Orange-Ginger Chocolate Cheesecake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Crust
1 (18 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix (without pudding)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Filling
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Candied Orange Peel
2 oranges, washed and dried
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a 10 inch springform pan.
Make crust:
Measure out 1/2 cup of cake mix and set aside.Place remaining cake mix in large mixing bowl.
Add remaining crust ingredients to cake mix. Blend with mixer on low speed for about 2 minutes. Stop machine, scrape down sides of bowl so the batter comes together in a ball.
With your finger tips, pat dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan until smooth. Set aside.
Filling:
In the same mixing bowl you used for the crust, mix cream cheese and sweetened, condenesed milk on low speed until well mixed.
Add eggs, reserved cake mix, orange juice and orange zest.
Beat at medium for 1 minute, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.
Pour filling onto the crust and smooth with spatula.
Bake for 68-72 minutes, or until browned and shiny, but center still jiggles slightly when shaken.
Just before bake time is over, mix sour cream, brown sugar, and ginger in a small bowl.
Spread topping over cheesecake when it is done, then return pan to oven until topping sets, 7-8 minutes.
Remove cheesecake from oven, let cool for 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate overnight, or until ready to serve.
Candied orange zest: (optional garnish for top of cheesecake).
Use a zester, or a sharp paring knife to cut long strands of orange peel from oranges.
Place sugar and water into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar completely dissolves and the syrup comes to a simmer.
Drop the orange zest into the syrup and stir so the strands are covered.
Let barely simmer for 1-1/2 hours, or until zest is translucent. The longer you cook it, the crunchier the zest will be.
With metal tongs, remove zest from pan and let dry on a metal rack for several hours.
After the zest cools, but before it completely dries, it will be flexible so that you can curl or twist it to make it more ornamental.
When the zest has dried, store it in a tightly covered container.
For an even tastier treat, dip dried strands into melted chocolate!