ITALY HAS A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH RICOTTA CAKES
Ricotta cake is a surprisingly complicated matter in Italy.
Ask ten Italians about a ricotta dessert and you’ll likely get ten different answers.
Some will immediately think of the Neapolitan Pastiera.
Others of the Sicilian Cassata.
Others still of one of the countless regional pies made with ricotta, citrus, wheat, sponge cake, candied fruit, or pastry.
And then there’s cheesecake.
Not exactly traditional.
Not exactly foreign anymore either.
This baked ricotta cheesecake is what happens when an American classic settles comfortably into an Italian kitchen.
THE ITALIAN RICOTTA CHEESECAKE
Unlike most American cheesecakes, the Italian version rarely uses cream cheese.
Instead, we turn to ricotta, one of the most beloved ingredients of our pastry tradition.
The filling combines ricotta, egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream, and lemon, creating a dessert that is lighter, fresher, and less sweet than many international cheesecakes.
The result sits somewhere between a cheesecake and a ricotta tart.
Delicate, fragrant, and unmistakably Italian.
A MATTER OF LEMON
If there’s one ingredient that transforms this cheesecake, it’s lemon.
Both the juice and the zest bring brightness to the rich filling and create the flavor most Italians instinctively associate with ricotta desserts.
It’s a simple detail, but an important one.
ricotta cheesecake recipe with ricotta cheese
Ricotta cheesecake with ricotta cheese, heavy cream, and lemon.
Ingredients
for the shorcrust:
- 5.3 oz 0 flour 150 gr or 1 cup + 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
- 2.7 oz butter (fridge-cold) 75 gr or 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2.7 oz confectionary sugar 75 gr or 1/4 cup + 6 tablespoons
- 1.5 yolks or 1 from a large egg
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
for the filling:
- 8.8 oz ricotta cheese 250 gr
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2.5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 pinch sea salt
- the lemon and zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
for the shortcrust
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Place the butter (cut in pieces), sugar and honey in the stand mixer and mix, (low/medium speed – kneading hook on) for a minute or less.
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Mix the egg yolks and salt in a cup, and pour them in the mixer bowl. Mix a few seconds.
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Add the vanilla extract and the lemon zest to the bowl. Again, mix a few seconds.
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Sift the flour twice and add it to the bowl.
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Combine the ingredients for a few seconds, just the time to get a dough that won’t stick to your hands.
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Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate it for 2 hours (or freeze it 30 minutes).
for the filling
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Meanwhile beat the ricotta, the egg yolks, the heavy cream, and the sugar until well amalgamated. Add cornstarch, the lemon zest and juice, and a pinch of salt. Mix well.
to finish the ricotta cheesecake pie
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Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).
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Roll out the shortcrust into a circle big enough to cover the bottom of the cake mold (springform pan would be better), or larger, if you want to line walls as well.
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Prick the pastry with a fork and bake it for 10 minutes.
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Take it out of the oven, pour in the ricotta mixture and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife or a wooden skewer come out clean when you insert them into the center of the cake.
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Let the temperature decrease before unmolding it.
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Serve the cheesecake cold or at room temperature with the garnishing of your choice. I added syrupy cherries and fresh mint leaves.
THE MANY ITALIAN RICOTTA CAKES
Ricotta desserts come in countless forms throughout Italy.
The two most famous are probably the Neapolitan Pastiera and the Sicilian Cassata.
Pastiera is built on a shortcrust base and enriched with wheat berries and orange blossom aromas.
Cassata combines ricotta cream with sponge cake and marzipan, often decorated in vivid colors.
There is also the baked Sicilian Cassata, which comes much closer to what many people would recognize as a cheesecake.
This ricotta cheesecake belongs to that broader family of modern Italian ricotta desserts: inspired by the American original, but interpreted through Italian ingredients and tastes.
Many of these regional traditions—and the stories behind them—found their way into the Palermo Simposio and other volumes of the collection.
Enjoy your ricotta cheesecake!
Claudia