My Gluten Free Chocolate Orange Cheesecake Recipe (No-Bake)

Gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe, anyone? I know it seems like I only just discovered what chocolate orange is, but I know you’ll love this no-bake wonder!

Yep, I’m back with another cheesecake recipe and this time it’s a gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe! Sound good? It’s no-bake and simple to make and nobody would ever know this is gluten free…

So first of all, what is it? I mean, if you’re gonna make my gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe, you should probably know first!

Well, it’s a buttery biscuit base (a nice, thick one too which I like to claim was my invention!) topped with a lovely, creamy chocolate orange filling.

Then, I finished it with drizzled milk chocolate, orange zest and my homemade chocolate orange segments ?

And yes – you can easily make the chocolate orange segments yourself at home too! After all, Terry’s chocolate orange isn’t gluten free, it has a ‘may contain’ warning FYI.

(I used this chocolate mould I found here on Amazon to make the segments)

That creamy cheesecake filling is absolutely mind-blowingly fluffy and packed with a wonderful hit of choc orange in every bite.

Combine that with a lovely chunky, buttery biscuit base and you’ve got my favourite dessert, hands down! I love having a little orange segment as an added bonus too.

You don’t have to make them – this cheesecake is beautiful on its own – but if you can, it’s a beautiful finishing touch.

Here’s your shopping list if you’re planning on making my gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe…

Ingredients for my gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe

For the base:

• 320g gluten free digestive biscuits
• 150g butter

For the cheesecake:

• 500g full fat cream cheese (I used Mascarpone for this one but full-fat Philadephia is great too)
• 100g icing sugar
• 300ml double cream
• 225g milk chocolate
• 2-3 tsp orange extract

For the optional homemade chocolate orange segments

• 200g chocolate
• 2 tsp orange extract

For the topping

• melted chocolate
• orange zest

Keep scrolling to the bottom of this post until you see the recipe card for the method ??

Oh and here’s a few tips and frequently asked questions to make sure you make the perfect gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake every time:

Can I make this recipe gluten free?

It is gluten free!

(but nobody would ever know this recipe was when tasting it – trust me!)

Can I make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe dairy free?

Most of my recipes are really easy to make dairy free with a few simple swaps, but unfortunately, it’s not so simple with cheesecakes.

The cheesecake filling is purely made up of dairy – double cream AND mascarpone cheese. And though dairy free versions are available, they just don’t set like whipped dairy does.

I am working on a few dairy free cheesecake alternatives in my kitchen at all the time, but I just want them to be perfect before I share them, so stay tuned!

Can I make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe vegan?

Though there’s no eggs in this recipe, read above for the same reasons why this can’t be made vegan.

Like I said, if I make a dairy free cheesecake in the near future, you can bet that it’ll be vegan too so keep an eye on my Instagram for when I finally post it.

Is your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe nut free?

Yep, this is a nut-free recipe as far as ingredients go, BUT make sure you check the ingredients label on ALL the products you use to bake this cake just to be safe.

Even if the products don’t contain nuts, they may have a ‘may contain nuts’ warning due to being produced in a factory that handles nuts.

You can never be too careful so always read the labels on everything first – especially with chocolate!

Is your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe low FODMAP?

Sadly, because of the high dairy content, this recipe isn’t suitable for the elimination phase of the low FODMAP diet.

However, if you’ve successfully reintroduced dairy during the reintroduction phase then this might still be a suitable option for you.

Can I make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake in a food processor or standing mixer?

Of course you can! I actually use both in this recipe just to speed up things. I use my food processor to blitz the biscuit base (don’t over-do them, you want them to be nice and chunky!) and my standing mixer to mix the cheesecake filling.

If you only have a food processor, you can happily use it to mix both. However, if you only have a standing mixer, you’ll have to bash the biscuits in a plastic bag using a rolling pin.

Just remember to keep scraping down the side of the mixing bowl when making the cheesecake filling – this applies to both a food processor AND standing mixer.

Oh and remember NOT to over mix the cheesecake filling, otherwise it can split!

Can I make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake without any kind of electric mixer/appliance at all?

You can, of course, bake this without any assistance from any appliance – just a good ol’ fashioned wooden spoon or spatula will do.

