Even though I purchased these adorable cheese wedge molds over a year ago, I never really use them. So I figured, I needed to do something with them. I happened to purchase a bunch of blood oranges, and was trying to think of what to pair with those. And then it dawned on me – make blood orange mimosas, and turn that into a cheesecake! A mimosa can be several things. A yellow flower. An Italian cake made with cubed up pieces of cake. Or the most known iteration, a champagne-orange juice cocktail, popularly served at brunch. In this case, I used prosecco, a cheaper sparkling wine that is a bit sweeter, with the blood oranges to create these cute little cheesecakes. Every single component used either blood orange, prosecco, or both in it, just to ensure it tastes like a mimosa! The thing I adore about blood oranges is that they are this gorgeous, crimson color compared to your usual navel or cara cara oranges. I will admit that these cheesecakes were messily executed – I did not seal the fillings in effectively, and I should have frozen the gelee for longer, because what wound up happening was that my poor wedges had stripes of red gelee running through them, making them look like someone stabbed them. To prevent yours from looking like mine, I did update the recipe with specific instructions to ensure that your blood orange-prosecco gelee will stay in a clean, contained layer in the prosecco cheesecake mousse.

For this recipe, we have a prosecco cheesecake, a blood orange chiffon cake, prosecco soak, and blood orange-prosecco gelee. The gelee itself is used in two parts of the dessert, as a filling in the cheesecake, and as a garnish on top of it. Make sure you freeze the gelee solid, just so that it will be easier to press into the cheesecake mixture. The chiffon cake is soaked with the prosecco soak, effectively giving it a mimosa flavor, and used as the crust or the base of the cheesecake itself! The cheesecake mixture is primarily prosecco-flavored, made by reducing prosecco down first. I will say, the recipe itself is not the hardest to make in terms of there being any major pressure points, besides just waiting long enough to make sure everything is properly chilled/set before moving on to the next step. I did not wait long enough for the gelee filling, so sadly that marred the appearance of my cake, and is a reminder to just slow down a bit to ensure that you get things right. While at least it kind of looks cool to see the color contrast, I can assure that it was not my intention, as I wanted the blood orange color to be more of a dramatic surprise when you cut into the wedges and not already oozing out. Make sure you coat the sides of your cheese wedge molds with a decent layer of the cheesecake mixture before you press your very-very frozen gelee slices in, and you can avoid my mistake. If you do make the same mistake I made, all good, the cake itself is not too sweet and very refreshing, regardless of how it looks!

Makes 8 servings:
For the blood orange-prosecco gelee:
Juice and zest from 4 blood oranges
3oz prosecco
2oz water
2 tbsp agar
a pinch of salt
8 blood orange segments

In a pot, bring everything besides the segments to a simmer until everything is dissolved together. Place the segments into 1/2-inch half sphere molds then add some of the gelee into each mold before refrigerating until solid. With the rest of the gelee base, pour into a 4-inch ring mold lined with cling wrap and freeze solid, 1-2 hours, before cutting into 8 wedges. Keep the gelee frozen solid for optimal assembly.

For the blood orange chiffon cake:
1 egg, separated
zest and juice from 1 blood orange
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, whisk the egg white to stiff peaks before whipping in the sugar. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolk with juice, zest, oil, and vanilla. Sift into that the flour, baking powder, and salt, then fold into that the egg white. Pour the batter onto a lined sheet tray in an even layer and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cut out a 4-inch ring of the cake, and cut that ring into 8 even wedges.

For the prosecco cheesecake:
4oz prosecco
2 tbsp gelatin powder
1 tbsp custard powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
8oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
4oz heavy cream, whipped stiff

In a pot, whisk prosecco, gelatin, custard powder, sugar, and salt on low until everything is dissolved. In another bowl, whip the cream cheese and vanilla until spreadable, then pour into that the prosecco reduction, then fold in the cream. Transfer to a piping bag and keep at room temperature for initial assembly.

For the prosecco reduction:
2oz prosecco
1 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt

In a pot, reduce everything on high heat until a thick syrup forms. Allow the reduction to cool before attempting to use.

For assembly:
Pipe into 8 silicone cheese wedge molds the cheesecake mixture, filling them halfway up. Use an offset spatula to spread some of the mixture up the edges and sides of the molds. Press into each the frozen gelee wedges, then add in the remaining mixture. Brush prosecco reduction onto each cake wedge and press those into the molds as well. Freeze the cheesecakes solid, 2-3 hours, before unmolding and garnishing with the gelee spheres to finish.