chocolate orange cheesecake Bûche de Noël

chocolate and orange swirled cheesecake with chocolate ganache and chocolate curls make to look like a yule tide log

Course Dessert

Cuisine european

Servings 8

Preheat the oven to 180c 350f, grease and line a 24cm 9 inch cake tin with one large piece of baking paper so it covers the entire inside of the tin and over hangs slightly.
Add the oreo's in a food processor (whole with the cream still in them) and process until fine, mix in the orange zest and melted butter and press into tin so you have a base layer and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 160c leave the door open for a minute to help cool it down quicker.

add the chocolate into a bowl over a pan of boiling water to melt.
Meanwhile whisk the mascarpone and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Whisk in the sour cream until combined, then add the eggs and whisk in one at a time, then add the vanilla bean paste and cornflour.
Pour half the mixture into another bowl and whisk in the cocoa powder and melted chocolate and add the orange zest to the other bowl of mixture
Cover the outside of the tin with one large sheet of tin foil so it is completely covered.
Spoon in the mixture into the tin a ladle at a time so you have a pattern. (saving enough of the white mixture to use as layer for the top, save a little chocolate mixture and add to a piping bag to pipe some rings on top.
Tap the tin to remove any air pockets and place in a large baking tray and place in oven, then carefully pour in enough water to come half way up the tin, then bake for 75-85 minutes until set
There should be a slight wiggle when you move it in the centre.
Turn oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 2 hours with the door ajar
Remove from the oven and let cool on the side for 30 minutes before putting in the fridge for at least 3 hours or over night.
once chilled remove from tin and place on a serving plate. (if a crack appears dont worry it adds to the log effect)

finely chop chocolate. then in a pan add the cream and heat until it starts to simmer.
Add the chopped chocolate and whisk together until the chocolate has melted and its shiny. let cool for 10 to 15 minutes then using a spatula spread around the outside of the cheesecake. then press on chocolate curls and dust with icing sugar
Keeps for three to four days in the fridge

I find it easier to melt one bar of chocolate at a time to make these
Add some chopped chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water until its melted
take a clean marble slab or the base of a large cookie sheet (you need a smooth surface) and pour a small amount of chocolate onto it and spread it out thinly with a pallet knife.
Leave to cool until its almost set, you should be able to touch it and leave an imprint but it not feel wet,
With a sharp cold knife held at an angle push the knife over the chocolate and encourage it to roll up into cigars, place to one side to set hard. (you can trim them to size while they are still soft. then remelt the chocolate and make the next batch.
Place around the cake, chill for 20 minutes to set the ganache
Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Keyword Bûche de Noël, cheesecake, chocolate, orange, yule log