My Blood Orange Ricotta & Mascarpone Cheesecake is perfect for the holiday season.
I remember my first encounter with blood oranges, we were in Rome and it was Christmas day, and had gone down to breakfast in our hotel before heading out to the Vatican to see Pope John Paul.
It was a continental breakfast with delicious pastries, cheese, fruit and of course juice. I decided to start with juice and the offerings were a reddish juice that assumed was pink grapefruit, and a normal orangish juice, that I of course assumed was orange juice.
After tasting what I thought was orange juice, I knew had made a mistake because it was grapefruit juice, and when I questioned our server, I was told the other red tinged juice was, in fact, blood orange juice. It was love at first taste!
After all these years, I still wait for blood oranges to come into season, they’re available in the US from November to May and are grown in Texas and California, the cooler fall and winter nights help develop the distinct maroon color.
The varieties grown in the US seem to vary in sweetness, but It really doesn’t matter to me if they’re not as sweet as I remember, because the memories are…..sigh
The best blood orange juice I ever had was in Pompeii from a little cart where it was freshly squeezed while we waited, it was so good I went back for more. So you see even if our blood oranges aren’t as sweet as those grown in Italy, my memories add more sweetness to them!
This year’s blood oranges proved to be a little on the tart side, but the color was beautiful and having bought more than I would eat, I knew I had to come up with a good use for the remainder. It really was an easy decision, they would be a wonderful addition to a ricotta cheesecake!
The tart-sweet orange with its hints of raspberry would be the perfect compliment to my ricotta cheesecake, and the color of the blood oranges would be a delicious contrast from the pale creamy color of the cheesecake!
Ricotta cheesecakes are not for everyone, and honestly, I do still enjoy a New York style cream cheese cheesecake, but every now and then I miss that flavor and texture of a good ricotta cheesecake!
I find that by using mascarpone it smooths out the texture and adds some richness to the dessert. Feel free to use cream cheese if you can’t find mascarpone it will still be a delicious alternative to the New York style cheesecake.
But I promise you’re friends and family will love my Blood Orange Ricotta & Mascarpone Cheesecake!
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Blood Orange Ricotta & Mascarpone Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 12 lemon creme cookies* or traditional graham cracker crust
- ½ stick of butter melted
Cheesecake
- 16 oz ricotta cheese
- 16 oz mascarpone
- 8 oz Greek yogurt
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons flour
- grated peel of one Lemon or lime
- juice from one-half Lemon or lime
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Topping
- 3 blood oranges skin removed, and sliced (remove seeds)
- 2 tablespoons 0range marmalade peach or apricot preserves will also work
Instructions
- preheat oven to 375 degree’s F
Crust
- in the bowl of a food processor pulse your choice of cookie for crust until smooth
- add melted butter and combine.
- press crust into the bottom of prepared springform pan, and partway up around the sides of the pan.
- Bake crust for 7-10 minutes, and allow to cool.
Cheesecake
- In the bowl of your mixer blend together the ricotta cheese, mascarpone, and Greek yogurt blend until smooth.
- Add eggs one at a time until well blended.
- Add sugar, flour, salt, grated lemon peel, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- Blend well until very creamy.
- Pour mixture into a prepared springform pan and Bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until the cake has set in the middle.
- The top of the cheesecake can get brown, if you are not topping it or prefer a lighter top, cover with foil for half of the time in the oven.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool
Topping
- place the orange marmalade in a small pan and over low heat allow it to liquify
- after allowing the cheesecake to cool, place the orange slices on the top of the cheese cake.
- using a pastry brush, brush the marmalade on the oranges and all exposed areas on the top of the cheesecake.
- Use enough of the marmalade so it has a nice glaze.
- allow the cheesecake to set up in the refrigerator overnight for best results*
Notes
*Cheesecake needs time to set up, I would recommend a minimum of 6 hours refrigerated before serving.
Janet
looks absolutely stunning. I would love to try this! unfortunately blood oranges are a little hard to come by where in my city, though i’m sure i could find them if i looked hard enough.
Mari @ Mari's Cakes
The cheesecake looks delicious! I now am on a quest to get some blood oranges here and also plant them since I already have 4 varieties. I hope I could get the correct name in spanish. Thanks Dennis for the wonderful recipe, have a great week.
Kiri W.
Wow, this looks gorgeous! I love ricotta-based cheesecake (having grown up in Europe), and the blood-oranges give such a beautiful color contrast 🙂
Kristi Rimkus
I’ll bet the lemon cookie crust is amazing. I’m one of those that loves the crust as much as the filling. This is a refreshing and beautiful dessert.
Maureen
This is absolutely gorgeous! I’m going to try it but I have my doubts if mine will be as beautiful as yours. You’re a clever chef!
Tina@flourtrader
I never knew blood oranges were grown here in Texas, I have been missing out. I will need to get a few just to taste on their own first and definitely some extra to make this lovely cheesecake.
The texture of the piece shown in the picture tells all-simply delicious. Have a great day Chef!
Sandra
This is beautiful Chef. I’ve never had ricotta cheesecake before but would say yes to this dessert any day.
Grubarazzi (@Grubarazzi)
This is a really beautiful color. I bet the tartness of the blood oranges work really well with the ricotta based cake. Lovely!
Alyssa
This is beautiful. When we lived in the States, I always kept an eye out for blood oranges but never found them. However, when we moved to Bahrain, blood orange juice is widely available and I have fallen in love with it too. Although here they are called red oranges because islamic dietary restrictions do not allow the consumption of blood, so I guess calling it a “blood” orange wouldn’t be a great sales idea. I also really love that you use riccota, Mascarpone
and greek yogurt. I bet it makes it a bit lighter than just all cream cheese cheese cake
Dionne Baldwin
I never ever had a blood orange before or a ricotta cheese cake but you did such a beautiful job that I really want to give that a try! I have a local market that I get my produce from and I will ask them to point me towards them. At this market they even cut right into anything I want and let me try it first! We need to give this a shot.
I hope you have a good week my friend!
Ann
This is a stunning cheesecake! When I lived in Sicily, I lived right next to a blood orange grove and an olive grove…they were everywhere and oh, so delicious! Now that I live in Florida – I can’t find them anywhere! I guess it’s time to hit a different grocery store….I know Honey Bunny would LOVE some!
Jody @ the hobby room
Oh, that is gorgeous! Here’s a sad, sad fact, I have never had a blood orange. We just don’t get them readily here in Washington, it seems. I look every year and never find them, so I guess I need to get serious and head to Whole Foods. Thanks for the recipe!
Missy Maki
Just breathtaking, Chef! You never cease to amaze me!
Amy's Cooking Adventures
Wow! This cheesecake is absolutely stunning! I’m not much of a orange fan, but this just might convert me! I’ve never had a ricotta cheesecake either, but am certainly eager to try it out!
Unorthodox Epicure
You probably enjoyed the Sanguinello in Italy, whereas most blood oranges grown in the U.S. are the Moro variety. Both are good, but the Sanguinello is more consistent with color, acid and sugar content. If you ever see the Cara Cara Pink Navel (orange), buy it. It’s the most succulent citrus out there. Wonderful cheesecake, by the way. I love citrus season.