I love recipes I learned while traveling through Italy, and my Torta di Ricotta (Italian Ricotta Cheesecake) is one of my favorites!
It’s a simple ricotta cheesecake that was saved for special occasions and holidays. This double-crusted ricotta cheesecake is loaded with chocolate chips, rum-soaked raisins and pine nut brittle making it the highlight of holiday festivities.
My first experience with a ricotta cheesecake was a bit of a disappointment for me, it wasn’t what I was used to. The flavors and textures were completely different, and on top of that, it wasn’t very sweet.
What I would come to realize later was the complexity of this simple dessert and the fact that sugar didn’t mask the real flavors of this glorious cake, which is what made ricotta cheesecake a staple of Italian households.
And while traveling through Italy, I learned to make this extra-special version of an Italian classic, Torta di Ricotta.
What Ingredients do I need to make Torta di Ricotta?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Tort di Ricotta {Italian Ricotta Cheesecake}. 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 up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How do I make a Torta di Ricotta?
The first step is to mix the raisins and rum together and allow them to sit until most of the rum has been absorbed.
Then you can move on to the next steps.
- Toast 5 tablespoons of pine nuts in a saute pan just until they start to get color, moving them around constantly so they do not burn. Once they are toasted remove them from the pan to cool
- In a small pan add sugar and water, heat over high heat until mixture begins to boil and all the sugar is dissolved
- Add the pine nuts to the sugar syrup and continue to swirl the pan until the mixture turns amber.
- Place the finished mixture onto an oiled cookie sheet to cool and harden
How to make a double crust
- In the bowl of a food processor- add the flour, brown sugar, ground almonds, and baking powder, and pulse 2 or 3 times
- Add the butter pieces and pulse 4 or 5 times until the mixture looks like coarse meal
- Mix the egg and vanilla together and pour the mixture into the food processor while it is running (mix just enough to blend)
- If the mixture looks too dry add a little ice water
- The dough will look a little loose, but that’s ok
Place the dough onto a work table and form it into 2 balls. Use one-third of the dough to make one dough ball and the remainder of the dough for the second. Do not work the dough; even if it does not come completely together, just do your best to form the balls. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Using a 10-inch springform pan, line the inside with aluminum foil, overlapping slightly on the outside. Use two crisscrossing pieces, and make sure the foil is tight to the sides of the pan.
- Roll the larger of the two dough balls out between two sheets of parchment paper. Making a large circle.
- Carefully place the rolled-out dough into the springform pan. The dough should go halfway up the inside of the pan.
Refrigerate the dough until needed.
How to make Ricotta Cheesecake Filling
- Mix the ricotta, orange rind, vanilla, sea salt, sugar, raisins and pine nut brittle together in a mixing bowl until well blended.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix together.
- Add the pine nut brittle and mix into the ricotta mixture.
How to assemble Torta di Ricotta
- Spoon the ricotta mixture into the prepared pan
- In between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out the smaller dough ball, just a little bit larger than your springform pan.
- Place this dough on top of the ricotta mixture, and carefully pinch the dough into the dough on the sides of the pan.
- Don’t worry if it cracks slightly; just try not to leave any holes in the dough.
- Place on the center rack of a 350-degree preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown.
- Allow the cheesecake to cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then remove the outer pan and very gently peel back the foil and allow it to continue to cool for an additional 30 minutes.
- Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours before serving to allow it to set up (overnight is best)
*There are no eggs in this cake to help bind it, and if you cut it too soon, it will run.
After the Torta di Ricotta has set, remove the bottom of the springform pan and place the cheesecake on a serving platter. Allow the cheesecake to come back to room temperature before serving.
Slice the Italian Ricotta Cheesecake into portions and serve up deliciousness!
Wouldn’t a slice of this Torta di Ricotta makes a delicious dessert or breakfast treat? I know your friends and family will love it!
More Cheesecake Recipes You’ll Love!
Torta di Ricotta
Ingredients
Pine Nut Brittle
- ¼ cup superfine sugar*
- 3 tablespoon water
- 5 tablespoon pine nuts
Rum Soaked Raisins
- 4 tablespoon golden raisins
- 2 tablespoon rum
Crust
- 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 ¼ cup ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 8 oz unsalted butter very cold cut into ¼ inch pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ice water
Filling
- 1 ½ lb whole milk ricotta cheese*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup superfine sugar
- 2 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup heavy cream if mixture is too dry
Instructions
Pine Nut Brittle
- Toast 5 tablespoons of pine nuts in a saute pan just until they start to get color, moving them around constantly so they do not burn. Once they are toasted remove from the pan to cool
- In a small pan add the sugar and water, heat over high neat until mixture begins to boil and all the sugar is dissolved
- Add the pine nuts to the sugar syrup and continue to swirl the pan until the mixture turns amber.
- Place the finished mixture onto an oiled cookie sheet to cool and harden.
