Blood Orange Cheesecake


Everyone has their favourite go-to dessert recipe. It tends to surface around special occasions and has been around for as long as they can remember.

It’s probably won them a few friends, helped to keep a few more, and is the most requested recipe by these friends. It is both fail-proof and flexible!


I recently realized that this perfectly describes my citrus cheesecake recipe. It’s absolutely my ‘go-to’ recipe.

I’ve been making it for over ten years now and it has served probably hundreds of people at countless celebrations: graduations, baby showers, and birthdays galore.

Why on earth I haven’t shared it with you yet is beyond me! Please forgive the delay–I haven’t been holding out on you on purpose, really–and be sure to give this cheesecake a go.

My last post was so epic, I’ll keep this one short and sweet.


Feel free to use whatever citrus you have on hand. In this recipe I made this cheesecake with blood oranges, which are in season right now, but it’s also lovely with limes, lemons, or clementines.

And if you love cheesecake, try my Wild Blueberry Slab Cheesecake! It’s the best kind of summertime dessert.

Blood Orange Cheesecake
makes a 10-inch round, serves between 8 and 16, depending on how generous you are.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter

Filling:
675 grams cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
zest and juice of one lemon
zest and juice of one blood orange (or regular orange)
5 large eggs, room temperature

Topping:
1 1/2 cups sour cream
juice and zest of one blood orange
1/4 cup sugar


Preheat oven to 350F.
For the crust, melt butter and add to crumbs. Mix well and press into a ten-inch springform pan. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until slightly golden. Cool.

Beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sour cream, citrus zest and juice. Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition, but not too vigorously. Pour over crumb crust and bake for about 40 minutes. Middle will still be slightly jiggly.

Remove from oven and run a sharp knife around the sides, but do not remove ring. Cool 15 minutes on the counter.

Meanwhile, prepare topping. Combine sour cream, citrus zest, citrus juice and sugar. Pour over slightly cooled cheesecake and let stand for half an hour at room temperature.
Chill completely. Remove ring and serve.

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48 Comments

  1. Gorgeous! And so seasonal. I’m totally salivating, and I DID have breakfast this morning! Really.

    What do you do when blood oranges get scarce?

  2. Hi Maria- You can borrow it if you need a ‘go to’!

    Hi Lo- I generally use lemons and naval oranges.

    Hi Abigail- Hmm, don’t think it would ship OK, but you can make this!!

    Hi Cookiepie- Thanks.

    Hi Lynn- It’s proven itself over and over.

    Hi Kristen- That it is. Thanks!

  3. Mmm this look sooo good! Are blood oranges in season now? I bought a 3 lb bag the other day and was wondering what to do with them. Now I know!

  4. Hi Peter- Agh Twitter spilling onto the blog! This could get confusing.

    Hi Lisa- Yep. They make a pretty salad, too, slices and dressed with some shaved fennel.

    Hi Shari- Actually the oranges are pretty sweet themselves, but the dessert it not overly sweet.

    Hi Linda- Thanks! it’s simply done, but effective.

    Hi Suesse- Welcome to UtHC! Thank you for stopping by.

    Hi pigpigscorner- Nice of you to stop by and leave a comment. Welcome!

    Hi Helene- We’re huge cheesecake fans around here, but not everyone feels the same way! Glad you do!

  5. So, you’ve been holding out have you? What else (yummy) haven’t you shared with us? LOL!

    Looks really good. Love how you added those little slices of blood orange. That red is something else!

    Thank you for sharing!
    ~ingrid

  6. This recipe looks absolutely delicious! I want it to be my go-to recipe, too!! How fabulous the layers of crust, cheesecake and sour cream topping look. So elegant and delicious and creamy!

  7. Your cheesecake looks delicious – what a fabulous go-to recipe! My go-to recipe is lemon meringue pie – its something about citrus!

  8. One of your go to recipes was for cheesecake and you have been holding out on us?! I am a total cheesecake fanatic and will being making this asap.
    Thank you 🙂

  9. Wow, beautiful! And I was on the hunt for a great dessert recipe to use my bag of blood oranges on. Thanks! Lovely photos, too!

  10. Hi Lydia- I wasn’t a huge fan before this one…just to say.

    Hi Ingrid- I’ve still got plenty to offer, don’t worry!

    Hi Haidi- The kids will thank you. I hear Marley is a fan.

    Hi Treehouse Chef- Thanks!

    Hi Elyse- I’m happy to share it!

    Hi culinarywannabe- Lime would be amazing.

    Hi Patricia- I thought you’d like this one!

    Hi Lucy- Mmm, I’m due for a LM pie.

    Hi Michelle- Forgive me, OK? 🙂

    Hi Siri- Thanks for stopping by UtHC!

    Hi jenn- Really? I find that surprising. Isn’t Florida like the orange state or something? You could probably grow your own!!

  11. Can I hug you?! This looks so amazing! I’ve never made a cheesecake so beautiful. I’m trying to figure out how much cream cheese you used. 4 (8-ounce) packages? It’s very tall.

    I’m disappointed I haven’t seen any blood oranges this year.. I love them so.

  12. Hi Peabody- So many fans of the blood orange. Who knew?

    Hi M. Housman- Really, it’s fabulous with any citrus.

    Hi Cheryl- Thanks for dropping by!

    Hi Kickpleat- Seriously? Yep, you gotta try this one.

    Hi Emily- Thanks!! A little over 2 pkg. They are 250g each, so two is 500g, and I used 675g.

    Hi Missweb- So?? Hope it came out nice…but I know it did.

    Hi Dawn- Thanks for stopping by UtHC!

  13. This cake looks absolutely stunning! Wow. I can see why you’ve been making it for the last 10 years. =) I love you put little slices of orange on the top of the cake around the edge.

  14. Looks delish! I'm getting ready to make it! I have to improvise, though. I wasn't able to find blood oranges (in Florida, go figure). But I found Blood Orange Juice.
    I decided to reduce the juice down to a simple syrup and I am going to flavor it that way. I figure that will make up for the lack of blood orange zest and fresh blood orange juice.
    I'm also throwing a little spice in there, and using a cinnamon orange spice tea (ground to a powder with my magic bullet) and putting it in the graham cracker crust. 🙂
    I'll let you know how it comes out!

  15. Hey i made this yesterday and im pretty confident your directions are incorrect.

    First there is sour cream listed in the filling ingredients but it is never added in the directions. additionally there is just no way that the cake pictured was made with that ingredient list in a 10in spring form. Thats just under 3 bricks of cream cheese. I made mine in a 9.5 so mine should have been taller than yours but mine came out about 1.5 inches tall. are you sure on that pan? 8 inch seems more likely to turn out as pictured.

  16. Hello,

    I stumbled upon your blog while doing research on blood oranges for class my project. Im in culinary school and for my first phase ending project im adding your cheesecake as part of my project! Thank you!

    Ronnie
    (cookingschoolreject.blogspot.com)

  17. Could someone write his recipe without all the pictures. Would like to print it out but don't like using all the paper and ink that it would take to print everything. Thanks.