chocolate ricotta cheesecake

chocolate ricotta cheesecake

• 8 Apr 2019

With Easter eggs on the shelves in the supermarket and chocolate on my mind and some leftover ricotta in the fridge which I didn't want to go to waste, I decided to make a cheesecake. I thought I'd try my hand at making a chocolate cheesecake. 




I think I made a chocolate cheesecake many years ago but with no recipe at hand I turned to the internet for help. I found this recipe online which included ricotta in the filling and went to work adapting it. 



I realised it would be quite easy to make the whole thing gluten free, so I used gluten free flour to make the base. The base was a bit more crumbly than usual but otherwise seemed to turn out okay. To jazz it up a bit I used some dark chocolate coconut shards I found lurking in my fridge.



The filling is softly set and with only a small amount of sugar, barely sweet. If you like your desserts on the sweeter side, you could easily increase the sugar to ½ cup.



Chocolate ricotta cheesecake
Base
75 grams unsalted butter
2 tbs caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup plain flour (regular or gluten free)
2 tbs cocoa
¼ cup almond meal 
Pinch salt

Filling
175g 70% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
250g cream cheese, softened
250g ricotta
⅓ cup caster sugar
75ml thickened cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, separated
1 tbs caster sugar extra
Chocolate curls, to garnish

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C, butter the base and sides of a 20 cm-diameter spring form cake tin. 

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and creamy. Sift the flour with the cocoa into a small bowl and stir through the almond meal and a pinch of salt. Add to the butter mixture and combine until the mixture forms a soft dough. Press the mixture into the base of the tin, bringing it slightly up the sides. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the base is dry, then remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Once cool, wrap a layer of plastic wrap around the base and sides of the tin followed by 2 layers of foil (this prevents water seeping into the pan while cooking in the water bath).

Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C. Place the chocolate and all the cream in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water until it has melted or you can do this stage in a microwave oven. Set aside to cool slightly. 

Place the cream cheese, ricotta, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the eggs yolks, one at a time, until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form then beat in the extra caster sugar. Carefully fold the egg whites into the mixture. Fold through the chocolate until just combined.  

Pour the chocolate mixture over the biscuit base and smooth the top. Place in a roasting pan and pour boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the spring-form pan. Bake in the oven for 1½ hours. The cake will still have a slight wobble. Turn the oven off and leave in the oven for about 1 hour to cool, then remove from the water bath, remove the foil and plastic wrap. Once completely cold, refrigerate overnight.



Serve the cheesecake garnished with some chocolate curls. To make clean cuts, dip a knife into boiling water then wipe dry before cutting a slice. You’ll need to repeat this step between each cut.

I still have one more item to bake but otherwise it's full steam ahead for the annual Passover Week on the blog. See you all again next week for Passover Week 2019.

Bye for now,

Jillian