Here's my own recipe for Ricotta Cheesecake:
butter, softened
½ cup almonds (I used sliced almonds)
1 ½ pounds ricotta cheese
4 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons AP flour
¾ cup sugar
1 lemon, grated rind & juice
1 small orange, grated rind & juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Grind almonds in a food processor and use them to coat the pan.
2. Place ricotta cheese food processor and process until very smooth, about 1 minute. Add egg yolks, sugar, flour, zests, juices (about 1/4 cup total), and salt. Process until well blended and smooth.
3. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in ricotta mixture until well combined.
4. Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325 until lightly browned on top. Watch carefully -- mine was done in less than an hour.
*****
This is my Mothers recipe, it's very old and was (according to my Mom) handed down from my Aunt in Italy. I posted it on my blog http://apuginthekitchen.com/2012/03/01/italian-cheesecake/ It has no cream cheese at all.
This is not a traditional cheesecake, per se, but it does use fresh ricotta cheese, has a lovely, subtle lemon flavor and is very light in texture. It is really delicious . . . one of my favorite recipes on the food52 site. http://food52.com/recipes/10436-louisa-s-cake
This cake is very light, and only uses well drained ricotta cheese. You could substitute lemon zest for the orange, and leave out the chocolate chips. http://food52.com/recipes/10457-cannoli-cake
I don't know of any recipes online, but the book, The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia by Capalbo, Whiteman, Wrigth and Boggiano has in my opinion one of the best ricotta cheese cake recipes in it. It's not an easy book to get your hands on these days, but a lot of libraries still have it. It's a real gem of a book and I suspect my local Italian-style bakery uses it for all their desserts.
I found one not too expensive on e-bay and have queried the seller about author's name, not sure it's the same one. Lots of good suggestions from the hotline.
11 Comments
butter, softened
½ cup almonds (I used sliced almonds)
1 ½ pounds ricotta cheese
4 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons AP flour
¾ cup sugar
1 lemon, grated rind & juice
1 small orange, grated rind & juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Grind almonds in a food processor and use them to coat the pan.
2. Place ricotta cheese food processor and process until very smooth, about 1 minute. Add egg yolks, sugar, flour, zests, juices (about 1/4 cup total), and salt. Process until well blended and smooth.
3. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in ricotta mixture until well combined.
4. Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325 until lightly browned on top. Watch carefully -- mine was done in less than an hour.
*****
Gattò di Ricotta
Nick Malgieri, Great Italian Desserts
Orange instead of lemon but lovely and simple