Mandarin & Ginger Cheesecake

What the hell was I thinking doing an upside-down cheesecake? There's absolutely nothing wrong with a right-way-around cheesecake. That is what I was thinking to myself as I was staring at this. The only motivation I had in the beginning was that I was too lazy to make a full size cheesecake and I wanted more biscuit in my cheesecake without having to stab my fork through a hard brick crust at the bottom of a pan.

I adapted this recipe from a plain mandarin cheesecake recipe. I've been dying to use ginger nut biscuits as a cheesecake base and I thought mandarin and ginger would make a nice combination. The actual cheesecake filling is wonderful and matches really well with the ginger nut biscuit case. I just don't think I'd make it upside down again haha. It did make it easier to get a good amount of biscuit with each mouthful of cheesecake, but boy was it messy to eat! I also tried to turn one out of its mould and that was okaayy, but definitely not as good-looking as it was in its cup. So while it was quite pretty to look at, it all seemed kind of pointless in the end!

Ginger & Mandarin Cheesecake
(adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Mandarin Cheesecake)

I'll describe all the components separately and you can choose how to construct it yourself :)

For the cheesecake:
300g mandarin segments (tinned or fresh, peeled and deseeded)
1 tbsp candied ginger, finely chopped
400g cream cheese
2 vanilla pods
100g icing sugar
1 orange, zest only
300ml heavy cream
Drain the mandarin segments and mix together with candied ginger. Set aside (or place at the bottom of your moulds).

Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl. Split the vanilla pods open, scrape out the seeds and mix them into the cream cheese. Sift in the icing sugar and grate in the orange zest. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until you reach soft peaks, then fold it into the cream cheese mixture to combine.

Spread the mixture on top of the biscuit base (or in the individual moulds) and use a palette knife, or the back of a spoon, to level it out. Chill in the freezer for a minimum 5 minutes.* When ready to serve arrange the mandarin segments on top and carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin.

*Note: if you don’t wish to eat the cheesecake immediately you can allow the cream mixture to set in the fridge for half an hour rather than using the freezer.

For the crust:
175g ginger nut biscuits (store bought, or you can make them from scratch like I did)
Approx 1 tbsp melted butter

Lightly grease a 20cm/8" spring-form cake tin with butter if you are constructing a traditional single cheesecake. To make the base, place the biscuits into a food processor and blend to form fine crumbs. Add butter 1 tsp at a time and stir to combine. Take care when adding the butter, the ginger nut biscuits (especially the ones you bake yourself) do not need much butter before they become too oily. I only ended up using about 1/2 a tablespoon. Transfer the mixture into the cake tin (or individual moulds) and press over the tin base, to spread evenly. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes to set.

Whether you construct the normal cheesecake or decide to be a nutbag like me and do an upside down one in individual serves, this cake is really yummy. A has always insisted that mandarins are the most perfect cheesecake fruit. I think I've had enough mandarin cheesecakes to agree with him.