Italian Cheesecake
Today, I will share with you a recipe for a fantastic-looking Italian-style cheesecake that I randomly came across on TikTok.
This cheesecake strays away from the American-style cheesecake that you are likely familiar with in that, rather than a crumb crust, it uses a type of pastry dough that appears to be a cross between pasta dough and pie dough. The filling involves a good deal of citrus as well as some whipped ricotta cheese for a tangy, creamy, deliciously sweet bite.
This cheesecake is fantastic for Easter dessert, as a special occasion dessert, or just making it for someone you want to feel special with every mouthful.
Serves 8-10
For the Crust:
3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons of milk
For the Filling:
6 whole eggs
Zest and juice of 1/2 an orange
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups of sugar
A pinch of salt
1 (32 ounce) container of whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of heavy cream
Powdered sugar, for topping
Step 1: Make the crust
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.
Dump the flour into a mound and make a well in the center. Add the baking powder, melted butter, and shortening, then use your hands or a fork to combine the ingredients and start gradually incorporating the flour. Once the mixture is even, add the eggs, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk.
Continue stirring to beat up the eggs and get even more flour incorporated until a smooth dough forms, adding more milk if necessary. Cover the dough, then let it rest for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Make the Filling
In a blender, dump in the eggs, orange zest, orange juice, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Blend until smooth.
Meanwhile, dump the ricotta and cream into the bowl of an electric mixer and whip on medium speed until the mixture is very creamy and has slightly thickened. Pour in the egg mixture then beat on low to combine.
Step 3: Roll out and fill the cheesecake
Divide the dough into 2 pieces, then roll out half of the dough into a 1/4 inch, even thickness. Transfer the dough to the prepared cake pan and pat it down a bit to ensure the sides and bottom get covered. Pour the cheesecake filling inside.
Roll out the other half of dough then use a ravioli cutter or even a pizza slicer to cut the dough into 1/2 inch wide strips. 4 strips on top of the filling, spaced out evenly, then lay on 4 more strips, going perpendicular to create a grid pattern. Press the ends of the dough strips against the pastry at the bottom, then use a knife to trim away the excess pastry.
Bake the cheesecake for 1 1/2 hours, or until the top is golden and is firm on the edges, but still jiggly in the middle. I would check on it after an hour, and if it seems like it’s not done but getting brown on the top then carefully tent the cheesecake with foil.
Let that cool for about 2 hours on the counter then transfer to the fridge for another 2 hours to cool completely.
There is no reason not to love this amazing cheesecake. Creamy, rich, has a unique texture from that ricotta with a pleasant citrus tang. The crust isn’t sweet, but the sweetness of the filling seems to be all this cheesecake needs, and the crust itself has a nice crumbly, crisp texture that makes it somewhat like a cookie.
