Blood Orange Glaze for Cheesecake

By: Eat Your Vegetables!
Mar 6, 2008

This recipe from the Candle Cafe is a more exotic way to serve cheesecake. Originally, it was used to top a tofu cheesecake with a spelt flour crust, but I just pour it over a traditional New York style cheesecake (New York Cheesecake). Use the arrowroot powder if you have it, but otherwise you can substitute cornstarch. Be aware though that if you do use cornstarch it will become slightly jelly like as it cools, so you may want to make it shortly before you use it or reduce the amount used slightly. You'll need about 2-3 blood oranges to get the 1/2 c of juice called for in this recipe. You can use regular orange juice if you can't find blood oranges, but you won't get the cherry red color that makes the glaze so impressive. Unlike the oranges we normally eat in the US, blood oranges have a deep red juice and hail from the Mediterranean region. Agave nectar is a sweet syrup obtained from succulents (cacti). I recommend giving it a try if you can get ahold of it, it's also a good sweetener for iced tea. If you can't find it, a simple syrup should work (equal parts sugar and water heated until combined).