Chocolate Cake with Cheesecake Center – Day One – Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake
I love Cheesecake and I love Chocolate Cake, so I figured that I should combine the two into a wonderful dessert. This week, I’ve got an amazing Ricotta Cheesecake, Vanilla Bean Buttercream, and a Devil’s Food Cake Combination. There’s something for everyone!
This cheesecake is only the second one I’ve ever baked. The neat thing about this recipe is that instead of using cream cheese, I used Ricotta cheese. This gives the cheesecake a lighter, less dense, texture as well as a slightly milder flavor.
I loved the addition of the lemon and rum. It added a hint of flavor without overriding the creamy dairy taste.
I have to admit that my cheesecake top totally cracked! It cracked bad! I didn’t use a waterbath with it and I really regretted not taking the time to make one. Big Mistake. I just thought that the creamy cheese would be moist enough.
I almost didn’t take pictures it. I was a bit embarrassed.
However, I had just gone to Costco and had bought a ton of berries, so I used them to cover up the ugly cracks. And Voila! No more ugly top! Nobody would ever know. It’s the perfect disguise.
The fruit and the cheesecake were beautiful together.
I baked this cheesecake to be sandwiched between two layers of cake. If you are going to make this cheesecake by itself, you can add a graham cracker or cookie crust to the bottom. That’s easy to make mixing 2 cups of crushed cookie crumbs with 4 to 5 tablespoons of melted butter and pre-cooking it for 10 minutes.
- 2 pounds Ricotta Cheese, drained
- 4 eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light rum
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Mixed Berries and Chocolate sauce for topping
- Drain the ricotta cheese overnight. Place it into a fine sieve lined with paper towels or cheesecloth. Place the sieve over a bowl and leave it in the fridge overnight, at least 8 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 325℉. Prepare a springform pan with parchment paper. Line the bottom and sides. Use melted butter or non-stick spray to help the parchment stick to the sides.
- Place the drained cheese into a food processor and process until smooth. Add in the egg yolks, sugar, rum, flour, lemon zest, vanilla and salt and process until well blended.
- Whip the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Fold the cheese mixture into the egg whites and then transfer to the prepared springform pan.
- Bake the cheesecake for 60 to 75 minutes and the internal temperature reads 150℉. The edges will be firm, but the center will still look “unset”.
- Remove the pan and allow to cool for 2 to 3 hours. Remove the sides of the pan, wrap the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for 30 minutes while you add the mixed berries and drizzle chocolate sauce before serving.
Erica Di Paolo says
April 16, 2014 at 2:59 amI really like this gorgeous chhesecake. I’ll compliment.
Karyn Granrud says
April 17, 2014 at 5:17 pmThank you.
Christie C says
April 21, 2014 at 9:40 pmHi,
This recipe sounds lovely. But could you recommend anything other then rum? I cannot stand the smell of it let alone the taste of it. And I would love to make your devils food cake and ricotta cheese cake.
Karyn Granrud says
April 23, 2014 at 3:04 pmYou can omit it all together or use some vanilla extract to add some flavor.
Doree says
April 24, 2014 at 1:34 pmThank you so much for sharing this at the Cook it! Craft it! Share it! link party. Cheesecake if my favorite dessert, I can’t wait to make it myself. -Doree
Karyn Granrud says
April 24, 2014 at 10:01 pmThanks so much for the new party!
Laurie says
April 24, 2014 at 8:15 pmI loved your Tip Me Tuesday link this week. {thanks girl!} Would you like Tip Junkie to feature your blog post to over 200,000 creative women? If you upload this blog post into your Tip Junkie craft room using at least 2 images, 2 steps, and blog post URL then I can easily feature it in my RSS feed, home page, and all my social networks instantly. {squealing with delight} ~ Laurie {a.k.a. the Tip Junkie}
http://www.tipjunkie.com/post/how-to-add-a-craft-room-project-on-tip-junkie/
Shannon Hawk says
April 26, 2014 at 9:29 amThis looks so good Karyn! So pretty too:)
Karyn Granrud says
April 26, 2014 at 10:59 pmThanks. I tried my best.
Jodee says
April 26, 2014 at 11:11 amThis looks delicious! I love the use of ricotta and lemon topped by mixed berries and chocolate…great flavor combination here! Thanks for sharing another great recipe!
BruCrew Life says
April 27, 2014 at 11:18 pmIt looks so pretty and I bet tastes amazing. Thank goodness for fresh fruit and chocolate…no one would ever know about the crack under there.
ruthcataldo232 says
April 29, 2014 at 1:10 pmOMGOODNESS! This looks incredible! Great job! I would have never known it cracked – I actually came to take a look at this recipe (I saw it featured at a link party) to see how you did it as my first cheesecake cracked REALLY badly! Good to know it happens to many bakers…..and that’s a great tip for covering it up!
Karyn Granrud says
May 1, 2014 at 4:07 pmPerfect! My disguise worked perfectly! I should have made a water bath for it, but I skipped it. Lesson learned.
[email protected] says
April 29, 2014 at 10:04 pmgirl you almost chucked this? goodness if you did i woulda cried knowing this was in the trash, cracks and all…maybe i’ll just hang out by your garbage next time. :>O
Diane @ Vintage Zest says
May 2, 2014 at 4:18 amThis looks amazing! Also, congrats because you are featured on this week’s Do Tell Tuesday link party and have been pinned to our features board! Feel free to grab a button and link up this week too. 🙂 http://www.vintagezest.com/2014/04/do-tell-tuesday-21-with-features.html
Diane @ Vintage Zest
Karyn Granrud says
May 4, 2014 at 12:52 amThanks so much for the feature 🙂
Kathie mcfarlin says
October 18, 2014 at 11:33 amCan you use homemade ricotta cheese?
Karyn Granrud says
October 19, 2014 at 8:01 pmYep! I used homemade Ricotta in this recipe.
Jodee says
December 9, 2014 at 12:48 pmKaryn, I love this recipe….it looks so delicious! I have been looking for a recipe for cheesecake that I could love for a long time, and I think I just found it. I love cheesecake, but I’ve been looking for something a little extra…this is it….thanks for sharing!
Karyn Granrud says
December 9, 2014 at 10:00 pmThanks Jodee! It’s a great cheesecake.
K says
March 25, 2015 at 5:54 pmThis looks divine! I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of making cheesecake at home, maybe its in my own best interest considering I have NO self control when it comes to cheese cake. In fact, I’d like some right now.
Xoxo K
http://peeledwellness.com
Karyn Granrud says
March 29, 2015 at 2:02 pmSoft cheeses are easy, but they do take a little bit of time. Give it a try!
The cheesecake was WONDERFUL!!