A classic baked lemon cheesecake. Allow time to chill the cheesecake thoroughly before serving. It's delicious served on it's own or you can serve it with a bowl of lightly whipped cream on the side.
Personally, I love a good cheesecake. Who doesn't? Well, I guess there are people who don't, but I'm not sure I know one. Cheesecakes come in all sorts of guises so there is plenty to choose from.
I'm sure it would be perfectly possible to eat cheesecake regularly and never have one made from the same recipe. I do hope you will give this baked lemon ricotta cheesecake a try, maybe even more than once. It's simple and delicious.
Biscuit Base
Usually I use digestive biscuits to make a crumb base for cheesecake but this time I used a mixture of digestive biscuits and crisp amaretti biscuits left over from Christmas.
The result was a biscuit base that had a much better crunch than usual which I really liked, and I will be doing that again in future. I urge you to give it a try even if you don't have some leftover and have to buy them specifically to make the base, I think it makes all the difference.
Soak the dried fruit
I also decided to soak the sultanas I added to the cheesecake mixture in a little sweet wine. You could use a little brandy or rum if you prefer, I guess it would also work with a little amaretto liqueur to compliment the biscuit base. It doesn't take long at all. If you do it before you start, just heat the liquid a little first and allow them to soak while you prepare the cheesecake. By the time you add them to the mixture they will have plumped up nicely.
Home made ricotta
I like cooking for fun, and recently I sometimes make my own ricotta cheese rather than buy it. It is supper easy to make. With ricotta being readily available these days there is no need to go as far as making your own for this cheesecake. But, if you want to, you can find out how to make ricotta cheese here.
Step by step to baked lemon ricotta cheesecake
Baked lemon ricotta cheesecake
Ingredients
- 50 g sultanas
- 2 tablespoon sweet wine optional, brandy or rum
- 250 g biscuit crumbs I used a mixture of100g amaretti biscuits and 150g digestive biscuits
- 75 g butter melted
- 500 g ricotta
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g mascarpone
- 4 eggs
- finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/170℃ fan/gas mark 4. If you are soaking the sultanas (see note below) place them in a small pan together with the wine, brandy or rum and heat gently until it just starts to simmer. Alternatively place them in a small microwave bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Allow to stand until needed.
- Mix the crushed biscuits with the butter and tip into the base of a 23cm spring-form or loose bottom round cake tin. Press down well with the back of a spatula or the base of a glass. Chill until needed.
- Beat the ricotta together with the sugar. Then beat in the mascarpone. Add the eggs and beat until well combined. Finally mix in the lemon, zest, juice, sultans and any of the soaking liquid.
- Carefully pour into the tin and level the surface. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30–40 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is just set. Allow to cool in the tin, then chill.
- To serve carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin and transfer to a serving plate. Serve with a little extra whipped cream, if desired
Notes
Freeze: Chill until firm, then transfer to a baking sheet or freezer proof tray and open freeze. Once frozen wrap well and store for up to 2 months. Remove the wrapping and transfer to a string plate before defrosting for several hours in the refrigerator.
Have you made this recipe? I would love to hear from you. Did you enjoy it, did you change anything? Leave a comment and rate the recipe. Comments may be held for moderation before publishing.