Orange Cheesecake and Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet

Well.  This week has been hectic, thus, no cooking.  Every night was homework, homework, and more homework with no time for anything else, not even swimming. Mon dieu!  I didn't even make anything today, except for some granola bars, which were fine, but not perfect, as I didn't have the recipe to go by. 

So I figure that I ought to give you an overview of  last Saturday, when I made the cheescake and Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet.  Last Friday was my Mom's birthday and I figured I should do something interesting, thus the Joconde Imprime/Entremet was perfect.  It is a showstopper, a sponge cake wrapper filled with custards and creme and whatever you like.  Or it is in theory.  Mine was decent.  A bit sugary, and not terribly beautiful.  For this reason there are no pictures, except for those of the mess.  It was made hurridly because though I thought I had two days to work it turned into one, and I also had to make a cheesecake.  You don't realize how long it takes to make frangipane, orange curd, meringue, lady fingers, chocolate mousse, bananas foster, cheesecake, and a biscuit joconde all in one day until you actually do.  Let me tell you, it's a whole lot.  My feet ached from standing for six hours.  Yet, I will probably try and make it again sometime, which is evidence of how crazy I am.

Orange Curd

Ginger Snaps



As I said though, the compilation of all of these entremets was a bit sugary for me.  I would say if you were trying to make this with a variety of fillings you should probably decrease the sugar in the invidual recipes substantially.  You should also take care to chill the Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet for a good period of time all together to prevent things from oozing everywhere.  That's my advice at least.

Now, I am not going to bother to give you all the recipes used for the entremets, because I don't have the patience to type them all up.  I will tell you where I got them though as well as give you the recipes for the cheesecake and the link to the Daring Baker's Biscuit Joconde recipe.  The meringue, ladyfingers, and frangipane all came from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  The chocolate mousse, bananas foster, orange curd, and cheesecake came from "Joy of Cooking."

The cheesecake actually turned out wonderfully.  The only problem was that it was a bit soft in the middle, so I might advise you cook it longer than an hour in the water bath or really make sure you chill it.  The original recipe called for a thinner graham cracker crust, but because I wanted to make an orange cheesecake I figured gingersnaps would be the better choice.  It has a wonderful orange flavor and smooth texture.   The recipe and link to the Daring site are below:

Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet
Creamy Orange Water-Bath Cheesecake
Adapted from Creamy Water-Bath Cheesecake recipe in "Joy of Cooking"

Have all ingredients at room temperature, about 70 degrees.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with:

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Mix together:

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps (I used Pamela's Gluten-Free)
2 Tablespoon salted butter, melted

Press into the pan. Not all spots will necessarily be covered.  Beat in a large bowl until smooth, 30-60 seconds.

2 pounds (4 8-ounce packages) cream cheese

Scrape the sides of the bowl and the beaters well.  Gradually add and beat until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes:

1 1/3 cups sugar

Beat in one at a time just until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl and beaters after each addition:

4 large eggs

Add and beat on low speed just until mixed:

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
Zest of half an orange
Juice of two clementines (a good way to do this is to make a small slit in the peel and squeeze out the juice)

Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.  Set the pan on a length of wide, heavy duty aluminum foil.  Fold the foil carefully up against the sides of the pan without tearing it.  Set the pan in a large baking dish or roasting pan.  Set the baking dish in the oven and pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the cheesecake.  Bake until the edges of the cheesecake look set but the center jiggles slightly when the pan is tapped, 55 to 60 minutes.  Turn of the oven, open the door slightly, and let the cake cool in the oven for 1 hour.  Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely in the pan before unmolding.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably 24 hours before serving.