Ricotta cheesecake is light and moist, rather than the typically dense and overly sweet American-style cheesecakes, aka New York or Philadelphia style.
I enjoy all kinds of natural cheeses, but American-style cream cheese is just dense and fatty, without even the taste of cream. This is why I have never liked the typical American-style cheesecake.
Ricotta cheese is an Italian whey cheese, one of the oldest and simplest of cheeses. It is slightly sweet and fairly inexpensive, because it is normally made from the whey (a byproduct) of other cheeses, with some fresh whole milk added. The texture is similar to cottage cheese, but is lighter, smoother and less fatty.
In the U.S, most ricotta cheeses are made with whole cows milk, so they are much richer than their foreign counterparts (often made from the whey of goat, sheep or water buffalo cheese).
- 2 cups (16 oz.) fresh ricotta cheese
- 4 large eggs
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 1 stick (110 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (225 ml) limoncello liqueur
- zest of one lemon
- juice of one lemon
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup limoncello liqueur
- Place a rack in the center of oven and heat to 375°F (180°C). Butter and dust with flour the loaf pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour the melted butter mixture into the eggs; then stir in ricotta cheese, limoncello liqueur, lemon zest and juice. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and then fold gently into the eggs/butter/cheese mixture one third of dry ingredients at a time. Do not over mix.
- Pour the batter into prepared pan(s) and bake about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Rest the pan on a cooling rack about 20 minutes before unmolding.
- In a small bowl, mix well the confectioners sugar and limoncello liqueur.
- Pour (or brush) the glaze on top of the cake.
- Serve at room temperature or store in refrigerator up to 3 days.
