blood orange cheesecake tart, with slices cut out to show the inside texture

Blood Orange Cheesecake Tart

Blood Orange Cheesecake Tart

This blood orange cheesecake tart is a combination of a few of my most favorite things ever! Starting from the top, we have a beautiful silky layer of bright and tart blood orange curd. It balances out the creamy and rich middle later of cheesecake. Finally, it’s all entombed in a bed of classic graham cracker crust!

blood orange cheesecake tart, with slices cut out to show the inside texture

How to Make a Blood Orange Cheesecake Tart

This beautiful blood orange cheesecake tart looks very impressive but comes together quite quickly and easily!

The Crust: We start by mixing crushed graham crackers with sugar and melted butter. This mixture is then pressed into a 9-inch tart pan and baked in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

graham crackers in a ziplock bag, crushed using a rolling pin
graham cracker crust poured into tart pan

The Cheesecake Filling: While the crust is baking, we beat the room temperature cream cheese in a stand mixer for a minute or two until it’s softened and creamy. Next, we beat in the sugar and salt until combined. This is followed by the eggs, then sour cream, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla extract. We’ll scrape down the bowl intermittently to make sure everything is combined and super creamy! Then we pour the filling into the baked crust and it goes into the oven immediately. We lower the temperature to 325 degrees F and bake for about 25 minutes!

graham cracker crust pressed into a tart pan
cheesecake filling being poured into a baked graham cracker crust

To check for doneness, you can gently jiggle the pan. The cheesecake is done baking when all around the edge is set but the middle still jiggles slightly. IMPORTANTLY, we will leave the cheesecake in the turned off oven with the door cracked open to gradually cool for about 30 minutes!

The Blood Orange Curd: While the cheesecake is baking/cooling, we’ll prepare the fresh blood orange curd! As long as you have all the ingredients measured and ready to go, this curd comes together super easily!

Add the zest, fresh blood orange juice, fresh lemon juice, sugar, and egg yolks to a small/medium saucepan. Whisk well to combine and then cook over a low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. Keep cooking it very gradually until it has thickened and can coat the back of a spoon, and has reached 170 degrees F. This can take around 10 minutes.

Remove the curd from heat and stir in the butter until it’s completely combined. Strain the curd into a heat safe bowl and let cool slightly.

To put the blood orange cheesecake tart all together, we’ll pour the curd over the baked warm cheesecake in an even layer. Let it cool at room temperature and then cover with aluminum foil and cool in refrigerator for at least 4-6 hours before serving!

A slice of blood orange cheesecake tart with a spoonful taken out to show the creamy texture inside
Multiple slices of blood orange cheesecake curd with slices of blood orange on top

Notes

  1. While you can use whatever 9-inch tart pan or pie pan you desire for this recipe, my favorite is a tart pan with a removable bottom. If you’re using this type of pan as well, I suggest that you place the tart pan onto a larger baking sheet (as shown in my photos) and keep it on the baking sheet for the entire baking process. This is because you could accidentally dislodge the whole tart if handling the tart pan by itself.

You might also want to try:
mini cranberry meringue tarts
Mini Pavlovas with Blood Orange Curd
fresh tomato tarts with mascarpone and shallots

blood orange cheesecake tart, with slices cut out to show the inside texture
Yield: 1 9-inch tart

Blood Orange Cheesecake Tart

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Resting Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 20 minutes

Super creamy and balanced cheesecake topped with an easy tangy fresh blood orange curd, surrounded in a classic graham cracker crust!

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

  • 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12-13 whole crackers)
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling

  • 1 1/3 cup (300g, about 11oz) full fat cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 large egg + 1 yolk, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Blood Orange Curd

  • 1/4 cup fresh blood orange juice
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • zest of 1 blood orange and 1 lemon
  • 2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed

Instructions

Graham Cracker Crust

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine all crust ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Dump all but about 1/4 c of the mixture into a 9-inch tart pan. With your fingers, press the crust into the pan, starting with the sides of the pan, bringing the crust all the way up the sides. You can use the bottom of a cup to press and pack the middle of the crust down.
  3. Place tart pan on top of a larger baking sheet (I keep the tart pan on this baking sheet from this point forward to avoid accidentally messing up the tart) and bake for 10 minutes. Then set aside.

Make Cheesecake Filling

  1. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese for a few minutes until soft and creamy. Add sugar and salt and beat on medium speed for a minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl intermittently.
  2. With mixer on low, add the egg and yolk and mix to combine, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla.
  3. Pour filling into the baked crust (with entire tart pan still on top of baking sheet) and place into oven. Immediately lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake for 25-27 minutes. To check for doneness, shake the pan gently. It is done when the edges are set but the middle still jiggles slightly.
  4. Turn oven off but leave cheesecake in the oven with the oven door cracked open. Let cheesecake cool gradually in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Make Blood Orange Curd

  1. While the cheesecake is baking or cooling in the oven, prepare the curd.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine blood orange juice, lemon juice, zest, sugar, and egg yolks. Whisk until well combined.
  3. Place saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until curd is thickened and can coat the back of the spatula or spoon and is 170 degrees F. This could take up to 10 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in butter until butter is completely melted and combined. Strain curd through a fine mesh strainer or sieve.
  5. After curd has cooled slightly and the cheesecake has cooled for at least 30 minutes in the oven, pour curd over the top of the cheesecake in an even layer and let cool at room temperature.
  6. After it's cooled, cover carefully with aluminum foil and let cool completely in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before enjoying!
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