No Bake Blood Orange Cheesecake Tartlets

Noting that my senior thesis is due in six days,

Alarmed by the amount of writing I still haven't done,

Deeply conscious of a craving for something sweet, brought on by stress eating,

Observing how far away the dorm kitchen is,

Expressing my deep exasperation at the fact that this cheesecake wouldn't set when I tried to make it in a cake pan,

I, Caroline, hereby 

Proclaim the existence of this wonderful cheesecake tart that requires no oven or walks in the cold to the kitchen

Congratulate myself on salvaging the orange cheesecake that wouldn't set but tasted really good,

Encourage all stressed college students (as well as humans of the non-college non-stressed variety) to make this cheesecake.

Signed,

Caroline Zhang
thesising senior

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No Bake Blood Orange Cheesecake Tartlets

Yields: six 4-inch tartlets

Ingredients
For the Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling
8 oz. white chocolate
16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice
zest of two medium blood oranges

For Assembly
1 blood orange, thinly sliced
zest of one blood orange, for sprinkling (if desired

Directions
Make the crust. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Distribute equally between six mini tart pans. 

With a spoon or your hands, firmly press the graham cracker mixture evenly along the sides and bottom of the tart pans. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to allow the crust to firm up.

Make the filling. Place the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave on medium power for about 90 seconds, or until the chocolate is melted. Make sure to stop every 30 seconds to give it a good stir or else the white chocolate might burn. Let the chocolate cool until it is lukewarm, but not set.

With an electric mixture (or some elbow grease), whisk the cream cheese with the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl until it is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the zest and blood orange juice.
While whisking continuously, pour in the melted white chocolate, and whisk until smooth. (If you pour in the chocolate while it is still hot, it may form lumps in the cheesecake).

Spoon the cheesecake mixture between the six tart pans. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Decorate with orange slices and zest, and enjoy!

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Chocolate-Orange Marbled Muffins

Well, it's that time of year again. You know, those couple of weeks after holiday festivities but before Valentine festivities when you're supposed to atone for all that wonderful fattening food you ate in the last couple of weeks, and to make resolutions, and be virtuous? Or something like that.

I'm not good at being virtuous about food, but I'll give it a try. Sacrificing for the greater good. For you guys. With these muffins.

Actually, I just came across a picture of these little marbled muffins, and wanted to give them a try, while also just happening to come across a yogurt-based muffin recipe. But they are delicious and taste very rich and are actually not bad for you. These muffins make a great breakfast or afternoon snack, and the chocolate and orange flavor combination is really delicious.

The only tricky part of this recipe is that you have to make two different batters, and are essentially making two different kinds of muffins. It's definitely worth the effort and the extra dirty bowl, though. The chocolate-orange flavor combination makes the muffins seem really decadent and rich, and reminds me of these Lindt chocolates.

Left: dry ingredients for the orange muffin batter. Right: dry ingredients for the chocolate batter.

Wet ingredients for the orange batter.

To assemble, place a spoonful of chocolate batter in a greased muffin tin, then a spoonful of orange batter, and keep alternating until it is filled almost to the rim. Then, give each of the muffins a little swirl with a toothpick.

Then bake, let cool, enjoy, and be virtuous.

Chocolate Orange Marbled Muffins

Click here for the printable recipe
Yields: 12 Muffins | Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients
For the Chocolate Batter:
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup applesauce
1 egg white
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup chocolate chips

For the Orange Batter
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup applesauce
1 egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
⅓ cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Directions
Grease a 12-count muffin tin. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make the chocolate batter. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, applesauce, egg white, sugar, honey, and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined. Don’t over-mix! Fold in the chocolate chips.

Make the orange batter. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, applesauce, egg white, sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and orange zest.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. Fold in the chopped pecans.

Add a spoonful of chocolate batter to each well of the muffin tins. Add a spoonful of orange batter. Alternate until you run out of batter.

Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375, and bake for another 13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool and serve!