Typically when I think about ricotta cheese, it's normally associated with manicotti or stuffed shells, but something inspired me to find a different way to use ricotta cheese. So cheesecake came to mind. I did a quick google search just to skim some methods used for this recipe and to make sure I have everything I need. I'm not a baker, at all. I've never been good at it. I like to try to make things from scratch instead of just add eggs and water, and I always seem to fail. Baking is such a science. Substitutions are very strategic and the process must be precise for something to come out correct. Except cheesecake. I feel like with cheesecake you have a lot more room to substitute ingredients.
Ingredients:
9" baking tin
Baking Sheet
6 graham crackers, crushed
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup cream cheese
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup greek yogurt (Optional, helps loosen the filling)
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinnamon (add more to your liking)
1/3 cup pure cane sugar
2 tbsp flour
We're going to start by prepping the crust.
Step 1:
Pull out all of your ingredients and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly oil or butter the clean tin or baking sheet to keep your crust from sticking while baking.
Step 2:
Crumble your graham crackers. Put a few crackers into a sandwich bag and break them down until crummy. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 375 F for 6-8 minutes.
My friend churned this butter at her internship with Valley Shepherd Creamery in New Jersey!
Shout out to her family farm PainterLand!
Step 3:
Begin to mix the cake filling.
Start with the cheeses (cream cheese, ricotta), add greek yogurt; adding small amounts at a time to loosen the mixture.
Step 4:
Lightly beat 3 eggs into the mixture, slowly. Since I did not use a cake mixer, I used my blender and stopped it each time to add an egg, turned it on low for 3-4 seconds, stop, add another.
Step 5:
Add flour, sugar, vanilla, and a dash of cinnamon, for taste.
Step 6:
Then pour mixture into crust. Leave a little room at the top to avoid the cake overflowing while cooking. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
I checked mine at 40 minutes and it was finished. My oven cooks very fast. You know the cake is finished when you stick a fork in the middle and it is not wet, or the edges have browned.
Step 7:
Remove cake from oven, and cool for 10 minutes.
I added mine to the freezer or fridge so it would get a little firm and cool faster.
Serve cool.
Tips
I made one cheesecake in a Key Lime flavor and one described in the directions with cinnamon and vanilla flavor. To make the lime flavor, squeeze a few limes into the mixture during Step 5. You can turn your cake into strawberry flavor, oreo flavored, chocolate, etc. Just add the extra flavors during Step 5.
Watch the full process in my Instagram Highlights: www.instagram.com/brunchwithsam
Take a stab at the Ricotta Cheesecake recipe and let me know how it goes! Did you add in a special flavor?
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