These orange cheesecake tarts are made with flaky tartlet shells in a muffin pan with a creamy no-bake cheesecake filling flavored with plenty of bright orange zest. These mini tarts make an irresistible snack or dessert!Â
Â
If you love tarts and pies, other favorites include this Italian lemon tart, puff pastry strawberry tarts and these cheesecake mini tarts.
While usually apples are my fruit of choice in a dessert like in my caramel apple cheesecake tart, lately I have been craving the bright, zesty fresh taste of orange and these orange cheesecake tarts are sweet perfection in every mini-sized bite!
Drawing inspiration from my favorite no-bake lemon cheesecake, I substituted lemon zest for orange zest but instead of making a whole pie, I borrowed the idea from my chocolate mousse tarts and made them in a muffin tin for a variation of mini cheesecake fruit tarts!Â
Why You’ll Love These Mini Orange Cheesecake Tarts
- Fresh, creamy and flavorful:Â This sweet dessert is full of bright citrus taste, a creamy cheesecake filling and buttery flaky pastry crust.Â
- Easy to make from scratch:Â From the crust to the no-bake mini cheesecake filling, this recipe is simple to make with a little know how and patience while the filling sets!Â
Mini Orange Cheesecake Recipe Ingredients
- Pie dough: For the mini tart crust, I used this easy homemade pie dough. It was my mom’s recipe and is a favorite!
- Cream:Â Heavy whipping cream, whole cream or whipping cream can be used.
- Cream cheese:Â Use full fat cream cheese that comes in a block. Remember to soften to room temperature!
- Mascarpone cheese: I love the creaminess that mascarpone cheese adds but it can be substituted for cream cheese if you wish.Â
- Oranges: You will need the zest from 1 ½ oranges. Increase or decrease zest depending on your preference. (I love lots of orange flavor!)
- Sugar:Â Granulated sugar balances the tangy cream cheese.
- Whole milk: Just a small amount adds the perfect rich taste along with the other ingredients.Â
How to Make Orange Cheesecake Tarts
Make tart shellsÂ
To start, prepare the flaky pie crust dough and chill. Once chilled, remove dough from the fridge and roll out half onto a floured flat surface. With a round cookie cutter cut out the circles of dough.
Place a circle in each standard muffin tin cup then trim any excess dough with a sharp knife. Prick the bottoms of each shell with a fork. Place a square of parchment paper or a cupcake casing in each shell, and fill each one with some dried beans, rice or sugar.
Bake for the stated time then remove the paper and dried beans and bake again until golden. Remove the tartlet shells from the oven and cool completely before filling.
Orange cheesecake filling
In a medium bowl using an electric mixer, beat heavy whipping cream until very stiff. In another large bowl beat together the softened cream cheese, mascarpone, orange zest, sugar and milk.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and combine the orange filling until smooth.
Add cheesecake filling to each tart shell, cover and refrigerate for approximately 4 hours or overnight. Top with a fresh orange slice before serving.
tips and variations
- Crust:Â Instead of a pie dough crust, try a buttery graham cracker crust, sugar cookie crumb base, golden Oreo crust or even a crust made with gingersnap cookies!Â
- Chocolate orange mini cheesecake: To make this variation, swap to my chocolate pie crust and garnish with some shaved chocolate on top. Yum!
- Citrus:Â Substitute the orange zest for lemon zest or even lime zest.Â
- Mascarpone:Â I love the creaminess mascarpone cheese adds, but you can use all cream cheese if you would like.Â
- Do not use cream cheese spread:Â Your mini cheesecakes will not end up the same! You need a block of full fat cream cheese for this recipe to turn out with the desired creamy cheesecake results.Â
- Garnish: Garnish with candied orange slices, like I do in my chocolate orange cake, or top with fresh raspberries or other fresh fruit, even a chocolate glaze would be amazing!
Can I fill these mini tarts with a different filling?
Yes! Often mini fruit tarts are filled with Italian pastry cream or lemon pastry cream which would both be delicious.Â
Can I make these in a mini muffin pan?
Yes! This would be a great way to enjoy even more mini orange cheesecakes! No need to change anything in the recipe unless you want to keep it really simple and use a Nilla wafer cookie for the crust.Â
Why is my no-bake cheesecake filling not setting?
Most likely it is because you did not give it enough time to harden while chilling in the refrigerator. I recommended chilling the cheesecake for at least 4 hours, 6 hours is great and overnight even better.Â
More Orange Dessert Recipes
So if you love oranges or anything orange flavoured you are going to love these easy Orange Cheesecake Tarts. And if you don’t want to make tarts, a pie would work just as well! Enjoy!
- 1 Pie Dough Recipe (if you prefer you could use store bought pie dough)
ORANGE CHEESECAKE FILLING
- 6 tablespoons cream (whole, whipping or heavy cream at least 30% fat content)
- 7 ounces cream cheese (full fat)
- ½ cup mascarpone cheese (you can use extra cream cheese if you prefer)
- 1½ tablespoons orange zest
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ tablespoons milk (whole or 2%)
-
Prepare Easy Homemade Pie Dough. Chill the dough for 45-60 minutes.
-
Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C.
-
Remove dough from the fridge and roll out half onto a floured flat surface to approximately â…™ to ¼-inch thickness. (other half of the dough can be frozen if you are not using it). Â
-
With a round cookie cutter (medium to large depending on the size of the muffin tin you use, I used a regular size muffin tin) cut out 9 circles.  Place a circle in a each muffin cup (flatten into place with the bottom of a small glass lightly floured). Trim any excess dough with a sharp knife.
-
Prick the bottoms of each shell with a fork.  Place a square of parchment paper or a cupcake casing in each shell, and fill each one with some dried beans, rice or sugar.
-
Bake for approximately 10 minutes, then remove the paper and dried beans (be careful it is hot) and then bake again for approximately 5 minutes or until golden.  Remove the tarts from the oven and let cool completely before filling.
ORANGE CHEESECAKE FILLING
-
While the shells are cooling make the filling.
-
In a medium bowl beat the cream until very stiff.
-
In a large bowl beat together until smooth and creamy the cream cheese, mascarpone, zest, sugar and the milk.
-
Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture and combine until smooth.
-
Fill the cooled tart shells and refrigerate for approximately 4 hours or over night. Top with a fresh orange slice before serving. Enjoy!
How to store leftover no-bake mini orange cheesecake tarts?Â
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I do not recommend freezing these orange mini fruit tarts.Â
Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 92mg | Potassium: 42mg | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 695IU | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 0.1mg