Ricotta Cheesecake

I love the very dense, heavy traditional New York Style cheesecake, but something lighter is a nice alternative. This cheesecake is amazingly easy to make, and yet it's really delicious and incredibly light.

I made a few changes to the recipe--I added a simple graham cracker crust, I used the juice of two lemons and left out the orange, and instead of vanilla and cinnamon I use almond extract. I also added a bit more sugar since several of the reviews I read mentioned that it needed to be sweeter. Oh, and I mixed it with a beater instead of by hand to make it smoother.

This is now Dave's favorite cheesecake, and I like that it takes so little time to make and is really a blank slate as far as flavoring goes. I'd love to make it with almond and maybe raspberry liqueur, topped with fresh berries in the summer. Or, maybe something peach-y.

Here is the original recipe from allrecipes.com.

Sicilian Ricotta Cheesecake

Ingredients:
2 pounds ricotta cheese
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 eggs
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Set rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and flour a 9 1/2 inch springform pan, and tap out excess flour.

Place the ricotta in a large mixing bowl, and stir it as smooth as possible with a rubber spatula. Stir the sugar and flour together thoroughly into the ricotta. Stir in the eggs 1 at a time. Blend in the vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest, and salt. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until a light golden color. Make sure the center is fairly firm, and the point of a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. It will sink slightly as it cools. Cover, and chill till serving time.