Sicilian Ricotta Cheesecake Recipe
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Authentic Sicilian ricotta cake recipe that is easy, gluten free and decadent. Simply baked creamy whole milk ricotta cheese mixed together with a bit of coconut flour, organic free range eggs, vanilla, some orange or lemon zest and a little sugar for sweetness. Basically an Italian cheesecake!
Italian Sicilian Ricotta Cheesecake
I shared the classic recipe below for this delicious simple dessert, feel free to get creative depending on the occasion. Go for a light lemon glaze in the summer or add some organic dark chocolate chips to the batter.
During the winter holidays I like to top it with my cranberry blackberry sauce for a festive presentation. During the spring and summer months a light dusting of powder sugar is more than enough. Okay, maybe garnish with a couple of pink peonies for Easter brunch.
During the long hot days of summer I’m really fond of pilling pitted fresh sweet cherries on top, some shavings of dark chocolate and maybe some fresh lemon balm leaves. You could go for a thin layer of this lemon curd or whatever berries are looking pretty and having a moment in your area.
Feel free to experiment with a graham cracker crust but I really think this one is best without a base. Also, there shall be no cream cheese, no heavy cream, no sour cream and absolutely no cake mix involved, ever! Unless of course you want the Sicilian police / Carabinieri looking for you and have a sit down 😉
Recipe Tips
- Since this is technically a cheesecake, remember to refrigerate your ricotta cake just like you would a tiramisu or mascarpone cake.
- It’s important to use a full fat whole milk ricotta when making this recipe.
- Use super fine sugar or your cake will end up having a grainy texture. (If you don’t have any superfine sugar on hand, use your food processor and buzz up some granulated sugar for about 35 seconds or so and voila, superfine baby).
- If chocolate is more your vibe, make sure to give our decadent chocolate almond olive oil cake a go.
Italian Sicilian Ricotta Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 2 eggs -organic at room temperature
- 3/4 cups superfine sugar
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 lb ricotta cheese -whole milk and organic
- 1 lemon or orange -zested (about 2 tsp)
- 1 vanilla bean -seeds only
- 4 tbsp salted butter -organic at room temperature
- 2 1/2 tbsp coconut flour organic
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar for garnish
Orange or Lemon Glaze (Optional)
- 2 tbsp orange or lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups Powder sugar organic
Instructions
- A few hours before baking, place the whole milk ricotta cheese in a cheesecloth lined strainer over a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit in the refrigerate to drain.
- Preheat your oven to 350”F.
- In the bowl of your mixer whisk together the eggs and sugar until nice and creamy. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time until nicely incorporated. Add the orange or lemon zest and scrape in the vanilla seeds. Add the baking powder and coconut flour and using a spatula mix to combine. Fold in the ricotta cheese.
- Butter a 9 inch spring form cake pan and sprinkle it all over with some of the sugar to lightly coat the bottom and the sides. Spoon the cake mixture in the pan and set the pan on a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven between 1 hour and 80 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown around the sides and pulls away slightly from the sides. (check at 50 minutes as ovens vary across the world). Your house should smell amazing by now, and that’s a good indicator the cake is ready. Allow the cake to cool off completely before unfolding the spring-form pan.
- Set on a serving platter and sprinkle with powder sugar or make a light glaze to drizzle on top.
Orange / Lemon Glaze Variation
- Whisk together the lemon or orange juice with the powdered sugar until smooth and thick to your liking. Add more sugar if needed but the glaze will harden up regardless. Pour over the cheesecake after it has cooled down and garnish with extra lemon zest.
Notes
- It's important to use a full fat whole milk ricotta when making this recipe.
- Use super fine sugar or your cake will end up having a grainy texture. (If you don't have any superfine sugar on hand, use your food processor and buzz up some granulated sugar for about 35 seconds or so and voila, superfine baby).
Nutrition
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Florentina, cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts, so I am very excited to have found this version. It is so nice to be able to make part of this ahead of time. I know that I will be adding this into my rotation of desserts.
Hello
This recipe really appealed to me but mine was very flat, didn’t rise at all.
Anyway I made for a BBQ so I am taking it even though it looks like a large pancake.
I hope it tastes okay
It’s a pretty flat cake unless you bake it in a smaller but taller cake pan.
I made it and it tastes divine! Will be new addition to my recipe repertoire Thankyou so much for introducing me to it.
Hi! My cake was ready after 50 minutes! I used a 7,5 inch spring-form pan. What size do you use in your recepie?
This cake was amazing, very different than your regular cheesecake but absolutely delicious and very popular with the kids.
So happy to hear! We love this cake so much!
Girl, this cake looks amazing, love a good ricotta cake. And preparing the cranberry sauce ahead of time is such a good idea! Pinned!
You gotta try it Katalina, I know you’ll add your own magic to it as well 😉