Orange Ricotta Cheesecake

Apparently, my husband loves this cheesecake. My first clue was when he told me that I could make it again. And then he kissed me. And then he ate the whole thing over the period of a week. And then he said, "Just in case you are wondering, you can make that again. I like that kind of cheesecake." (He does not share my love of NY style cheesecake.)



Good to know. Maybe if I make this again, I can get him to agree to buy me a new Nikon and a few new lenses, too, while he's eating it. Just a thought. (I wonder where that $6,000 is going to come from...)



Ricotta Cheesecake
adapted from The Joy of Cooking

**The original recipe is for an Italian cheesecake with the addition of pine nuts, almonds, and candied citrus peel. None of which I had on hand. Thus, the adaptation.**

Grease one 9-inch springform pan.

Prepare the dough or crumbs for either:

Sweet Tart Dough
Pat-in-the-Pan Shortbread Crust
Graham Cracker Crust (see below for recipe)

Fit the dough into the pan so that is comes a bit more than halfway up the sides of the pan; it should be 1/8 inch thick. (The dough can be rolled out with a rolling pin or simply pressed into the pan with your fingers).

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Prick the dough all over with a fork and press a sheet of aluminum foil over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Fill with rice or pie weights and bake for about 15 minutes. (Make sure to do this if you are making the shortbread crust.) Carefully remove the foil and weights and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack. Patch any cracks or holes with scraps of dough before filling.

Filling:

1 cup sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups (22 ounces) whole milk ricotta (don't use skim, it won't be as good)

Have all ingredients at room temperature, 68 to 70 degrees F.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the sugar and zest in a large bowl. Rub the zest and sugar between your fingers until the sugar looks wet and sandy. Add the eggs and beat on high speed until thick and pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix well. Stir in the ricotta cheese.

Scrape the batter into the prepared crust and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, and bake until a knife inserted about 2 inches from the edge of the cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes more. The center will be softer and the cake will seem to jiggly, but it will set after it has cooled. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack before unmolding. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably 24 hours, before serving.

To unmold:
If the cake has pulled away cleanly from the pan, simply release the spring and carefully remove the pan side. Otherwise, slide a thin knife blade around the sides of the cake to detach it from the pan, pressing the blade against the pan to avoid tearing the cake, before releasing and removing the side. Serve the cake directly on the pan bottom, or chill it thoroughly before attempting to transfer it to a serving platter of cardboard cake circle.


We liked this served with orange curd (recipe below) and bitter orange marmalade.

Orange Curd

Juice and zest of 2 oranges
2/3 cup granulated white sugar (you can cut back a little on this if the orange is very sweet)
4 Tbsp. butter
2 large whole eggs, lightly beaten
dash salt

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. In separate bowl, grate orange peel and squeeze juice from oranges. Add sugar and egg. Whisk to combine. Add the melted butter to bowl, and pour everything back into the pan. Over medium heat, whisk the orange curd constantly until it thickens--sort of like a thin pudding--about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Strain orange curd over a clean bowl with a fine mesh strainer. (I find this removes the white things from the whole eggs as well as the zest. I prefer a smooth orange curd. But, if you would rather skip this step, it's totally okay.) Enjoy warm or cold!

Graham Cracker crust

9 full-size graham cracker sheets
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar

Prepare crust:

Place graham cracker sheets in a large Ziploc bag and crush using a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs in to a small mixing bowl. Add the sugar and melted butter. Toss together with a fork until all the crumbs are moist.

Press crumbs into a 9"springform pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Prepare filling while crust bakes. Cool completely before using.