Candied Fig, Hazelnut And Orange Cheesecake With Port Sau

FOR CRUST
18 Vanilla wafer cookies
1 c Hazelnut; toasted (about 5
; ounces)
3 tb Unsalted butter; melted

FILLING
4 pk Cream cheese; room
-temperature
; (8-ounce)
1 1/2 c Plus 3 tablespoons sugar
4 lg Eggs
1/4 c Frangelico; (hazelnut
-liqueur)
2 ts Vanilla extract
3 ts Grated orange peel
1 c Sour cream
1 Orange
2 Dried figs
10 Hazelnuts
Port Sauce

PORT SAUCE
2 c Tawny Port
1/2 c Sugar
1 tb Water
2 ts Cornstarch

For figs and crust:

Combine Port, figs and cloves in heavy medium saucepan and bring to
boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until figs soften,
about 20 minutes. Cool. Discard cloves.

For Crust:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350F. Combine vanilla
wafers and hazelnuts in processor and grind finely. Add butter and
process until moist crumbs form. Press crumbs onto bottom and halfway
up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high
sides. Freeze crust 20 minutes. Spread fig mixture onto bottom of
crust.

For filling:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups sugar in large
bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended
after each addition. Mix in liqueur, vanilla and peel. Spoon filling
over fig mixture in crust. Gently shake pan to distribute filling.

Bake cheesecake until filling is golden around the edges and center
moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 5 minutes.
Transfer to rack. Press down edges of cake to flatten if necessary.
Maintain oven temperature.

Combine sour cream and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in small bowl.
Spread mixture evenly over top of cake. Return to oven and bake 10
minutes. Transfer cheesecake to rack. Run small sharp knife around
sides of cheesecake. Cool. Refrigerate cake overnight. (Can be
prepared 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Release pan sides from cake; transfer cake to platter. Cut 5 slices
from orange. Cut each slice in half. Cut each fig lengthwise into 5
slices. Arrange orange slices, cut side toward center, around top
edge of cake. Place fig slice atop each orange slice. Place hazelnuts
between orange slices. Serve with sauce.

For port sauce:

Stir Port and sugar in heavy small saucepan over low heat until sugar
dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and boil until mixture is
reduced to 1 cup, about 13 minutes. Mix water and cornstarch in small
bowl. Whisk into Port mixture and boil until slightly thickened,
stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Cool. (Can be made 2 days ahead.
Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Serves 12.