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Zilinski

Kitchen

Zilinski Blossom Cheesecake

Image Credit to Vectorilla

The directions seem long and complicated, but that's only because a perfect cheesecake involves a number of small steps. I invented this recipe when I worked as a baker at a gourmet restaurant. It is creamy and floral, perfect for a spring dessert.

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Ingredients for Crust

• ³⁄₄ c. graham cracker crumbs
• ³⁄₄ c. lady finger crumbs
• ½ c. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp orange extract
• 6 TBS melted butter

Ingredients for Cake

• 2 ½ lb cream cheese, soft
• 1 ³⁄₄ c. sugar
• 3 TBS flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 large eggs
• ¼ c. heavy cream
• 1 TBS rose syrup
• 1 TBS orange blossom water
• Red and yellow food coloring

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Spray a deep-dish cake pan with butter, then line with parchment paper.
2. Mix the crumbs, extract, and the sugar together in a small bowl, then add the melted butter to the crumb mixture and press it into the bottom and sides of the cake pan.
3. In a large mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. You cannot over mix the cream cheese at this point, so make sure there is not a single lump in it when you are done. Use your hands to scrape the cream cheese from the paddle and sides of the bowl between mixings until no lumps are left at all! Mix until fluffy.
4. Add the sugar and flour and mix well, but do not over-mix. Add the yolks and mix until just incorporated. Add the eggs and mix until just incorporated.
5. At this point, mix it with your hands to make sure that nothing has settled on the bottom. Add the heavy cream and mix very briefly. If the cheese cake cracks during cooking, it's because you over-mixed.
6. Divide the batter equally between two bowls. In one bowl, gently fold the rose flavoring into the batter. In the second bowl, gently fold the orange blossom flavoring, two drops of red food coloring and three drops of yellow food coloring into the batter.
7. Pour half of the rose batter in the cake pan so it completely lines the bottom. Tilt the pan so that the rose batter also lightly covers the sides. Gently add the orange batter to the pan so it covers the rose batter; leave ¼ c. for the marbelization. Put the remaining rose batter on top of the orange batter layer, and then use a spoon to create a spiral of orange blossom batter on the top of the cake. Use toothpicks to draw batter from the middle of the cake to the sides of the cake and you will get a nice pretty design.
8. Bake the cake for one hour at 300 degrees. If it is not humid enough, you may have to put a water bath in the bottom of the oven to prevent the cake from drying. The cake is done when the center of the cake is firm to the touch, though it may jiggle a lot. The sides will have risen up only slightly and may even have begun to crack. Let the cake cool on a rack for a few hours until it is down to room temperature before attempting to remove it from the cake pan. Removing it too soon will cause it to collapse. When it has reached room temperature, you may remove it from the mold and freeze or refrigerate it. Serve well-chilled.

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