Description
This light and refreshing Italian lemon ricotta cheesecake is as delicious as it is easy! Ricotta cheesecakes are the lighter and fluffier version of the new york style cheesecake.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 10 graham crackers
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 16 ounces ricotta
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest- about 4 lemons
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 2 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 5 tablespoons lemon curd
- dried or fresh lemon slices for garnish
Instructions
- About an hour or two before baking, pull out the ricotta, mascarpone, and eggs and let them come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- In a food processor, blend the graham crackers with the melted butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Pour the mixture into a springform pan and use the bottom of a glass to push and spread the mixture into the pan.
- In a food processor, blend the ricotta, mascarpone, flour, and cream until it is light and fluffy. About 5 minutes.
- Next, add the sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice, and eggs. Blend to combine.
- Pour the filling on top of the flatted crumbs and bake for 1 hour then turn off the oven and continue baking for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the cake come to room temperature,
- Smear the 5 tablespoons of lemon curd to the top of the cake and chill for at least 2 hours.
- Serve with dried, candied, or fresh lemon slices. The slices pictured are dried lemons. To dry, bake thinly sliced lemons on a baking sheet with a cooling rack at 200 degrees for 4-6 hours.
Notes
- Use fresh ricotta. The fresher the ricotta, the smoother the cake will be. If it's not fresh, it could produce a grainier texture.
- Have all your ingredients at room temperature. This helps prevent splitting and the dreaded cracked top.
- Add a little bit of flour. This also helps create a smooth texture and prevents splitting.
- Leave the cake in the oven with heat off for 30 minutes after its done baking. This lets it cool down slowly, which also helps prevent cracking.