A creamy mascarpone cheesecake flavored with stem ginger and orange, topped with pomegranate orange curd and a torched brown sugar clementine meringue.
Jump to RecipeThis is such an easy cheesecake base to prepare as you won’t need a water bath, or have to worry about cracks. Its just whizzed together in a blender and baked at a low temperature for about an hour – 1 hour 15 minutes.
The meringue topping has some clementine juice in it. I know it feels risky to add any liquid to meringue but it is whisked over the heat and then torched not baked.
There was a pomegranate tree in the garden of the house we stayed at for the storyteller retreat i attended in Provence back in October.
The flavours of the cheesecake are great for the festive season. It’s really easy to prepare too. I always think of the cheesecake part of this recipe as no fail, as you cant really go wrong with it. I have adapted it many times and used lemon zest in the mixture and lemon curd and that works great too.
The mascarpone makes it so silky and creamy. I recommend pouring it through a sieve to remove any lumps.
You could swap the mascarpone for ricotta if you prefer.
The recipe
Pomegranate and orange mascarpone cheesecake
Course: Dessert6- 8
servings30
minutes1
hour15
minutesIngredients
- Gingernut base
185g gingersnap biscuits
75g unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
- Stem ginger orange Cheesecake
300g mascarpone cream cheese
280g Philadelphia cream cheese
100g double cream
3 eggs and 2 egg yolks
60g light brown sugar
60g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Zest of one large orange or 2 Clementines
2 Balls of stem ginger in syrup finely chopped
1 tsp stem ginger syrup
- Pomegranate orange curd
165g pomegranate juice
80g caster sugar
Zest of two oranges
Juice of half an orange 30g
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs and 3 yolks
1 1/2 tsp cornflour
60g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
Pink or red food colouring
- For the clementine brown sugar meringue
65g egg whites
65g brown sugar
65g caster sugar
30g clementine juice
Directions
- For the gingersnap base, preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a 9 inch baking tin with baking paper.
Tip the gingersnap biscuits into a food processor and grind down into a fine crumb. Mix in the salt and tip in to a bowl. Melt the butter and mix in then spread the mixture into the prepared tin and press down. Bake for 10-15 minutes. remove from the oven and allow to cool. - Turn the oven down to 100c. I leave the door open for a few minutes to let it cool down quicker.
- In a food processor add all of the cheesecake ingredients together. pulse until everything is combined and there are only very fine bits of the ginger.
- Pour the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps and pour it into the cake tin. Tap it a few times to pop any large air bubbles then bake it for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. There should still be a slight jiggle in the middle and the edges set. I check it at 1 hour and give it longer if needed.
Let cool to room temperature then put it in the fridge to set. Ideally it needs to be chilled over night. - To make the curd
- In a small pan add all the ingredients except the butter and food colouring. Mix continuously over a medium heat until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Pour through a sieve into a bowl.
- Mix in the butter a cube at a time until it melts and combines. Add food colouring as needed. Pomegranate curd tends to look grey/brown, so a little natural food colouring makes it a little more appealing. I used a little pink colouring.
- For the clementine brown sugar meringue
- For this you will need a hand held electric whisk, i also use a stand mixer, but if you don’t have one of those you can make it just with a electric whisk.
- Clean and dry the bowl of a stand mixer, and the whisk attachment for that and a hand held electric mixer.
Set the mixing bowl over a pan of water to check it fits doesn’t touch the water. Turn the heat on.
Add the egg whites, sugars and clementine juice. Whisk with the electric whisk over the heat for about 5 -8 minutes until the mixture is thickened and warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the heat and carry on whisking until you get stiff peaks, i do this with the stand mixer so i have my hands free.
Add the meringue into a piping bag and pipe on. Then torch the meringue with a blow torch. - Finishing touches
- Decorate with some thinly sliced bits of Clementine and some pomegranate seeds. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- The whole cheesecake except the meringue can be made in advance and kept in the fridge. If making in advance make the meringue before serving.