But you will need a lot of elbow grease to get the biscuits bashed and the filling mixed. Just make sure you give it a lot of welly, otherwise your mixture won’t be consistent!

So yeah, if you’re making my gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake by hand, make sure you mix everything really, really well before adding the next ingredients to the bowl.

Remember, an under-mixed cheesecake filling won’t set! And you’re much more likely to under-mix than over-mix if you’re doing it by hand.

Do I need any special equipment to make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe?

You won’t need anything in particular apart from a deep, loose bottom tin – here’s the one I use. It’s important to use a deep one as this is a tall cheesecake!

It’s 20cm (8 inch) in diameter, so remember if your tin is wider than mine, your cheesecake will end up looking a lot flatter!

A springform tin is fine too – here’s the one I sometimes use. I don’t use it all the time because it’s next to impossible to get the entire cheesecake off the base at once.

And ideally, I don’t want to be serving the cheesecake and slicing it on my springform base because it’ll get all scratched. So I much prefer to use a loose bottom tin.

But definitely don’t make this in a normal cake tin without a loose bottom/springform mechanism. You won’t be able to get the cheesecake out or cut it!

Can I make this recipe without xanthan gum?

There’s no xanthan gum in any of my cheesecake recipes, this one included.

You’ll see xanthan gum in a lot of my recipes as it’s an essential ingredient in gluten free baking – in cakes and biscuits, it helps to replace gluten by binding the texture together.

Otherwise you can end up with a very crumbly bake. Fortunately, that doesn’t apply here!

What cream cheese should I use for the filling?

I often use Philadelphia cream cheese for my cheesecakes, but for this one, I’ve chosen to use mascarpone cheese. You can easily find it in the cheese aisle of any supermarket.

Both are fine, but I tend to use mascarpone for cheesecakes if I can because it makes my cheesecakes set to be a little firmer than when using Philadelphia. Why is that a good thing?!

Firstly, for me personally, it makes taking photos of my cheesecake a lot easier as it stays set out of the fridge for much longer. Though that definitely doesn’t apply to you, it can be really handy if you’re leaving your cheesecake out on a table, ready for people to serve themselves.

Also, you’ll find that you can get much neater slices out of it too which look better on a plate. So that’s something to bear in mind.

However, Philadelphia does have a slightly more whipped, creamy texture though. Just don’t leave a Philadelphia cheesecake out of the fridge for too long! The choice is yours.

Can I make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake using light cream cheese or reduced fat mascarpone?

Definitely, no! Using light cream cheese or reduced fat mascarpone is a very quick way to ensure that your cheesecake is an instant disaster.

As the fat content is much lower, your cheesecake won’t ever have a hope of setting in the fridge. It’s fall-fat or nothing, I’m afraid!

What gluten free biscuits should I use for the base?

I usually use digestive biscuits from the free from aisle like these. But any similar biscuit will do!

I’d advise staying away from custard creams, bourbons etc. because they have a creamy filling which will make the biscuit base a bit mealy. So less crunchy and more like a solid layer that can be quite hard to cut.

Can I top these cupcakes with Terry’s chocolate orange segments instead of making my own?

I always make this very clear just in case – Terry’s chocolate orange is not gluten free!

Though it has no gluten-containing ingredients, it has a ‘may contain wheat’ warning which isn’t safe for Coeliacs.

I’m intolerant to gluten and I personally wouldn’t risk it – especially not when you can make your own little chocolate orange segments so easily.

I used this orange segment chocolate mould to make mine.

Do I need weighing scales to make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake?

In short… yes, yes and yes! And I wouldn’t advise attempting any my recipes without them. One of the worst things you can do in any recipe is alter the quantities by mistake or on purpose.

(unless you know what you’re doing of course)

Why? Well, you’re sort of just gambling with the recipe and praying that it turns out ok, don’t you think? And I’ve generally already done the hard work there for you, so you don’t have to do the guesswork with measurements!

A lot of work went into fine tuning ratios and quantities so I wouldn’t mess around with them unless you really know your stuff.

I’d recommending using digital cooking scales like these so you know you’re getting an accurate measurement and replicating my recipe as accurately as poss.

Can I make your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake without sugar?

