We were having dinner with friends right before it was time to submit my Christmas column for TheBurg.
They asked what I was writing about, and I admitted I was struggling. I said, “Maybe how to do a succulent rib roast or re-visit the beautiful Italian custom of the seven fishes.” But what I really thought I wanted to do was to share my long-time treasured recipe for plum pudding. Our friend, Susan, was horrified.
“Who would ever want to eat that?” she asked. “That’s like a big bomb one would want to throw in the river.”
I countered that my plum pudding was different. It is made with lots of melted butter rather than beef fat and raisins and currants instead of strange dried fruits and peels. I make it early in December and then warm it again right before Christmas dinner. Sometimes, I serve it with “hard sauce” (a rich mix of butter and powdered sugar) and often just with vanilla ice cream. We flame it with brandy at the table, and, all the while, I see images of the Cratchit family from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
“No, no” our friend Susan continued. “You have to write about ricotta cheesecake. That’s a wonderful Christmas dessert.”
And, I thought–she is right. Rather than traditional cheesecake made with cream cheese, ricotta cheesecake is lighter and makes for a nice finish to a rich Christmas dinner.
I searched my mountain of cookbooks for the best recipe to share. I have made most of these cheesecakes from time to time. One has a crust that is made with sweet almond cookies. One is more like a creamy pie than a cake. And one has no crust at all.
The following ricotta cheesecake recipe is from my favorite Italian deli, DiPalo’s in New York City. It has no real crust, but rather uses a light sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs. DiPalo’s has been giving customers this recipe since World War II. It calls for fresh ricotta cheese, which is certainly available here now. But a caution: What works best here is creamy ricotta. Some “fresh” ricotta can be dry and crumbly. So, make sure you find and use a good quality ricotta from the grocery store instead.
DiPalo’s Ricotta Cheesecake
Ingredients
- Butter for greasing the pan
- 2 cups sugar, divided
- ½ cup crushed graham cracker crumbs (You can buy these already crushed.)
- 3 pounds good quality ricotta cheese
- 6 eggs (I use extra-large.)
- 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
- ¾ cup heavy cream
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9-inch springform pan.
- In a small bowl, mix ½ cup of the sugar with the crushed graham crackers. Then evenly sprinkle the bottom and sides of the buttered pan with the mixture.
- In a large bowl, beat the remaining sugar with the ricotta, eggs, vanilla and cream until very smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the springform pan.
- Place the springform pan into a large, rectangular baking pan filled halfway up the sides with water.
- Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
- Remove from the water bath when done and cool on a wire rack before removing the sides of the springform pan.
Some Notes
- For the recipe above, I have doubled the amount of vanilla as a substitute for the orange blossom flower water that DiPalo’s uses.
- Have all your ingredients at room temperature before mixing.
- When the cheesecake has cooled, cover with foil and chill. You can even do this a day or two ahead before serving.
- Watch the cheesecake closely while it is baking. Every oven is different, and it is easy to “dry out” a cheesecake.
I am skipping the plum pudding this year and going with this wonderful Italian cheesecake. I won’t be flaming it with brandy, but I think I can still stick a little sprig of holly on the plate.
I wish all TheBurg readers a wonderful holiday season. Buon Natale!
Author: Rosemary Ruggieri Baer
