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This really easy creamy Chocolate Orange Cheesecake recipe is the ultimate foolproof dessert for Christmas or any other time of year. No need to bake, just follow these simple instructions and you’ll have the best Terry’s Chocolate Orange pudding out there!
When it comes to putting together your Christmas meal plan, this has GOT to be one to consider for cheesecake fans out there.
But let’s face it, we don’t have to just save this Chocolate Orange Cheesecake for Christmas at all. Whether you want an impressive dessert for guests or need a make-ahead offering for a big meal, this is a safe bet.
Anyone can follow any of my foolproof and comprehensive no-bake cheesecake recipes. You don’t have to be a baking expert one bit. I have figured out all the necessary shortcuts and tricks for you.
I love to play around with flavours and themes, and after much testing (and sampling!) I can safely say that this Terry’s Chocolate Orange one is easy and divine.
I hope you and your diners love it too!
Why you’ll love this Chocolate Orange Cheesecake recipe
⭐️ Simple ingredients and easy no-bake method
⭐️ Make ahead for convenience
⭐️ Delicious and impressive enough for a special occasion
How I came up with this recipe
If you know anything about me at all, you’ll probably know that I can’t resist an easy cheesecake, and I have set myself a challenge to create as many different flavoured ones as possible.
When I think about feeding loved ones over the festive period, dessert is obviously very important at the most indulgent time of year.
The issue often is that time and energy are stretched, which is why I usually come back to my no-bake cheesecakes when thinking about what to serve. I just love being able to whip one up then keep it in the fridge until it’s needed.
While I realise Terry’s Chocolate Oranges are not only eaten at Christmas, for me the distinct flavour does remind me of it, which is why I love to serve it then.
If Christmas chocolate cheesecake is right up your street, you could also consider making my Baileys Cheesecake too!
Chocolate Orange Cheesecake Ingredients
For the base:
- Butter – Unsalted is best if you have it. You can melt it quickly in a mug in the microwave
- Digestive biscuits – These crush up well
For the cheesecake:
- Terry’s Chocolate Oranges – You’ll need 2 for this recipe
- Double cream – See tips below on the required whipping consistency
- Cream cheese – I like to use Philadelphia. You can use other brands but I find they are slightly more difficult to combine. Always use full fat and drain before use
- Icing sugar – This will need sifting
- Lemon – Juice only
- Orange extract – If you have it in or really want that stronger flavour
For decoration:
- White chocolate – I use this kind of chocolate to bake with
- Double cream – Whipped
- Terry’s Chocolate Orange segments – You’ll need about a whole one orange
- Orange gel food colouring – Optional. I use this one. Please see tips below
How to make Chocolate Orange Cheesecake
1. Crush the biscuits and mix with butter. Melt the chocolate oranges. Combine the whipped cream, cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and orange essence and fold. Add the cooled chocolate oranges. Smooth on top of the base and cool.
2. When you’re ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin. Melt the white chocolate and colour with a tiny amount of gel colouring. Allow to cool slightly before drizzling over the cake. Pipe the remaining cream and decorate with chocolate segments.
Substitutions
- To make gluten free – Simply use digestive biscuits instead of standard ones. Terry’s chocolate oranges don’t contain gluten but they are made in a factory that uses gluten, so there may be contamination. To avoid the risk altogether you could use your favourite gluten free chocolate brand and double the amount of orange essence used.
Storing
Chilling the biscuit base while you’re making the cheesecake filling will allow it to set and firm up a bit, making it a bit less crumbly when you add the topping.
You can store the cheesecake in the fridge (without the topping) for a MINIMUM of 4 hours and up to 3 days from preparation. The results will be much better if it’s had time to chill overnight.
Leave it in the tin in the fridge and cover with a dinner plate of cling film (but make sure it doesn’t touch the surface of your beautiful cheesecake!)
Can cheesecake be frozen? You can also put the undecorated cheesecake in the freezer in the tin if you want to make it further in advance. Just make sure you defrost it properly in the fridge (again, in the tin) for 24 hours or until completely thawed, then decorate.
Top tips
Food colouring
Of all of my cheesecake recipes, any that use coloured white chocolate, this is the question I get asked most often.
Firstly, you don’t need to do this step if you don’t fancy it or don’t have the food colouring. It’s just decoration.
However, if you are going to do this step, PLEASE only use gel colouring like this one: Sugarflair Gel Food Colour in Tangerine. Anything else always causes a disaster!
This paste is so thick that you only need a little and it doesn’t cause too many problems with the chocolate.
Still, the chocolate can sometimes ‘seize‘ and go kind of thick and lumpy. If it does this, just add a few drops of vegetable oil and beat well. Add more if needed, a little at a time, until the chocolate is smooth again.
One more thing! Only ever use GEL food colour to colour the chocolate. Liquid food colour will make it too thin.
Decorating the cheesecake
Allow the chocolate to cool slightly before drizzling to avoid ‘melting’ the cheesecake. You’ll also get neater lines as slightly cooled chocolate doesn’t spread so easily.
For a neater chocolate drizzle, use disposable piping bags. Just snip the end of the pipe. I use these: Savoy Disposable Icing Piping Bag.
