Ricotta cheesecake recipe

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Another recipe for you today, and it's another Italian dessert! I wanted to share another one, which I find really light and is great and refreshing to eat after a big meal. I am talking about the ricotta cheesecake!

I’m pretty sure you have all heard about cheesecakes, and probably even tried it more than once before. Well, the ricotta cheesecake is the Italian version of it, made with typical Italian ingredients! Let me give you the recipe and guide you for this very Italian cake, which is very easy and quick to prepare!

The total time needed to prepare and cook this cheesecake is of about 1h 30min, and it serves between 8 and 10 people.

Ingredients needed:

• 6 eggs;
• 2 cups of sugar, 3 if you like very sweet cakes;
• 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract;
• 30 ounce of whole-milk ricotta cheese;
• 2 teaspoons of grated lemon zest;
• Icing sugar for dusting.

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Method to follow:

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C and grease a springform pan. (You really need one to give the right shape to the cake, it won’t rise itself because there is no flour or yeast in the preparation. What makes a cheesecake so recognizable is its unique shape, so you should try and get it right! ).

   For anybody who doesn't know what a "springform pan" is, here's a picture:

   

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2. Separate your 6 eggs, placing the whites in one large bowl and the yolks in another separated bowl.
3. Add the sugar and the 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract to the bowl with the yolks. Mix together until you get a thick and light-yellow mixture. If you have one, you can use a food processor to make this step easier. Also add the ricotta cheese and the lemon zest, and mix again.
4. Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Here again, using a mixer is much easier and quicker (but doing it with your arms is great for your muscles). Fold the whites into the ricotta mixture and mix together a little bit. Then, put it all in the springform pan and use a spatula or a big spoon to smooth the top.
5. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the cake turns golden brown and the sides start to pull away from the pan a little bit. Let cool completely, then cover the cake with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until you serve it (give it at least 6 hours, and up to one day). When you serve, don’t forget to dust the top with the icing sugar! This will make your cake prettier and also add a sweet taste in it.

There it is! This is the “basic” ricotta cheesecake. There are many things you can add according to your taste to it when serving to make it more personal. MY personal favorite things to add are whipped cream, fruits (like raspberries, strawberries or blueberries, they go great with it), or even vanilla ice cream (or even all of them together, let’s get crazy).

This is another original recipe that you can personalize to impress your friends with your skills in Italian cooking and baking for when you have to cook for them. Pretty sure they will appreciate it! Enjoy!

The recipe comes from this website.

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