Ricotta Cheesecake with Homemade Ricotta
If you love to play in the kitchen, this luscious Ricotta Cheesecake with Homemade Ricotta is just your style. Silky smooth and delicious!
Or take a short cut and make with store bought ricotta; you’ll love this Italian Cheesecake either way!
Ricotta Cheesecake with Homemade Ricotta
I have three younger sisters, and we all love to cook AND eat. Our rare get-togethers always revolve around our next meal and those many trips to the grocery store. Maddy does everything without a recipe…and it always works. I’m still dreaming of her gnocchi with a mushroom cream sauce…unbelievable. Katie is the healthiest of the bunch…magically turning lentils into a dish so delicious I craved second and third helpings.
Mary is the one who first used leaf lard for her pie crust. I was drooling at her photos of a berry-filled pastry. Like me, she loves to entertain and has an adventuresome palate. As children of an English major/artist/musician mother and a slightly nutty physics professor father, we are all a little quirky. But at least we can laugh about it! Mary was the one who inspired me to make this Ricotta Cheesecake with Homemade Ricotta.
I’ve asked them all to guest post…and Mary said she had blogged about her ricotta cheesecake years ago on a friend’s blog. I’m reposting it with her permission. You can see her original photos here. I’ve added my photos as I had to try this!! The results are an extremely creamy, lemony Italian cheesecake…I didn’t even miss the crust.
With my 3 sisters in Seattle–full of sushi!
My sister, Mary.
If you’d like to try a twist on the ordinary cheesecake made with cream cheese and sour cream, try this exquisite ricotta cheesecake. And if you’re even more adventuresome, make your ricotta from scratch. I know you’ll love this!
Ricotta Cheesecake with Homemade Ricotta
Homemade ricotta makes one incredible cheesecake
Ingredients
For ricotta:
- ½ gallon whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 7 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ t salt
For the Cheesecake:
- 16 ounces fresh whole milk ricotta, drained
- 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat-free cream cheese)
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons of vanilla
Instructions
- Squeeze the lemons. It took 3 small lemons to make 7 Tablespoons. (2 large for me)
- Put all the ingredients into a pan over medium-low heat. Allow mixture to heat for 45 to 50 minutes until temperature reaches 165 to 170 degrees. Stir the mixture once or twice
- to avoid sticking. But don’t stir too much otherwise the ricotta curds will be too small.
- Increase heat slightly for another 7 to 8 minutes or until it reaches 200 to 205 degrees on the edges and in the middle.
- Remove ricotta from the heat and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Line a colander with a double thickness of damp cheesecloth. Pour the curds into the colander.
- Allow the ricotta to drain for 20 minutes.
- Makes 16 ounces of yummy light slightly lemony ricotta. Perfect for pasta, salads or even cheesecake.
- I mixed the ricotta and cream cheese until smooth and then added the sugar and beat it for another 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl while beating to make sure everything is incorporated. (I used the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid...be careful not to overmix or incorporate air into the batter).
- Add the eggs and beat in one at a time. I forgot to let the eggs come to room temperature. I have no idea how this affected the final product.
- Double wrap the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with aluminum foil and place it in a bain marie with the water (hot) coming about ½ way up the pan. Pour the batter in. At this point you may ask yourself where is the nasty graham cracker crust? That gritty vile stuff that totally messes up a perfectly good cheesecake? Yes, it’s totally unnecessary and so it will come nowhere near my awesome cheesecake. (Gosh, that's my favorite part of the cheesecake!! Are you sure we're related?).
- Place the cheesecake in the 350-degree preheated oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Then take it out and marvel at the weird souffle-ness of your creation and wonder what the heck is up with that.
- Then be mildly sad when it settles back down. But don’t worry. You will forget it all once you taste it and realize you just made one awesome cheesecake.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 362Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 149mgSodium: 268mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 14g
50 Comments on “Ricotta Cheesecake with Homemade Ricotta”
Wow. That is hardcore. Kudos to sis.
I’ll keep this in my pocket when I want some.
Thanks, my friends!!! Yes, we have pledged to get together more often…so fun to have sisters!
This reminded me so much of my sweet sisters. We love to cook too! And I think that this cheesecake is just stupendous. Homemade ricotta? Wow! Thanks for always making me smile with your words, photos and recipes. I hope that your Wednesday is full of joy!
You are so lucky to have three sisters! I am so impressed that you made your own ricotta. Both the ricotta and the cheesecake look fabulous!
This cheesecake looks fantastic! How neat that you and your sisters all have your own take on things when it comes to cooking/baking. I’ll bet the four of you can come up with some amazing creations!
Thanks, Kate, Gina and Mateja!
Liz, I love this cheesecake…what a wonderful, tasty treat!
I really appreciate that you posted a recipe for how to make ricotta, too! I feel like whipping out all the ingredients and getting on this asap.
I’ve never made homemade ricotta before, I didn’t think it would be that easy. Love how you used it in a wonderful cheesecake, just perfect. So nice of your sister to share this.
-Gina-
Lizzy, I admire your homemade ricotta cheese, thank U for sharing to world. And the cheesecake is wonderful! I love cheesecake… U inspired me ^_^
I love baked cheesecake and yours look delicious. Thank you for the lovely recipe!
Oh my goodness Lizzy this sure looks delightful. I’ll be looking forward to guests posts soon:)
Lora, thanks so much! The ricotta is really delicious!
Lionlady,you wrap the whole pan in foil. Yes, you’re exactly right…it’s to prevent any moisture from creeping in through the bottom of the springform pan (been there, done that!). Hope you enjoy this lemony treat 🙂
I’ll be making this for sure! Do you wrap just the bottom insert in foil, then clip the sides onto it? And the foil helps prevent leaks? Or do you wrap the whole pan?
Oh, thank you, Brandie!!! I’m so excited 🙂
Lizzy – I need you to e-mail me. You won the gift basket!! Blogger wasn’t letting me access your e-mail for some reason. I need your mailing addrees and phone number.
thecountrycook@gmail.com
Congratulations!!!
Green Girl, Kita, Erica and diana…thank you all for stopping by, and especially for taking the time to post such kind words!
Its the homemade ricotta that puts this over the top for me. A great dish is always escalated when the ingredients are homemade. Your sister did a great job!
i had no idea it’s so easy to make ricotta cheese. thanks for sharing the recipe Lizzy.
and the cheesecake, oh my, looks so creamy and delicious. Thank you Mary and thank you Lizzy.
I love your sister’s name..kitchendorkitude~! LOL~!! I laughed out loud~!
You and your sister both are amazing. Those photos are so appetizing. Now I want to learn how to make your ricotta and then brave through the cake. I am hungry now.
Thanks so much, Sandra!!!