I love a good cheesecake and as much as I like ricotta cheese I have never made a cheesecake using it. This cheesecake reminds me of my Nana's ricotta pie and brought me back to my childhood and back into our kitchen with Nana cooking once again. One of my most favorite places to be
There is a hint of orange and amaretto in this creamy, not overly sweet, creamy goodness. I loved the crust but next time I think I will use amaretti cookies or biscotti instead of graham crackers. I halved the recipe (I am getting good at that) so I wouldn't have a huge cheesecake hanging around. Way, way too tempting! And I did something else that I am quite proud of....I made my own ricotta! (see below) Everything was quite easy from making the ricotta to making the cheesecake! Takes really no time at all.
Give it a try....you just might kiss that New York cheesecake bye bye!
So delicious....so old world....love it!
To get the recipe click here.
Next up is Brown Butter Snickerdoodles! Can't wait!
Until then....
Mangia!
I have been wanting to try this for a long time now! The process was actually very simple and fast. I only made half of the cheesecake recipe so I only needed a half gallon of milk, 1 cup of cream and 6 tablespoons of lemon juice. I used organic whole milk and organic cream and put that in a large pot and brought it to 180 degrees. Do not let it boil! It is then taken off the heat and lemon juice is added and almost immediately curds start to form. You let that sit for 20-25 minutes and the curds are all on the top of the mixture the whey is a yellowish color underneath. Your spoon off the curds and put them in a cheesecloth lined colander that is placed on a large pot. Once the curds are all scooped out you let them sit for a minute or two and then gently gather up the cheesecloth and tie with a string or rubber band it at the top. Then let it hang until the whey stops dripping. I let my hang for about 2 hours but you can have a nice soft beautiful ricotta in about 30 minutes or so. I don't think I will ever buy ricotta again! The texture is so creamy and it tastes far superior to anything you can buy at the store!
I used the tutorial below....
Your cake looks delicious and thanks for sharing that video.
ReplyDeleteBravo on making your own ricotta!! And your cake looks scrumptious! I'm guessing the ricotta makes the cheesecake less tangy (which I imagine would be good).
ReplyDeleteI'm totally impressed that you made your own Ricotta! Very nice post.
ReplyDeleteYou have inspired me to try making my own ricotta, too! If you halved the cheesecake recipe, did you use a smaller pan? It looks so good, and the fresh ricotta looks amazing, yum!
ReplyDeleteYes I did use a smaller pan. You really should try the homemade ricotta...you will be amazed at how easy it is!
DeleteNice job, Chelly! I am so impressed with your homemade ricotta-- I definitely want to try that in the future! :)
ReplyDeleteHooray for homemade cheese! I loved cheese making in culinary school and wanted to do it for this recipe, but just ran out of time (and energy). It looks so good, well done!
ReplyDeleteLooks so good! I agree, making your own ricotta is the best!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cake! I hadn't made a ricotta cheesecake before either, and loved it.
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