I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the joys of a good cheesecake… it’s super simple to throw together, it can be made well in advance, it feeds a crowd & it’s a real crowd pleaser of a dessert. Be it baked, chilled, or crustless, who can resist a bit of cheesecake? But not all cheesecakes are made equal on this Earth, whilst the core ingredients & principles are the same, they can be used to a multitude of varying results.
For example, regular cream cheese or mascarpone make for a creamy, dense cheesecake but when swapped out for something like quark or ricotta, the results are much lighter & silky. It’s good to have variety in life (even in the cheesecake world) & I’m a massive lover of both.
My Italian travels however have had a massive influence in my kitchen & I’m a sucker for anything ricotta based. Not just resigned to a savoury dish, ricotta is another interchangeable ingredient in the Italian kitchen. Unlike here in the UK where most of our bakes revolve around a base of butter, in Italy, baking fats are much more varied, including the use of ricotta in things like cakes & sweet tarts.
Finding myself with some leftover ricotta from my Easter Pastiera, along with the last few neglected blood oranges, the craving for a rich & light cheesecake struck. Sneaking in a little almond flavour in the crust & in a cheeky drop of amaretto in the mixture helps round off the flavour of this citrus, not overly sweet dessert (plus, any excuse to get the amaretto out!). A simple but vibrant blood orange & ricotta cheesecake that take minutes to make & is nearly impossible to resist a second helping of.
BLOOD ORANGE & RICOTTA CHEESECAKE
(makes one 23cm cheesecake)
Ingredients:
For the base:
- 220g digestive biscuits
- 100g whole almonds
- 100g butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the filling:
- 3 large eggs
- 250g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 750g ricotta
- Zest & juice of 4 blood oranges
- 2 tbsp amaretto
To decorate:
- 1 blood orange
- A handful of almonds
Method:
- Grease & line the base of a 23cm round, springform cake tin
- To make the base, blitz the digestive biscuits & whole almonds in a food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs, or pop them into a freezer bag & bash them with a rolling pin
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan set over a low heat (or in the microwave)
- Add the biscuit crumbs to the pan, along with the salt & mix together until all of the biscuit crumbs have been coated & dampened with the butter
- Tip the biscuit crumbs into the cake tin & use the back of a spoon to press the biscuit firmly & evenly into the base of the tin
- Bake the base in the oven at 180C for 10 minutes, until it turns darker & more golden in colour, remove &set aside to to cool
- To make the filling, add the eggs, cornflour & sugar into a large bowl & whisk together until light & pale in colour
- Add the ricotta to the bowl & fold this through until well incorporated
- Add the orange zest & juice, along with the amaretto if using & stir these through the mixture
- Carefully pour the cheesecake filling over the biscuit base
- Bake the cheesecake at 160°C for 40 – 45 minutes, until the cheesecake has a light golden colour on top & around the edge, & it has a slight wobble in the middle when shaken
- Open the oven door, leave it slightly ajar & leave the cheesecake in the oven until both have completely cooled down
- Once cooled, place the cheesecake in the fridge to chill overnight
- Remove the cheesecake from the fridge & leave to sit for around an hour to warm up a little (this will help it to release from the tin a bit easier)
- After an hour, use a small palette knife or a blunt table knife to run along the inside edge of the tin to help ease the cheesecake away from the sides before releasing
- Decorate the blood orange & ricotta cheesecake simply with a few orange slices & almonds to finish
