Ricotta Cheesecake

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bethzaring

Master Chef
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I am looking for a cheesecake recipe that uses mainly ricotta cheese. I have tried to develop my own recipe and have not gotten enough flavor to please me, either vanilla, chocolate or hazelnut. Also, does any one know the history of cheesecake? Was it originally made with a ricotta type cheese? When was cream cheese invented and is making cheesecake with cream cheese an american invention? Thanks for any answers........
 
I found this on the food network awhile ago, I haven't tried it yet.

Ricotta Cheesecake Recipe
Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: Makes one 9-inch cake; 8 to 10
This no-crust cheesecake has a light texture and rich, eggy flavor. It will rise like a souffle in the oven and then fall during the last 10 minutes or so of baking. To save time, I utilize both the food processor and the electric mixer--a little extra cleanup, but I'm able to whip the egg whites and mix the batter without washing and drying the bowl of my mixer during preparation.
6 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Two 15-ounce containers whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
Confectioners' sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray the springform pan with cooking spray. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in one of the large bowls and the yolks in the work bowl of a food processor.
Add the sugar and vanilla to the work bowl of the food processor and process until thick and light yellow, about 1 minute. Add the ricotta and zest and process until smooth, another 30 seconds. Scrape the mixture into the other large bowl.
Beat the whites on high speed with the mixer until they hold stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the ricotta mixture and scrape into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.
Bake until the cake is deep golden brown and the sides begin to pull away from the pan, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Transfer to the rack to let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving, at least 6 hours and up to 1 day. To serve, release the sides of the springform pan, dust with confectioners' sugar using the strainer, and cut into wedges.
 
Hey, Thanks for the recipe, it looks interesting. Even though I use a madagascar vanilla, I think I still would use more than 2 t. vanilla for almost 2 pounds ricotta. I usually do not keep lemon zest, I use pure lemon, or orange, oil. I do not think I have ever added either oils to a cheesecake, probably afraid of adding too much, but it could be what I need for flavor.

I have not seen a cheesecake recipe quite like this one......thanks
 
I looked at the history of cheesecake website first and got the idea to add some heavy cream to a cheesecake recipe, then I looked at the chocolate ricotta cheese pie recipe and they did that very thing. Sometimes I add melted butter to my cheesecakes but I like the idea of adding heavy cream better, mainly because I am swimming in the stuff right now.

This is a quote from the history website;

"...the earliest actual recipe for a cheesecake is found in the Forme of Cury (14th Century). Hannah Wooley's Queen-Like Closet (1664) gives a cheesecake recipe which sounds quite modern."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 158)

One of my 6 greats grandmothers was named Hannah Wooley, she was born in London in 1716. It could have been an ancestor of mine who wrote that cheesecake recipe!!

Thanks for the interesting links...
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Glad the links were worthwhile for you, Beth. What a coincidence that you may have found an ancestor who was also a cheesecake lover!! Let us know how your latest version turns out and maybe even share the recipe!?
 
bethzaring said:
I looked at the history of cheesecake website first and got the idea to add some heavy cream to a cheesecake recipe, then I looked at the chocolate ricotta cheese pie recipe and they did that very thing. Sometimes I add melted butter to my cheesecakes but I like the idea of adding heavy cream better, mainly because I am swimming in the stuff right now.

This is a quote from the history website;

"...the earliest actual recipe for a cheesecake is found in the Forme of Cury (14th Century). Hannah Wooley's Queen-Like Closet (1664) gives a cheesecake recipe which sounds quite modern."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 158)

One of my 6 greats grandmothers was named Hannah Wooley, she was born in London in 1716. It could have been an ancestor of mine who wrote that cheesecake recipe!!

Thanks for the interesting links...
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Maybe it was an incarnation of yourself???

Cheesecake is believed to have originated in ancient Greece - cheesecake debuted during the first Olympic Games held 776 BC being served to the athletes.

I got this information from :About.com

Cheers :rolleyes:
 
What's the difference between Madagascar vanilla and regular vanilla- I just bought a bottle yesterday quite by accident-figured I better ask before I use it.Thanks in advance.Love and energy, Vicki
 
Good question VickiQ, the answer to which I do not know - poetic, eh - but I'll look around and see if I can come up with something.
 
This is what I was able to find: Flavour: rich, full, aromatic and powerful. Madagascar and Mexico making the best quality. Indonesian and Tahitian vanilla is weaker and considered inferior.

Click the blue underlined link to find out where I got it.

Have fun...
 
