Gluten Free Honey Orange Ginger Cheesecake with Blackberry Compote

For a knock your socks off fancy dessert, you have to try this flavorful Gluten Free Honey Orange Ginger Cheesecake with Blackberry Compote. It’s pure heaven!

Blackberries have been off the hook lately. I mean, they are absolutely massive and full of sweet juicy flavor. Sure, they probably obtain this awesomeness through some not so healthy genetically modified growing practices, but whatever. They taste so dang good.

Ben was joking the other night as he was popping a thumb sized blackberry into his mouth, “Well, that’s genetic modification at it’s finest.” He may die a few years early from the after effects of pesticides and other chemicals, but at least he enjoyed mondo blackberries along the way.

I hate to admit that I’ve never really been a berry girl. They’re not my favorite: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Besides having a few fond memories of picking berries in Houston and making razzleberry cobbler, I’ve never had much of an attachment to the berry world.

Actually, as I’m writing this, I’m really not sure at all what kind of berries we picked in Texas. We found some random wild berries in a field, assumed they were okay to eat, and my mom made some cobbler out of them. We only did this a handful of times in my childhood, but sounds kind of sketchy in hindsight. Whatever…I’m just going to blame any future weirdness of myself or my children on these “special” berries.

And speaking of razzleberry, I’m pretty sure that cobbler actually came from the frozen section of the grocery store with packaging entitled “Marie Callender’s”. Yup, sounds about right.

But my berry skepticism has begun to change with all the bigger better berries lately. I am loving the giant plump blueberries, the super sweet strawberries, and the soft juicy blackberries. The raspberries, however, can go find somewhere else to hang out because they still haven’t quite won over my affection.

With all the blackberries we’ve been buying lately, I’ve been itching to experiment with some baking. First on the list was cheesecake because it was Mother’s Day and I got to do and decide whatever I wanted. So yes, I made myself a cheesecake. Not any ordinary cheesecake people. This was Mother’s Day for goodness sake. Go big or go home!

Thus came to existence this utterly beautiful and even more so delicious Gluten Free Honey Orange Ginger Cheesecake with Blackberry Compote. Go ahead and gasp. This deserves a bit of a jaw drop. It’s that good.

Let me invite you in on another little confession here: I have never used fresh ginger in my life. Never. Not once have I bought one of those weird looking ginger roots. They’re so ugly. Who even thought to peel that and use it for food???

Well, I’m so glad they did because after using fresh ginger for the first time ever, I am hooked. It has so much flavor! Since buying my first ginger root, I’ve used it in banana bread, dipping sauce, stir fry, infused water, pancakes, you name it. I can’t get enough!

And using it in this cheesecake was no exception. It paired wonderfully with the orange flavored cheesecake and the honey soaked crust. The flavors were purely divine. Fit for a queen, and that queen was me. Again, it was Mother’s Day so I got to celebrate. Hehe!

Now besides how delicious this cheesecake was on it’s own, it’s showstopping flavors were drastically elevated with this blackberry compote. This compote is oh my, goodness gracious, shut the door delicious! Ben kept walking in the kitchen, sniffing the saucepan, and saying, “It smells like Christmas!”

Why yes, it sure does. Bring on the presents. ALL the presents!

Oh wait, it’s just the beginning of the summer. Oh well, guess your present will just have to be a slice of this cheesecake for now. Trust me, that’s a good gig. With all the flavors of tart and tangy blackberries, warm cinnamon and ginger, sweet aromatic oranges, and flowery honey…you’ve got a lot to be happy about.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be dreaming about this cheesecake for the next couple of hours. First of all because it just tastes that good, but second of all it’s almost midnight and I’ve been writing about cheesecake for the last hour. What else do you expect me to dream about???

What is your favorite cheesecake flavor?

5.0 from 1 reviews

Gluten Free Honey Orange Ginger Cheesecake with Blackberry Compote

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 15 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

For a knock your socks off fancy dessert, you have to try this flavorful Gluten Free Honey Orange Ginger Cheesecake with Blackberry Compote. It's pure heaven!

Author: Brielle

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

• For the Crust:
• 2 cups crushed gluten free graham crackers (I used Pamela's brand)
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 teaspoons honey
• For the Cheesecake:
• 4 packages cream cheese, softened
• ⅔ cup organic cane sugar
• ⅓ cup honey
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of salt
• 1½ teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1½ tablespoons orange zest (1 navel orange)
• ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 4 eggs
• For the Compote:
• 1½ cups blackberries
• ½ cup organic cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• dash of salt
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 teaspoon orange zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9" spring form pan with a double layer of foil, making sure there is no place water can leak into pan. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine crushed graham crackers, melted butter, and honey. Mix together with a fork until all crumbs are moistened. Pour mixture into spring form pan and press down with fingers into an even layer, coming ½" up the side of the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 14 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and honey until smooth. Add vanilla and mix until smooth. Add in the salt, ginger, orange zest, and orange juice and mix on low until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low in between each addition until well incorporated.
4. After letting crust cool for 5 minutes, pour cheesecake mixture over crust. Place pan on top of a sheet pan with at least 1" sides and transfer to oven. Carefully pour ½" of water into sheet pan to surround cheesecake.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave an additional hour. Remove cheesecake from oven and allow to completely cool. Run a knife along the edges to loosen from sides. Cover and chill in fridge overnight.
6. Before serving, run knife along the edges again, loosen spring form pan, and transfer to platter.
7. To make compote, combine all ingredients in a saucepan.* Stir to dissolve sugar and honey. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove and allow to cool completely. Mixture will thicken more as it cools.
8. Spoon cooled mixture over chilled cheesecake before serving.
9. Store leftovers in an airtight container in fridge for up to 5 days or in freezer for up to 6 months.

Notes

*Compote can be made a day in advance along with cheesecake.

3.5.3208