Cheesecake, a good place to start.

Okay, so it's been over a week since my first post and I've been meaning to get to post number two, but truthfully I've been very nervous. I wanted my first official recipe post to be perfect. Something delicious, described with wit and charm by yours truly. I have made many things over the past couple weeks, and have written, deleted, and re-written many possible posts about them. But the time for procrastination (and let me tell you I am the Queen of the Land of Procrastinators) is over my friends. So here I go. Try not to be too disappointed.

About a week and a half ago we had a birthday dinner for my Mom. Naturally it fell upon me to come up with a suitable menu for the occasion. I spent the week before mulling over cookbooks and recipes trying to find just the right thing. I bounced between many ideas, none of them seeming right enough. Then after an impromptu dinner date with my neighbor Liz, during which she served me the most simple and delicious salad, I decided that a salad like that would be making an appearance. Using that as my jumping off point for inspiration, I decided a simple dessert was in order as well. Initially I was going to make a big multiple-layer Chocolate Espresso cake, but after I decided on more simple flavours a Ricotta Cheesecake overruled it.

Cheesecake has to be one of my all time favourite desserts. But as nice as it is to have chocolate, caramel, berries and whip cream piled high on top (and believe me I do love such things), I much prefer mine plain. I like to savour the wonderful cheesecake-i-ness without the hindering of, what I deem unnecessary, toppings. Needless to say I have consumed many different types of cheesecake (good, bad and indifferent) in my 24-odd years, but this recipe is my favourite thus far.

This particular recipe I found in my Baking Illustrated Cookbook which is by the editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. It is currently one of my go-to books for baking, and has 5 cheesecake recipes in it alone, which doesn't even count the hundreds of other recipes for pies, cakes, cookies and other such bake-able delights. But I digress. The texture and flavour of this cake is quite different from a standard cheesecake made with cream cheese. It's lighter and smoother, using lemon zest as it's main flavour base, which to me is just perfect. So without any further ado, here is my first official recipe post:

Ricotta Cheesecake
(adapted from the Baking Illustrated Cookbook)

Amaretti Cookie Crust:

• 2 cups Amaretti Cookies processed into fine crumbs (I couldn't find amaretti cookies in my dismal excuse for a grocery store so had to substitute vanilla wafers)
• 5 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
• 1 TBSP butter melted for greasing the pan

Ricotta Filling:

• 2 pounds ricotta cheese, drained
• 4 large eggs, seperated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light rum (I ended up using dark rum since all my light rum accidentally got consumed)
• 1 TBSP all-purpose flour
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

For the crust: In a small bowl combine cookie crumbs and melted butter. Toss with a fork until evenly moistened. Brush the bottom and sides of a springform pan with most of the remaining butter, making sure to leave enough to brush the sides again after crust is cooled. Empty crust into springform pan and press them evenly into the bottom. Bake until fragrant, about 10-13 minutes. Cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Brush sides of pan with remaining butter.

For the filling: Place drained ricotta in a food processor and blend until very smooth. Add the egg yolks, sugar, rum, flour, lemon zest, vanilla and salt and process until combined. Transfer mixture to a bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into ricotta mixture. Pour mixture evenly into the cooled crust.

Bake the cheesecake until the top is lightly browned, about 1 1/4 hours. The perimeter should be firm but the center will jiggle slightly.

Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife between the cake and the side of the pan. Cool until barely warm 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Wrap pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 5 hours.



Final Dinner Menu:
simple leafy green salad with cucumbers, celery, avocados and a light dressing.
pan roasted chicken with a chocolate balsamic viniagrette (simpler then it sounds trust me!)
basmati rice
caramalized cauliflower
ricotta cheesecake with whipped cream