VickiQ said:
What's the difference between Madagascar vanilla and regular vanilla- I just bought a bottle yesterday quite by accident-figured I better ask before I use it.Thanks in advance.Love and energy, Vicki

Madagacar tastes better, Vicki. I was given a bottle as a gift and I absolutely adore it! It's more .... vanilla-y.

Lee
 
I am not sure what you mean by, regular vanilla. Do you mean what is normally available from an average grocery store? Madagascar vanilla means the location of the vanilla beans, in this case, the Bourbon Islands of Madagascar. This vanilla will have a more intense vanilla flavor. You can get by with using a bit less of Madagascar vanilla than regular store bought vanilla. I would have thought you might notice a bit of a price difference between regular and Madagascar vanilla, with the Madagascar being noticably more expensive.
 
BrianMorin said:
This is what I was able to find: Flavour: rich, full, aromatic and powerful. Madagascar and Mexico making the best quality. Indonesian and Tahitian vanilla is weaker and considered inferior.

Click the blue underlined link to find out where I got it.

Have fun...
Thank you Bri for all the wonderful information:chef: . I can't wait to use it mow- I still have alittle of the "regular" stuff to finish but, I will be doing ALOT of baking over the next several weeks!:)
 
bethzaring said:
I am not sure what you mean by, regular vanilla. Do you mean what is normally available from an average grocery store? Madagascar vanilla means the location of the vanilla beans, in this case, the Bourbon Islands of Madagascar. This vanilla will have a more intense vanilla flavor. You can get by with using a bit less of Madagascar vanilla than regular store bought vanilla. I would have thought you might notice a bit of a price difference between regular and Madagascar vanilla, with the Madagascar being noticably more expensive.
I purchase vanilla and most of my baking goods at Costco because I do so much baking. I just grabbed a bottle from the same manufacturer-actually the only vanilla available and there really wasn't a difference in price.
 
QSis said:
Madagacar tastes better, Vicki. I was given a bottle as a gift and I absolutely adore it! It's more .... vanilla-y.

Lee
Thanks Lee- I won't tell my husband that it's more vanilla-yLOL:LOL: Because it will disappear!!
 
VickiQ said:
Thank you Bri for all the wonderful information:chef: . I can't wait to use it mow- I still have alittle of the "regular" stuff to finish but, I will be doing ALOT of baking over the next several weeks!:)

More than a pleasure VickiQ. I have a pod in my cupboard, and I am not quite sure what to do with it. Oh ya, I've read about it but it isn't like talking to someone who knows what there doing.

Have you had experiance with the vanilla pod per chance?

P.S. have fun with your baking! - Excuse my ingnorance but can you tell me what "MOW" means.
 
BrianMorin said:
More than a pleasure VickiQ. I have a pod in my cupboard, and I am not quite sure what to do with it. Oh ya, I've read about it but it isn't like talking to someone who knows what there doing.

Have you had experiance with the vanilla pod per chance?

P.S. have fun with your baking! - Excuse my ingnorance but can you tell me what "MOW" means.
Sorry BRi that was a typo- I meant now-:) I haven't had any experieince with a vanilla pod-sorry-I do have a few recipes that call for it but, I somehow haven't tried any yet-maybe this is my incentive!!!
 
Sorry I missed this thread earlier...This is our delicious TNT cheesecake recipe. This one became one of our favourite desserts and a big hit with just about every guests!!

400g/14oz. ricotta
350g/12oz. mascarpone
300g/10,5 oz sugar
3 eggs
juice of half lemon
a few drops of vanilla essence
50g of flour
(optional) 60g of ground pistacchio, or 50ml of Irish Creme whisky

some butter and bread crumbs for the form


beat cheeses and sugar together until smooth. add 1 egg at a time, each time blending well. Add the rest of the ingredients, blend together until they are all smooth.
Pour in a form lightly buttered and dusted evenly with breadcrumbs, bake for 45minutes at 180°C/350°F - 1 hour, or until the surface is golden brown. Turn off the oven, but leave the cake inside without opening it, let it sit for 2 hours.

*if you can find it, try it with ricotta di pecora (made with sheep milk) or bufala (buffalo milk), as they are much richer and creamier in flavour. Then you can increase the amount of the ricotta and reduce the amount of mascarpone.
** you can also experiment with some other additions, like ground hazel nuts, blueberries (coat the blueberries with flour to prevent excess liquid oozing into the batter), currants etc...

There are many variations of "Torta di ricotta" (ricotta cake) in Italy. I will post some more if you are interested!
 
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