorgeous color of blood orange. Fabulous job!!!

  83. Esther says:

    Wow that looks wonderful both versions.! I thought about a deconstructed version to but didn’t have time. Your blood oranges are so much redder than the ones we get here they look fabulous.

  84. gine says:

    Hey Lisa, that looks fantastic :-)!!! XOXO

  85. I hope all your blocks turn out like this one, ahahah! The cheesecake is lovely but the parfaits won me over!

  86. lauren says:

    wow! i think your pictures are great! yummy 🙂

  87. Laura says:

    GORGEOUS! I feel totally lazy looking at what you did! And I love cheesecake parfaits also–although I usually save them for when my cheesecake has failed, lol.

  88. Natalie says:

    Wow I am so amazingly jealous of how your cheesecake turned out!! It’s beautiful, bet it tasted gorgeous as well.

  89. melivanilla says:

    Ah Lisa… you’re awesomeness! your cheesecake seems to have a velvety creamy texture, just gorgeous. Wish I could have a little pot to myself.

  90. Valerie says:

    Truly gorgeous! I can’t believe you initially weren’t inspired by this project, you certainly bounced back! Really impressive!

  91. Nikki says:

    Holy cow! what are you saying lousy photo skills?! No way! Your photos are gorgeous! And the cake! Homygosh! With mirror too! (I loved that particular challenge by the way, the chiffon layers are pure awesomeness). And the deconstructed version! woot woot! Just looking at the streusel flavour combination is making my eyes water @_@

  92. Laura says:

    Oooh I love the look of your cheesecake, those chocolate curls must have taken ages to make! The comment I made on the DB forum… I meant pics of my kitchen! I realised it didn’t sound like that after I hit post though doh! I need to figure out how to post pics directly to the forum!

  93. Martha says:

    Holy cheesecake! Thanks for your comment on my blog — your site is beautiful! Something to aspire to. Enjoy the next challenge!

  94. amelia says:

    Haha! Your post had me snickering to myself the whole way, with the fellow in the library in the next seat thinking I must have finally cracked under exam stress! Really beautiful creations, the parfait looks perfect =)

  95. Ente says:

    Those cheesecake parfaits look so tasty. I love orange and white chocolate (the sweet and tangy) but I have never tried it with blood oranges. I’ll have to dive in and give it a try.

    Thanks for stopping by and visiting my site.

    If you are interested I added a recipe, of sorts, for the PB Bacon Cheesecake, since I polished off the first batch and have none to share.

  96. That’s pretty much the most gorgeous cheesecake I’ve ever seen. Totally should be sitting in a dessert shop somewhere. Wait a minute… did you buy this? 🙂

  97. You. Are. A. Riot.

    I just got home from my “offline vacation” and your comment on my blog…and now your post…are cracking me up.

    I love the idea of a parfait and I loveeeee blood orange, so I’m all in on this one! And those white chocolate curls on the cake…are PERFECT! Unlike the Yankees’ pitching (WTF?!) but that’s a whole other post…

    Laura (of the margarita and not chocolate cheesecake variety, lol 😉

  98. Aparna says:

    You’re saying you didn’t have any creative ideas? You must be kidding, right?
    Both the cheesecake and the parfait look wonderful and the flavours look and sound great to me.

  99. Teenie says:

    OMG! Your parfaits turned out beautiful! Love what you did with the blood red oranges!

  100. lisamichele says:

    Thank you all for the lovely and flattering comments. Yes, they are white chocolate curls, and although I didn’t make 1000, I came close to 100 since white chocolate is so soft, so it takes several tries to get more than three per sheet!

    Jude – No, I don’t fed-ex, as I’m not doing any selling now due to my injury and well, the lack of a professional kitchen!

    Lori – By the time I got to the 50th white chocolate curl, I wished I’d bought one..LOL

    Ingrid – I hear you on teaching your kids how pro’s make mistakes too, but did you have to use Dustin Pedroia as an example? LOL j/k

  101. melissapher says:

    Your cake looks divine!

  102. Teanna says:

    I can’t even express how amazing this is. I mean, the white chocolate curls around the sides… totally speechless! And then the layers… wow wow wow so so so impressed!

  103. Monica says:

    Yum! Yum! I want to make this!

  104. mybricole says:

    Love the curls around the edge, they really make a great statement.
    How beautiful.

  105. nico says:

    I love it!!!! super nice

  106. Olga says:

    I came over to check out your gnocchi challenge, but this takes the cake..haha…I crack myself up. Absolutely stunning!

  107. Pingback: Braised Chicken, Cheesecake and the Winner of the Free Lotion « Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives

  108. mmm… sounds delish!

  109. Pingback: Caramel Banana Custard Pudding Cheesecake with Salted Cashew Praline - Vanilla Wafer Crust - parsley sage sweetparsley sage sweet

  110. Diedra says:

    YES, this is definitely the most creamy cheesecake (with and without white chocolate. I made it both ways.) EVER. It literally melts in your mouth. Thank you for pinning this!

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