Baked Cheesecake

Thanks for voting,  this time I am making the mom’s day winner - baked ricotta cheesecake.  However, all other recipes in the poll are interesting for me as well and I will try to make them a bit later.

Cheesecake is a very famous name of ricotta filling cake. Most popular style variations are American, German and Italian that called sometimes a Sicilian cheesecake. They differ in decoration and ingredients. Hence all of them have a ricotta cheese as the main ingredient.

Preparing this dessert I made some changes in the cooking method and as a result I have a new ‘baked’ cheesecake version. The difference in my cooking method is by whisking the egg whites until stiff and then folding them into the cheese mixture. If making the classic recipe, I’d  mix all ingredients together including eggs (eggs whites and yolks). As the result of the method change, the cheese mixture has more volume and lighter. The cake after baking looks like a baking tart having a ricotta cream flavour.

This ricotta cheesecake is enriched with eggs and cream with tangy orange and lemon rind. That must make an impressive finale for a dinner party.

Following the cooking recommendations I preheated the oven to 180^◦C. That resulted the oven being  too hot and that caused the custard to become rubbery. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with the quality of this cake. This cake has a rich shortcrust pastry base flavoured with the lemon and has a delightful light ricotta taste. I decorated the cake top with some mixed wild berries.

Ingredients for filling

400g (2 cups) ricotta cheese
100ml (1/2 cup) double cream
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
4-5 tablespoon of caster sugar
rind of 1 lemon, finely grated
rind of 1 orange, finely grated

Ingredients for pastry

170g (1 1/2 cup) plain flour
2 tablespoon of caster sugar
salt
120g (1/2 cup) chilled butter, diced
1 egg yolk

Method

Firstly, a ricotta cheese must be well drained before using. For this place the soft cheese in a fine sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for 1 hour.

To make the pastry, sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and lemon rind, then add the egg and mix to a dough. Wrap in a clear film and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry and use to line a 25cm loose-based fluted flan tin.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190^â—¦C (375^â—¦F).

Prick the base of the chilled pastry case all over with a fork, fill it with crumpled foil and bake for about 5 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for about 5 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 180â—¦C (350 â—¦F).
To make the cheese mixture, put the drained ricotta cheese in a bowl with the cream, eggs yolks, caster sugar, orange and lemon rinds and beat together until evenly mixed.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the cheese mixture, one-third at a time.

Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden and firm. Switch off the oven and leave the door slightly open. Let the cheesecake cool down in the oven.

Serve in slices decorated with fruits or berries.

Tagged as: Cakes and pastries, Cheese, Desserts, Italian recipes, Ricotta, Southern Italy

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