Ricotta Cheesecake

Every once in a while, I do ask Kurt what he would like for me to make. It’s only fair given that he suffers the brunt of all of my failed attempts in the kitchen. For Easter, I asked what he thought would be good for dessert. Without even a moment to ponder, he fired back: cheesecake. I liked that idea and of course, chose to make one I hadn’t tried before. This is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, and it states in the intro to the recipe, this is about the easiest cheesecake you can make.

There are two steps which require different appliances, but they’re quick and simple. First, put some fresh ricotta in a food processor and process until smooth. Next, use a mixer to beat egg whites to a stiff, glossy state. That’s it. The rest was just a matter of folding things together. In a large mixing bowl, the ricotta was mixed with egg yolks, flour, some sugar, orange zest, and salt. Then, the egg whites were folded into that mixture. It all went into a springform pan and was baked for about one hour. There was no water bath, so no need to wrap the springform pan in foil. It really was a very easy cheesecake to make.

It came out of the oven puffed like a souffle, but it didn’t drop like one. It settled into a flat shape with just a little ridge around the outside. The instructions in the book mention turning the cake out of the pan and then inverting it back right side up, but I’m not sure why. I just removed the outer ring of the springform pan and let it sit on the base of the pan. Once it cooled to room temperature, I chilled it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. This was a sleek, grown up kind of cheesecake. It had no crust, no cream cheese, and it wasn’t as sweet as other cheesecakes I’ve made. The texture was lightened by the egg whites but still had some sense of density from the ricotta. It was mildly flavored with an orange accent, and would be perfect with espresso. Since I didn’t think to buy some espresso beans, I served it with a strawberry coulis. Dark chocolate sauce would be another option or maybe a melted marmalade. I think this particular cheesecake could be taken in all kinds of directions with sauces and toppings, and it was pretty delicious all by itself too.