Orange Cinnamon Cheesecake – Thoumieux Paris
I have been gazing at the cover of the latest Fou de Patisserie gourmet magazine – totally inspired by the French touch of dressing up a cheesecake with fruits, flowers and petals. It’s like the Parisian patisserie windows, isn’t it? Well, I couldn’t resist trying one of the recipes from the magazine and topping it also with macarons. Et voilà: here you have an Orange Cinnamon Cheesecake, dressed with seasonal cape gooseberries and pomegranate seeds. It’s light, baked and now I want to make it again.
In my RECIPES TO DO pile, has been the most sumptuous-looking cheesecake on the 7th cover edition of Fou de Pâtisserie magazine: by Chef Jean-François Piège. He owns Thoumieux: a restaurant, a hotel and brasserie (see my reviews here), plus one of my favourite pâtisseries in Paris, Gâteau Thoumieux – at 58 rue Saint Dominique (UPDATE: sadly, since writing this, it no longer exists, closing its doors in 2017).
Orange Cinnamon Cheesecake
Chef Piège’s ingredients’ list is precise with 401g of cream cheese, but I should have taken note in step 2 that you only need 300g total for the base – I used all of it in the recipe which was too much for a 16cm diameter cheesecake mould. The next time I make this, I’ll reduce the base by a 1/3 and add a little more butter, just to hold it better together. However, the extra base was excellent as a crumble topping! The cream cheese was divine – I added half the zest of an unwaxed orange, just to give it that extra tang. He doesn’t mention this, but I recommend that your cream cheese filling ingredients are all at room temperature in order to mix well.
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Le Cheesecake de Gâteau Thoumieux
Orange Cinnamon Cheesecake
Adapted recipe by Jean-François Piège and Ludovic Chaussard (Paris), extract from Fou de Pâtisserie magazine, September-October 2014 Number 7 (Cover feature).
Serves 6
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Biscuit base:
260g plain flour (type 55)
110g butter 1
55g icing/powdered sugar
1 egg
1g salt
1g orange and lemon zest
(I added 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
65g butter 2
35g soft brown sugar
Cream Cheese:
400g Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature)
50g sugar
55g single cream
1 egg yolk
2 eggs
(I added the zest of half an unwaxed orange)
Decoration:
Rose petals, coriander and parsley flowers, quenelles de mascarpone, almond streusel (According to the winter season, I instead used physallis, pomegranate jewels and my leftover macarons – over to your imagination!)
1. Make a shortcrust pastry with all the ingredients except the Butter 2 and soft brown sugar. Bake the pastry then, using a paddle beater of a mixer, break up into pieces when cool. (I mixed all the ingredients to a crumb consistency like shortbread and baked in the oven at 160°C fan /180°C for about 15 minutes). Add the Butter 2 and brown sugar. Mould 300g of the cheesecake biscuit round by 16cm diameter. Set aside.
2. To make the cream, mix the Philadelphia cheese with the sugar then gradually add the yolk, eggs and cream together.
3. To finish, pour the cream mix over the base and bake at 90°C for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the fridge. Just before serving, decorate with the above suggestions.
Now that we’ve devoured plenty of sweet treats this festive season, I’m back to soups and lighter savoury delights for a few days. All the extra courses are now beginning to hang like a brioche over the jeans, which is not so sweet! So it’s back to the yoga tomorrow but I also fancy trying out chef Piège’s Pizza Soufflé, a popular signature dish in his brasserie.
A light, baked French-style version to the American classic with orange and cinnamon and topped with macarons, cape gooseberries and pomegranate seeds for a winter treat. Inspired by Thoumieux, Paris.
- 260 g / 9.5oz plain flour type 55
- 110 g / 4oz butter 1 unsalted
- 55 g / 2oz icing/powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 g salt
- 1 g orange and lemon zest
- I added 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 65 g / 2.25oz butter 2
- 35 g / 1.25oz soft brown sugar
- 400 g / 14oz Philadelphia cream cheese room temperature
- 50 g /1.75oz sugar
- 55 g / 2oz single cream
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 eggs
- I added the zest of half an unwaxed orange
- Rose petals coriander and parsley flowers, quenelles de mascarpone, almond streusel (According to the winter season, I instead used physallis, pomegranate jewels and my leftover macarons - over to your imagination!)
-
Make a shortcrust pastry with all the ingredients except the Butter 2 and soft brown sugar. Bake the pastry then, using a paddle beater of a mixer, break up into pieces when cool. (I mixed all the ingredients to a crumb consistency like shortbread and baked in the oven at 160°C fan /180°C for about 15 minutes). Add the Butter 2 and brown sugar. Mould 300g of the cheesecake biscuit round by 16cm diameter. Set aside.
-
To make the cream, mix the Philadelphia cheese with the sugar then gradually add the yolk, eggs and cream together.
-
To finish, pour the cream mix over the base and bake at 90°C for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the fridge. Just before serving, decorate with the above suggestions.
Soooo beautiful Jill.
I have never been in his shop…just gazed in the vitrine.
Now I can come here and gaze forever.
I’m so glad that cheesecake was on your list – this is something I’ve never made (dare I say I’ve used a packet mix!) so thanks for that Jill.
A most stunning dessert. You two, together in the same room? Be still my heart. I’d love to be a fly on that wall. 🙂
This sounds delicious and I’d love to try it, but I have a question regarding the biscuit base. What do you mean by “65 butter 2”? And would “single cream” be the same as half and half in the states? My family loves a good cheesecake and I’m really anxious to try this recipe, but feel I need the info above clarified first so I make sure I do it correctly. Thanks for your assistance and for sharing this recipe.
Hi Norma – to be honest, I’m just following his recipe and it doesn’t give all the details (that’s how many chefs do it, right? That way we just head to their restaurants/boutiques…) but half and half will be fine. For the 65g (sorry, typo without the “g” but corrected now) butter, it’s referred to as butter 2, as it’s used in the same recipe for the base but at different stages as in step 1. Hope this helps.
Jill, this is absolutely gorgeous! Gorgeous! I would love to taste it! I love this magazine and have bought a couple issues but haven’t tried any yet. Now I have to seeing as how they obviously work. I am so excited for 2015 because I know that we will finally meet! I hope we get the time to bake together! Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year and une très très belle année 2015!
Well that sounds like a wonderful double whammy if we can even bake together. Already I’m excited, Jamie. 2015 has a lovely ring to it – especially with the opening of your hotel in Chinon. Thanks for the shares, too. Cheers! xo