Okay, popular on this blog counts as one request. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
Rebecca asked for the cheesecake recipe pictured at the top of my blog, so here it is. After racking my brain and flipping through a few cookbooks, I remembered that the recipe comes from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea (remember Rose Bakery, which I blogged about last week?).
Their cheesecake is an Italian-style ricotta version, a bit lighter and a bit less rich than American cheesecakes. The ricotta also gives it a slightly grainier texture, which, while it doesn’t sound too appetizing, is actually quite pleasant.
You can find more recipes at barbara-luijckx.com
The lemon curd on top was my own touch. I actually made my own, which is one of those embarassingly try-hard things to do that make people think you want to be Martha Stewart and have no life. But it was actually really easy! Still, I’m sure a good quality, ready-made version would be just as yummy, and a heck of a lot faster.
Ricotta Cheesecake
From Breakfast, Lunch, Tea by Rose Carrarini
Filling:
3 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
scant 1 cup cream cheese
2/3 cup caster sugar
grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of ground cinnamon
5 eggs
1 egg yolk
scant 1 cup light cream
1 tablespoon flour
Base:
1 1/2 cups graham crackers or digestives, crushed
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
pinch of ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 180C/350F and grease a 10 inch cake pan with a removable base.
For the base, mix the graham crackers with the butter and cinnamon, and press into the bottom of the pan.
Mix together all the ingredients for the filling in the order listed above. Make sure there are no lumps left in the batter.
Pour into the pan over the biscuit base and bake for 45 minutes, until just set. The cake should still be pale and just starting to puff up. Make sure the cheesecake is is cool before removing from the pan.