Mary Berry’s chocolate orange cheesecake is a no-bake, gelatine-set dessert on a ginger biscuit base. Dark chocolate, fresh orange zest and juice run through a filling of cream cheese and soured cream. It sets in a 20cm tin, serves 8, and never goes near the oven.
Berry never published a cheesecake under this exact name, so this one is built from her own books. The chocolate filling and base come from her Chocolate, Brandy and Ginger Cheesecake in the Ultimate Cake Book (2003). The orange comes from her Jaffa Panna Cotta in Mary Berry Cooks (2014).
The step that decides everything is the gelatine. Berry has you sprinkle it over cold water and leave it for 10 minutes to “sponge” before dissolving it over simmering water. Rush that soak and you’ll get rubbery strings through an otherwise smooth filling.
Mary Berry Chocolate Orange Cheesecake
Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
servings30
minutes365
kcalBerry’s gelatine-set chocolate cheesecake method from the Ultimate Cake Book (2003). The brandy and stem ginger are swapped for the orange zest and juice she uses in her Jaffa desserts. Rich, smooth and sliceable straight from the fridge, which makes it a safe make-ahead pudding for a dinner party.
Ingredients
- For the base:
100g (4 oz) ginger biscuits, crushed
50g (2 oz) butter, melted
25g (1 oz) demerara sugar
- For the cheesecake:
100g (4 oz) plain chocolate, broken into pieces
15g (½ oz) powdered gelatine
3 tablespoons cold water
2 eggs, separated
50g (2 oz) caster sugar
225g (8 oz) full-fat soft cheese
150ml (¼ pint) soured cream
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
4 tablespoons orange juice
- To decorate:
150ml (¼ pint) whipping cream, whipped (optional)
chocolate curls
orange zest strips, thinly sliced
Directions
- Lightly grease a loose-bottomed 20cm (8 in) round cake tin or spring-release tin.
- Make the base by mixing the crushed biscuits, melted butter and sugar together. Press into the base of the prepared tin and leave to set.
- Melt the chocolate slowly in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Allow to cool slightly.
- Sprinkle the gelatine over the measured water in a small bowl and leave for 10 minutes to “sponge”. Stand the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water until the gelatine has completely dissolved. Leave to cool slightly.
- Beat together the egg yolks, sugar and cheese in a large bowl. Add the soured cream and cooled chocolate. Stir in the dissolved gelatine.
- Whisk the egg whites until frothy and fold into the cheese mixture with the orange zest and juice. Pour on to the biscuit base and chill to set.
- Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin before decorating with whipped cream if liked, chocolate curls, and thinly sliced strips of orange zest.
FAQs
Can I make a baked version instead?
Yes, through her American Chocolate Ripple Cheesecake from the same 2003 book. It bakes at 160°C/325°F/Gas 3 for about 30 minutes, until puffy at the edges but still very soft in the centre. She then turns the oven off and leaves the cheesecake inside to cool, which finishes the set gently.
Add the zest of 1 orange with the vanilla if you go this route, though that addition is mine, not hers. Berry warns to “expect the cheesecake to crack on cooling”, so don’t panic when it does.
Which biscuits can I use for the base?
Berry keeps a whole roster of bought biscuits for cheesecake bases. In the Ultimate Cake Book she lists digestive, chocolate digestive, ginger and coconut biscuits, plus Hob Nobs. She says “each adds their own distinctive flavour and texture to the finished cheesecake.”
Chocolate digestives are the obvious swap here because they double down on the chocolate. I tested both and preferred the ginger, since it cuts through the rich filling the way the brandy did in her original.
Can I use Cointreau instead of orange juice?
Berry herself makes that swap in reverse. Her Chocolate and Orange Mousse Cake in Cooks Up a Feast (2019) is built on Cointreau. Her note reads “for children, replace the Cointreau with orange juice.” So replacing 2 of the 4 tablespoons of juice with Cointreau follows her own logic.
Keep the zest either way, because the liqueur carries perfume but not the fresh bitterness of real peel. The mousse cake also pairs Cointreau with dark chocolate specifically, which confirms the match for this filling.
How do I add a chocolate topping?
Use the ganache from her salted caramel cheesecake in Mary Berry Cooks (2014). Warm 100ml (4 fl oz) of double cream until hot but not boiling. Stir in 100g (4 oz) of finely grated dark chocolate until smooth.
Her warning matters here: “allow to cool a little so that it will not melt the cheesecake.” Pour it over the set filling and chill for at least 2 hours. If you add the ganache, skip the whipped cream or the top gets crowded.
How far ahead can I make it?
Berry’s Jaffa Panna Cotta note is the best guide, since it’s her chilled chocolate and orange dessert. Make it up to 2 days ahead and keep it in the fridge; it’s not suitable for freezing. That advice transfers cleanly to this gelatine-set filling.
When serving, run a small palette knife around the inside of the tin before releasing the sides. That’s the trick she uses on her baked cheesecakes to stop cracking. Push the base up rather than lifting the cheesecake off it.