I can understand the need to reduce sugar in our foods, but this recipe is one where I wouldn’t recommend it!

The sugar in the cheesecake filling helps to balance out the rich cheese flavour from the mascarpone. That makes it taste more like a dessert than an actual cake made of cheese if you know what I mean ?

So yeah, remove the sugar at your own risk!

Can I use other sugar apart from icing sugar in this recipe?

I’ve chosen to use icing sugar in this recipe because it’s nice and light, powdery and almost vanishes into the cheesecake filling. Other sugars just wouldn’t work the same.

By using other granulated sugars (like caster sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar etc), you’ll end up with an almost gritty-like texture in your cheesecake filling which is far from good!

That’s because this is a no-bake recipe. That means there’s no heat to break the sugar down and dissolve it, so it’ll just be all grainy in the filling.

So yeah, icing sugar is the only way to go!

How long can I keep your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake for?

Obviously keep this in the fridge at all times (it’s cheese after all!) and it should last around 4-5 days – keep it in an airtight container, or covered with clingfilm.

Can I freeze my gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake?

Yep! You can freeze it for up to 2-3 months without a problem – just make sure you put it in an airtight plastic container. It’s probably a good idea to slice it first so you can defrost a slice at a time.

If you want to defrost the entire cheesecake, leave it at room temperature to thaw for around 12 hours. A single slice will probably only take about 5 hours to thaw, so get it out ahead of time!

Can I bake my gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake in the oven?

No, please don’t! This is a no-bake cheesecake, meaning that it’s made to be chilled in the fridge and that’s it.

I can guarantee that if you try and bake this in the oven, you’ll just end up with a big mess to clear up ?

A baked cheesecake will usually have eggs in the filling which will help it to set when heated – this isn’t one of those recipes!

Troubleshooting

My cheesecake filling mixture split – what happened?

That means you probably over-mixed it, which you must be careful not to do! This will definitely cause the entire mixture to split.

You can avoid this happening by not using the highest setting on your mixer whilst making this. Also, don’t leave the filling in the mixer for any more than it needs to!

Once it starts to look nicely combined with no lumpy bits or anything, it’s done!

My cheesecake filling became really thin. What happened?

That’s what happens when you over mix your cheesecake filling too. Try to avoid mixing once the cheesecake filling is thick and combined/consistent.

If it all goes wrong, still try giving it a chance to set in the fridge anyway – it might set, you never know! And if it doesn’t, just pop it in the freezer and serve it up slightly more frozen!

My cheesecake filling spilt out everywhere when I removed it from the tin. What did I do wrong?

That might be a classic case of not waiting long enough for your cheesecake to set.

A cheesecake really does need a good 12 hours to set – after all, we’re not baking anything in this recipe at all! So you’ve got to give it a lot of time to chill in the fridge and set. Patience is important here!

If you did allow your cheesecake an adequate time to set and this happened, then it’ll be down to two other reasons. Firstly, you might have over-mixed your mixture and it either split, or became really thin.

Secondly, you could have under-mixed it. The cheesecake filling shouldn’t be of a ‘pourable’ consistency, it should whip up to a nice thickness that you can spoon into your loose-bottom tin. That’s how to tell when to stop mixing!

My cheesecake filling was a bit lumpy instead of being smooth. What happened?

Sounds like you didn’t mix your cheesecake filling well enough. Adding in the ingredients gradually (not all at once!) can help prevent this massively.

My cheesecake isn’t as tall as yours – how come?

That means you probably used a cake tin that’s bigger than mine (mine is 20cm/8 inches).

I mean, don’t go rushing out to buy a new one if you have one that’s 10 inches wide – but your cheesecake will be a lot flatter!

Can I print your gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe?

Of course! Just hit the print button located on the recipe below ?? (otherwise you might end up printing this entire post which would probably make your printer go into early retirement)

Thanks for reading all about my gluten free chocolate orange cheesecake recipe! If you make it, I’d love to see how it turns out so don’t forget to take a snap of your creations and tag me on Instagram!

Any questions about the recipe? Please do let me know by following me on Instagram and leaving me a comment on a recent photo!

Thanks for reading,

Becky xxx

Oh and don’t forget to pin this for later!