(I know these are not great for the environment, but using reusable bags takes so much detergent to get them clean, I’m honestly not sure of the best option. You can make a simple little bag from baking paper but they are a little more tricky to handle.)
Cheesecake consistency
It should be sliceable but not solid (something like room temperature butter), and it should quiver but not wobble. This will depend on how you’ve whipped your cream. See notes below.
Whipping cream
When whipping the double cream, be sure to watch it very carefully. It should be just forming soft floppy peaks, but still hold its shape. Too runny and the cheesecake will be sloppy, too stiff and it will be too dense.
Icing sugar
Do sift the icing sugar. It will give a much smoother texture to the cheesecake. (Don’t ignore this as I normally do!)
Type of tin
The recipe is for a 7″ tin which is also DEEP (not a standard sandwich cake tin, it will overflow!) You can use smaller or larger but your cheesecake will obviously be taller or shorter. I would DEFINITELY recommend this tin as it is a great size and very easy to use.
FAQs
Yes – cream cheese. But do they taste like cheese? No! They just have a certain kind of creaminess that is so good and honestly does lend itself to a sweet dish.
Use a tin with either a springform (clippable sides) or removable base.
Warm a sharp, thin knife under a hot tap and then dry it. Use this to run around the outside of the cake, inside the tin, before removing it. Remove the knife and wipe as you work your way around the cake.
If you have a removable base, sit the tin on a tall glass and carefully press down so the sides of the tin can slip down lower than the cheesecake and you can easily remove it.
Once it’s out of the tin, it will start to lose its shape a little, so I like to do this no more than 3 hours before serving it. Keep it uncovered in the fridge on a plate or serving platter. You can decorate then or just before serving.
If it’s too runny it’s probably because your cream wasn’t whipped quite enough. No problem – pop it into the freezer for a few hours before serving.
Sure do! Try my very popular Biscoff Cheesecake, my Oreo Cheesecake, my White Chocolate Cheesecake, or my Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Chocolate Orange Cheesecake {No Bake Recipe}
Ingredients
For the base:
- 100 g Butter, Melted
- 200 g Digestive biscuits
For the cheesecake mixture:
- 2 Whole Terry’s Chocolate Orange, 157g each
- 500 ml Double cream, Whipped
- 560 g Cream cheese, Full fat
- 100 g Icing sugar
- Half a lemon, Juice only
- 2 tsp Orange extract, Optional. See notes
For decoration:
- 100 g White chocolate
- 100 ml Double cream, Whipped
- 12 Terry’s Chocolate Orange pieces, About 1 whole Chocolate Orange
- Orange gel food colouring , See notes
Instructions
- Crush the biscuits until they look like lumpy sand. (I do mine in a food processor because I'm lazy!) Whip your cream.
- Mix with the melted butter and press into your 7″ tin.
- Gently melt the 2 Terry’s Chocolate Oranges in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Stir until smooth and then put to one side and allow to cool for 5 minutes while you get on with the next step.
- Combine the whipped double cream, cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and orange essence (if using). Fold in gently until fully combined. Add the cooled melted Chocolate Oranges and stir thoroughly.
- Smooth on top of the biscuit base and flatten the top with the back of a spoon or a palette knife if you have one.
- Put into the freezer for 2 hours, fridge for four hours, or leave over night if you are not in a rush.
- Bring out of the fridge and remove from the tin.
- Melt your white chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water, colour the white chocolate with a tiny amount of gel colouring and allow to cool very slightly before drizzling over the cake in zigzags.
- Pipe remaining whipped cream and decorate with Chocolate Orange segments.
- Share and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
It’s gonna be fantabulous for our Christmas dessert and Boxing Day buffet. What a show stopper 🎶🎶🎵🎵❤️🎶🎶🎵🎵⛄️⛄️🌲🌲⛄️⛄️
Your orange cheese cake sounds good however I like to know what if you can’t get the chocolate orange candy like the recipe calls for, and for digestive biscuits the only thing that’s available is gram crackers so it would be nice if you have a orange cheese cake that is a little less on details too.
Hi I was just asked to make one of these and they were wondering how well it would ship send from newfoundland to Ottawa , I told them I would ask to find out …….I did make this for my nieces birthday this week and everyone loved it my first time ever making cheesecake
I made this for Christmas. Found it easy to make. I didn’t use the orange extract and the cheesecake tasted lovely of orange. I froze a slice to have at New Year. It freezes beautifully.
Will definitely make this again.
I made this cheesecake last. This is the first cheesecake I have ever made. I can’t believe how well if turned out. I’m really pleased. Great recipe and great tips.
Hi there
I have one whole terrys choc orange in Dark would it be ok to use one dark TCO and one milk TCO?
Thanks,
Yes that would be lovely!
Can you freeze this if so for how long
Tip
If you don’t have a loose bottom tin my suggestion would be to tear off some baking paper twice the length of the pans width. If the pan is a 7 inch pan you’ll need about 14/15 inches of paper. Fold in half then in half again, it will then be about 2 inches by 14 inches. Lay across the base of the pan and up each side so that the ends can be used to lift the cheese cake out,
when it’s in place lay the Biscuit base as norma.
Easy to follow recipe and turned out a treat for Father’s day!
Delicious! Super easy to follow recipe. Thanks for sharing!