Rasins
- Mix the raisins and rum together and allow them to sit until most of the rum has been absorbed
Crust
- In the bowl of a food processor- add the flour, brown sugar, gound almonds, and baking powder, pulse 2 or 3 times
- Add the butter pieces and pulse 4 or 5 times until mixture looks like coarse meal
- Mix the egg and vanilla together and pour the mixture into the food processor while it is running (mix just enough to blend)
- If mixture looks too dry add a little ice water
- The dough will look a little loose, that’s ok
- Place the dough onto a work table and form it into 2 balls. Use one-third of the dough to make one dough ball and the remainder of the dough for the second. Do not work the dough, even if it does not come completely together, just do your best to form the balls. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Filling
- Mix the ricotta, orange rind, vanilla, sea salt, sugar, raisins and pine nut brittle together until well blended
- Add the chocolate chips.
- Break the pine nut brittle into small pieces and add to the ricotta mixture.
Assembly
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C)
- Using a 10 inch springform pan, line the inside with aluminum foil, overlapping slightly on the outside. Use two criss crossing pieces, and make sure foil is tight to the sides of the pan.
- Roll the larger of the two dough balls out between two sheets of parchment paper. Making a large circle.
- Carefully place the rolled-out dough into the springform pan. The dough should go half way up the inside of the pan.
- Spoon the ricotta mixture into the prepared pan
- In between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough ball, just a little bit larger than your springform pan.
- Place this dough onto of the ricotta mixture, and carefully pinch the dough into dough on the sides of the pan.*Don't worry if it cracks slightly, just try not to leave any holes in the dough.
- Place on the center rack of a 350 degree preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is a nice golden brown.
- Allow cheesecake to cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then remove the outer pan and very gently peel back the foil and allow it to continue to cool for an additional 30 minutes.
- Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours before serving to allow it to set up. *There are no eggs in this cake to help bind it, and if you cut it too soon it will run.
- After the cheesecake has set up, remove the bottom of the springform pan and place on serving platter, allow cheesecake to come back to room temperature before serving.
Notes
* My homemade ricotta was very dry and I needed to add ¼ cup of heavy cream to the mixture
Jean
Thanks for such an easy to follow recipe! The torta was delicious
Rob
Great recipe! Everyone loved the cheesecake
Jules
That pine nut brittle is the coolest recipe I’ve ever seen and I have been looking for a cheesecake to make for my dad since he is a cheesecake lover. Hr gave it 5 stars and said it was the perfect recipe!
Lexa
What an amazing recipe, my family loved your Torta di Ricotta!
Amanda Dixon
This pie is perfection! The ricotta filling is so decadent, and I loved the rum kick.
Leslie
Love this Torta di Ricotta recipe! It was delicious!
Andrea White
this recipe is gold! so delicious and comes out great every time!
Will
This was so very delicious. Thanks!
Sue
Nothing beats a good cheesecake but this one is in a class of its own! My family loved it!
Jane Elspeth
A late comment, but found this posting just now. This is gorgeous! I love making ricotta too; I’ve baked a Torta di Ricotta from the classic Silver Spoon cookbook that is similarly simple and gorgeous, but different… kind of a cross between a cake & cheesecake, but it rises to be quite high. This recipe is quite interesting, will try it. Also remember a “ricotta cheesecake” my mother made for my birthday years ago that was similar in its simplicity and low sugar almost to savory, with golden raisins. It was definitely more of a cheesecake. She and I loved it, the rest of the family wasn’t enthused lol so this story reminds me of my own experience with ricotta… lovely 🙂
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks Jane, I have made many different types of ricotta cheesecakes over the years but this is one of my favorites
Francesco
I went searching for this recipe with a week of returning from Italy, where I had the tortas both like this one and also in an alternative version– it had neither chocolate chips nor pine nuts, but had a thin layer of poached pear slices between the filling and the bottom crust. Both were amazing.
Jenny @ Savour the Senses
This sounds right up my alley! But first I need to try making my own cheese, it has been on my list-to-do for SO long!
Daisy
Is the pine nut brittle chopped up in a food processor before adding to ricotta? Sorry if I missed this somewhere in the recipe. Sounds delicious. I’m making it this evening. Will rate tomorrow.
Chef D
just break it up by hand, most of it will crack as you take it off the sheet. I look forward to seeing your your cheesecake comes out!
Daisy
Thanks Chef. I made the cake last night. Delicious! It tasted just like I thought it would when I served it today. I had a bit of trouble with the top crust, put patched and tapped it into place and it turned out fine. My guests asked for the recipe. This was a good one!
Chef D
I had a little trouble with the top as well, but it does seem to bake ok, that’s one of the reasons I dusted it with 10x sugar to hide a few of the imperfections!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the cake! Thanks for letting me know.
Ruth
That cake looks unbelievable! Thank you so much for posting 🙂
Cakewhiz
You always have the greatest stories to share with your recipes!
And your torta looks wonderful… I would love a few slices 😛