If you’ve never tried an Italian Ricotta Cheesecake you don’t know what you’re missing. Top it with fresh berries and you’ve got a dessert of legendary status!
updated from original post July 3, 2010
Ricotta Cheesecakes are not the same as a New York style cheesecake. They’re not a sweet and not creamy in the same way. I didn’t want to say not as creamy, because it’s still freaking awesomely creamy!
The real secret to making a ricotta cheesecake extra cream is adding mascarpone. Which for lack of a better term is Italian cream cheese. Adding in sour cream or Greek yogurt adds a little of the flavor you’ve come to expect from a New York style cheesecake.
While we are making Italian desserts, be sure to try my delicious cannoli recipe and my cannoli cake. Soooo good.
What ingredients do I need to make a Ricotta Cheesecake?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make an Authentic Ricotta Cheesecake with Berries. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the up cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
*If you’re not familiar with digestive biscuits I like to think of them as Adult Graham Crackers.
How do I make a Ricotta Cheesecake?
The first step is making the crust for the cheesecake. In a food processor, grind up the pistachios, then remove from them from the processor. Add the graham crackers and grind to a fine meal.
Melt one 6 tablespoons of butter and add the melted butter and sugar to the ground pistachios and graham crackers, mix well.
*The mixture should be wet enough to form but not so wet that it oozes butter.
Form the crust into your springform pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes.
In your mixer, blend together the ricotta cheese, mascarpone, and Greek yogurt. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
Add the eggs one at a time until well blended. Next, add the sugar, flour, salt, grated lemon peel, lemon juice, and vanilla. Blend well until very creamy.
Pour the cheesecake batter into a prepared Springform pan (with baked crust) and bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes in a conventional oven or until the cake has set in the middle.
**The top of the cheesecake can get brown. If you’re not topping the cheesecake or prefer a lighter top, cover the cheesecake with foil for half of the time in the oven.
After the cheesecake has fully cooled, you can start adding the strawberries around the outer edge of the cheesecake. Cut the bottoms off the strawberries so they sit nicely on the cheesecake.
Next add the blueberries to the center of the cheesecake, making sure they are at least two deep. Spoon the prepared glaze over top of the strawberries and blueberries.
*You can use a brush to make sure all of the strawberries are coated with the glaze,
Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours or overnight. The cheesecake will be soft and crumble unless you give it time to set up.
You’re going to love the texture and flavor of this Ricotta Cheesecake. This Italian Classic is a delicious version of one of America’s favorite desserts!
More Cheesecake Recipes You’ll Love!
- Restaurant Style Cheesecake
- Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars with a toffee crust
- Blood Orange Ricotta Cheesecake
- Chocolate Cheesecake Bars with Pecan Shortbread Crust
Ricotta Cheesecake
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust for Cheesecake
- 1 ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup pistachios toasted
- 6 tablespoon Unsalted Butter melted
- ¼ cup Sugar
Ricotta Cheesecake
- 16 oz ricotta cheese full fat or low fat
- 16 oz mascarpone *or cream cheese if you can find mascarpone
- 8 oz Greek yogurt *or sour cream
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon flour
- grated peel of one lemon
- juice from one half lemon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt
Topping for Cheesecake
- 1 pint strawberries whole berries
- ½ Pint blueberries more if desired
- 1 cup red fruit juice
- juice of one lemon
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1½ tablespoon corn starch
Instructions
Crust for Cheesecake
- In a food processor, grind up the pistachios and remove from the processor. Then add the dgraham crackers and grind to a fine meal.
- Melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the butter and sugar to the ground pistachios and graham crackers, mix well.*The mixture should be wet enough to form but not so wet that it oozes butter.
- Form crust into your springform pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes. *Allow to cool before adding the cheesecake batter.
Ricotta Cheesecake
- In your mixer blend together the ricotta cheese, mascarpone, and Greek yogurt. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time until well blended.
- Add the sugar, flour, salt, grated lemon peel, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- Blend well until very creamy. Pour mixture into prepared Springform pan and Bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes in a conventional oven, or until the cake has set in the middle. The top of the cheesecake can get brown. If you're not topping the cheesecake or prefer a lighter top, cover the cheesecake with foil for half of the time in the oven.
Topping for Cheesecake
- Wash the strawberries and blueberries, allow to dry on paper towels.
- Cut the tops off the dried strawberries and place around the outside of the cheesecake, fill the inside with blueberries. They should be at least two deep in the middle of the Strawberries.
- Place all but ¼ cup of the juice and lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan, heat to a near boil. Mix corn starch, into remaining juice and make into a slurry, add the slurry to the heated juice and bring to a low boil. The mixture should start to clear as it thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then spoon over the berries.
- Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours or overnight. The cheesecake will be soft and crumble unless you give it time to set up! I know it's hard to resist but it will be worth it!!
Lauren @ Delicateflavors
Pistachio for the crust, what a great idea! I have never used ricotta in my cheesecake, it is on my grocery list today. 🙂
Jann
My mouth is watering so bad! This looks so delicious and just perfect for the occassion! I actually prefer using Ricotta for a cheese filling, it is not as sweet for my taste buds.I have been scrolling down looking at some of your other recipes and can't wait to get a few started in my kitchen. So happy you stopped by and introduced yourself!!
Lea Ann
Beautiful dessert. I love cherries so much I could eat them in one setting! Isn't Greek Yogurt just the best? Thanks for stopping by my blog. Look forward to your posts.
Judy
Hey, thanks for visiting my blog. I recently made a ricotta cheesecake also (http://judyskitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Cheesecakes%20–%20Ricotta) and used almonds with homemade graham crackers for the crust. At first bite, I was disappointed since I prefer NY style firm cheesecakes. This was light and airy. But the cheesecake grew on me and I really liked it. However, I find that if you wait for the center to set, it's overbaked. You have to take a cheesecake out of the oven when just the edges are set to get the right texture. I'm just sayin'.
Cathy
This looks absolutely luscious, Dennis. I haven't made a ricotta cheesecake in years and I think I better correct that mistake. This is a delicious way to use the wonderful berries that are in the market right now.
Tickled Red
Giggle…great minds think a like darlin' 🙂 Your cheesecakes looks amazingly delicious. I love the idea of pistachios in the crust. I have a few ricotta recipes if you ever wanna talk cheesecake.
kaztronomic
That looks AMAZING. Times like these make me really wish I could eat dairy! 😀
theUngourmet
Beautiful! I love the combination of berries in this. It's just perfect for the 4th!
Jess @ Bakericious
the cheesecake looks so good especially with the fruits, give me a slice pls P
baking.serendipity
Sounds delicious! I've never tried ricotta in a cheesecake, but really want to now. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Magic of Spice
Dennis, this is fantastic…A perfect and delightful dessert. Great photo as well!
rebecca
I must say, I'm salivating!
I'm sure it must taste as unbelievably good as it looks.
penny aka jeroxie
So very moist and juicy from the fruits!
Cookie Sleuth
This looks really delicious! Thanks for the info on Sopressata last week.
Made2Order
haha I love how you just decided to "wing it". I do it all the time when it comes to baking, but i'm not as fortunate at times with the results haha. I've been a line cook for so long that we hardly ever measure as cooks. Bad habit, but not uncommon. I am attending the french pastry school soon in chicago, and hopefully i'll be able to wing out desserts when i graduate ha!