I cannot believe that it is March already

So it is time again for a baking challenge.  So I rolled my random dice of things to bake (d20 of course), and up popped cheesecake. I have made many different cheesecakes, but always return to the same couple of recipes just making variations as needed.  I looked through my previous cheesecake notes and realised that I have never made an orange cheesecake. Since I'm cooking for one, pulled out the 12 inch spring form pan, and the cheesecake baked in this pan for 40 minutes.

When I make cheesecakes I always try to use a water bath; but, I have had issues with water seeping into my foil wrapped pan.  So this time I decided, to ditch the water bath and cook at a much lower temperature.

Crust:

• 2 cups of sweet biscuits
• 125 grams of unsalted butter
• 50 grams of sugar

In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.  Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan.  Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling:

• 500 grams of cream cheese
• 250 grams of sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 125 ml heavy cream
• 1 table spoon orange zest
• 75 ml Cointreau
• 10 ml lime juice
• 40 ml cognac
• 150 grams of dark chocolat shavings

In bowl, place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour.  Beat on low speed until smooth (a low speed will stop the surface of the cheesecake bubble and crack when baking), scraping down the bowl as needed.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 60 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, orange zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. 

Pour the cognac, lime juice and 25 ml of Cointreau into a glass.  Add ice and and shake well.  Pour into a sugar rimmed martini glass and enjoy.

Now add the rest of the Cointreau and chocolat shavings to the filling and mix well.  Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling.  Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake for 40 minutes in a 120 degree oven until the center is firm to the touch. 

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!