Non-Cream Cheese Cheesecakes (Ricotta, Yogurt)

[Young2Cook]

A friend's "Tuscan Bridal Shower" is tomorrow and I've committed to making a couple of cakes. I've got a recipe for an Italian carrot cake that I really like but the second cake should be a cheesecake, simply because she's addicted. Seems like it should at least include ricotta. Does anyone have a tried and true recipe for an Italian Cheesecake?

Thanks,

Deborah

[sanrensho]

I've tried several recipes for ricotta cheesecake and still haven't found one that I liked. I would also be interested in a good recipe.

[Young2Cook]

I've tried several recipes for ricotta cheesecake and still haven't found one that I liked. I would also be interested in a good recipe.

←

This is clearly not good news....I'm committed so I'll report the results. So far I've made fresh ricotta and candied kumquats. I'm thinking of chopping the kumquats and adding some dark, dark chocolate. What could go wrong?

[onehsancare]

With enough chocolate, almost anything could be good!

[Sethro]

I find most recipes containing only ricotta to be low on flavor and mouthfeel. I have a VERY good recipe fo a creamcheese/ricotta cheesecake though.

105g butter

52g sugar

270g creamcheese

90g ricotta

60g egg yolk

52g milk

2tbs lemon juice

105g cream (whipped)

120g egg whites (whipped)

23g sugar

15g cornstarch

1. Cream the butter and sugar

2. beat in the creamcheese till completely smooth

3. seive the ricotta and incorporate

4. Incorporate the egg yolk, milk and lemon juice

5. Whip the cream to medium peaks and fold in

6. Whip the whites to VERY soft peaks, adding the sugar in a stream

7. Sift the cornstarch over the whites and the cheese mixture, and fold everything together

8. Bake at 250 for one hour.

I start with the convection fan at high for 15 minutes and then lower it for the remainder. In my particular oven I get the best rise with the least cracking this way.

Edited July 17, 2005 by Sethro (log)

[Young2Cook]

Sethro, thank you for this one, I'll try it next time I'm feeling strong enough to take on ricotta!

I ended up making a cream enriched version of DiPalo's ricotta cheesecake, with some changes: a thin ground biscotti/melted butter base, a half teaspoon of almond extract, and a couple ounces each of chopped Valrona dark chocolate, candied kumquats (very good) and finely diced marzipan folded in at the end, then brulee'd the top. It was good, but not great, mostly because of the mouthfeel/flavor issue you mention. If I were to try it again, I think I'd try processing the batter (before the additions) to smooth out the texture a bit more.

In the end, I'm still loyal to the cheesecake I knew growing up. For me, it's Proust all over again. The basic recipe appears on the web in various guises, but this was my mother's take on it.

Grambea’s Cheesecake (simple and delicious)

5 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1 pound cream cheese

1 pint sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon, or a little more, lemon juice

The Oven: Preheat to 300°.

The Crust: 12 double graham crackers, crushed. Reserve 3/4 cup to sprinkle on top. To remainder, add 3 tablespoons melted butter. Put the mixture in the bottom of a springform pan.

The Cake Itself: Cream the egg yolks and the sugar. Add the cream cheese and cream some more. Add the vanilla and the lemon juice. Fold in sour cream. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks (but not dry) and gently fold them into the mixture.

The Cooking: Bake for one hour. Do not open the oven door to peek! Entreat all parties in the house to tread lightly and not slam things around. Cheesecakes hate controversy. After an hour, turn off the oven and leave the cake in for another hour with the door propped slightly open (a knife does a good job.)

The Wait: Run knife around the edge of the cake, remove sides of pain, cool cake further .....and place in refrigerator overnight to mellow.

[Sethro]

Just a note, I see that I put the wrong measurement for the butter origionally. Its edited now..

[chefcyn]

Here's an Italian Cheesecake I have made and if you puree the ricotta before you mix it in, it has a smoother texture. You can leave out the citron, but it's a traditional ingredient.

10" deep pie pan

Crust:

2 c ap flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c cold butter

2 Tbs brandy or complimaentary flavored liqueur

4 Tbs water

Work the cold butter into the flour and salt, (pulse in the food processor) then add the liquids and work until a dough forms. Don't overwork.

Press into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 min.

Remove from the wrap and roll out to fit the 10" pie pan, bring up enough over the edge to make a fluted edge treatment about 1/2" above the edge. (I used the large pyrex glass pan and it worked fine)

Bake at 450degF for 7-8 min, remove and cool on a rack while you make the filling.

Filling:

4 eggs

1 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 lb rocotta cheese

3 Tbs toasted Pine nuts

2 Tbs chopped blanched toasted almonds

2 Tbs chopped citron

1 Tbs ap flour

Beat the eggs until light and lemon colored. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla, blend, then add in the cheese and blend well until just smooth.

Combine the nuts and citron with the flour to coat, then fold them into the batter.

Pour the filling into the piecrust and bake at 375deg for about 40-45 min. It should be set but just a little jiggly in the center.

Cool at room temp, then keep in the refirgerator, covered.

Edited July 17, 2005 by chefcyn (log)

[cookman]

Is it possible to make a good cheesecake out of yogurt "cheese"? The consistency of the "cheese" left over from draining the whey from yogurt suggests it could be used to make a low-fat cheesecake. There are many such recipes on the Web. I'm curious if anyone has really found a recipe that they think is good enough that they would be proud to serve it!

[Woods]

Is it possible to make a good cheesecake out of yogurt "cheese"? The consistency of the "cheese" left over from draining the whey from yogurt suggests it could be used to make a low-fat cheesecake. There are many such recipes on the Web. I'm curious if anyone has really found a recipe that they think is good enough that they would be proud to serve it!

←

You can certainly do this. I make my own quark and fromage blanc and use them. Yogurt is a bit more sour than they are so you'd have to adjust for it. I do not like cream cheese cakes so have always used the above or ricotta. When you drain 1% or skim milk you will get less solids so you may have drain more than you think. There is a site, cheesemaking.com, that has cultures and also cheesecloth that you can use over and over again. Let us know how your cake turns out. Woods

[kayb]

Bumping this thread, because I made a reasonably decent ricotta cheesecake tonight.

I've gotten into making homemade ricotta, since I've found a source for fresh milk. So a half-gallon of milk yields about a pound of ricotta, which in turn goes into a cheesecake with six (farm-fresh) separated eggs, 3/4 cup of sugar, some almond flavoring, some almond meal, and some heavy cream.

It's sprinkled with turbinado sugar:

and baked at 350 for 40 minutes.

And there it is. It'd be better with a fruit compote over it, but I was lazy. Not at all bad by itself.

Recipe is

6 eggs, separated

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups fresh ricotta

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ cups almond meal

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Generously butter the sides and bottom of an 8” springform pan. Dust the sides lightly with hazelnut flour. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter this, too.

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy, then whisk in vanilla. Stir in ricotta, lemon zest and hazelnut flour until well blended. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form and fold that in.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with salt until they hold firm peaks. Fold this into ricotta mixture in three increments, trying not to overmix.

Pour into springform pan and sprinkle a layer of demerara sugar over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes; rotate and bake for another 20. Cake is done when slightly springy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve with a dollop of créme fraiche, whipped cream or whipped ricotta.

Edited February 20, 2012 by kayb (log)