White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake with Orange Caramel Sauce

recipe from Peabody

Cheesecake

sugar cookie dough (leftover from frosted cookies)

2 1/2 lbs cream cheese
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp flour
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
6 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries

Press sugar cookie dough into 10 inch spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes on 350F and set aside.

Cream the cheese until soft. Add in the sugar and mix well. Decrease the mixer speed to low and add the flour.

Add eggs in one at a time scraping bowl down to make sure that there are no lumps.

Stir in the vanilla. The chocolate and cranberries can be added now; they just get stirred in. 

Pour batter into the pan. Bake in a water bath at 350F for 90 min. Turn off oven, crack door, and let cheesecake sit in oven for 30 more min. Let cake sit at room temperature until cool, then chill overnight.

Caramel
1 cup orange juice 
2 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar

Cook sugar in a dry heavy saucepan over moderate-high heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is melted into a deep golden caramel. Add zest and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Tilt pan and carefully pour in juice (caramel will harden and steam vigorously). Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved, then cool sauce.