Ricotta Cheesecake Recipe & Video

Printer Friendly Page

This Ricotta Cheesecake uses both ricotta and cream cheese to produce a light and creamy cheesecake. While it is much lighter in taste and texture than a New York Cheesecake, it also pairs beautifully with the graininess of a graham cracker crust. You can enjoy this dessert plain, but I prefer serving it with either fresh fruit or a raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, or cran-raspberry sauce.

Of course, a Ricotta Cheesecake contains ricotta cheese. The name 'Ricotta' actually means "recooked". This cheese is highly perishable, made from the whey (watery residue from making other cheeses) that is cooked to produce a mild tasting, soft, yet granular white cheese. While you can use part skim ricotta, my preference is to use whole milk ricotta as it gives the cheesecake a much richer flavor. And try to use a brand of ricotta that does not contain a gum stabilizer. (The brand I use is Calabro which can be found in some grocery stores or in specialty food stores.) Depending on the brand, if the ricotta cheese is watery, I would drain it before adding it to the cheesecake batter. Do this by either placing the ricotta in a fine-meshed strainer or else a cheesecloth-lined strainer that has been suspended over a bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator to drain for an hour or two, or even overnight.

The most important thing to remember when making a cheesecake is to have all the ingredients at room temperature. You can make the cheesecake batter in a food processor, electric stand mixer, or with a hand mixer. If using a stand mixer beat on low speed to reduce the amount of air incorporated into the batter. Too much air will cause the cheesecake to rise during baking only to disappointedly sink once it has been removed from the oven. Another thing to remember is a cheesecake is really a type of custard, so it is best to bake it in a water bath. Use very hot or almost boiling water and pour enough water to come halfway up the sides of the spring form pan (wrap in aluminum foil to prevent seepage). As with all cheesecakes, let it cool before covering and placing in the refrigerator. While you can serve this cheesecake once it cools, I find it does benefit from sitting at least four hours or preferably overnight in the fridge so the flavors have time to soften and blend. You can freeze this cheesecake for about a month by wrapping it in foil and placing it in a airtight bag. Defrost by placing the frozen cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight to thaw.