Everyone has their favorite cheesecake recipe, and this is mine, passed down to me from that great blonde in Florida, my mom.
I've loved this recipe ever since she started making it for me and sending it to me as a care package in high school. The secret is the ricotta cheese. I've added a few refinements of my own and it is delightful.
It's cooking as I type and I'll take it to a New Year's party tonight.
Heat oven to 325 degrees
Two packages graham crackers
1 stick melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 lb of cream cheese
1 lb of ricotta
1.5 cups sugar
5 eggs room temp
1/2 stick butter melted and cooled
3 tblspoons flour
3 tblespoons cornstarch
2.5 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sour cream folded
lemon zest if desired.
grind the crackers to crumbs
add the sugar and melted butter and combine
pour into an ungreased 10" springform pan and tamp down on bottom and 1/2 way up sides forming a large cavity for the cheesecake batter.
cook in the oven while making the batter (appoximately 10-15 minutes)
Blend the ricotta and the cream cheese and the sugar together until light. Add eggs one at a time blending well each time. Add butter, flour and cornstarch and then vanilla and combine well. Fold in sour cream and if desired , 2 tablespoons lemon zest. Pour into crust (will exceed crust on sides of pan) and bake in a slow 325 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn off oven and let cake sit for 2 hours to dry out. Cool completely on rack in pan and then chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
For tonight's dinner, I added some leftover key lime juice that I had and added zest to the crust.
Enjoy,
Seth
