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These amazingly easy ricotta cheesecakes come from the genius of Yotam Ottolenghi. I discovered Ottolenghi, the Israeli- Italian cook, thanks to my friend Rosario, who is one of the most talented fashion journalists I know and cooks like a pro. So, when he posted falafels he made following Ottolenghi’s recipe I wanted to know more. I faced a bright world of unorthodox combinations of flavors, emblem of a cross-cultural open mind and kitchen.
His magic happens with vegetables, experimenting new pairings and enhancing the taste by adding a bright, modern and unexpected ingredient.
Ottolenghi’s recipes are foolproof, perfectly explained, clear and easy to follow. If you are looking for inspiration in the kitchen or you feel you are not a great cook and want to learn, his cookbooks are what you need.
When he published with Helen Goh a book entirely dedicated to desserts: SWEET, I couldn’t be happier and I bought it tout de suite. Between all the recipes I obviously choose that one with ricotta – you know my love for ricotta (if you don’t know, read here) – so, I preheated the oven and warmed up my blender.
These baked ricotta and hazelnut cheesecakes are not the traditional American ones, because there’s no crunchy base or cheese filling, they are more similar to an Italian ricotta cake. They are best when warm but I ate them cold and were heavenly.
Ingredients:
I used a regular muffin pan and got 18 pieces (but you can use a 3 inch/8 cm rings or make a large cake).
For the cakes:
- 300 gr (2 and 1/4 cups) blanched hazelnut
- 30 gr (3 1/2 tbs) all-purpose flour
- 160 gr (5 1/2 oz) chocolate (70%cocoa solids) finely chopped
- 100 gr (1 cup) almond meal
- 225 gr (1 cup) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
- 250 gr (1 1/4) granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
- 400 gr. (1 1/2 cups) ricotta cheese
- 2tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the water ganache
- 100 gr. (3 1/2 oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped into a 3/4 inc- 2 cm pieces.
- 3 tbs granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tbsp light corn syrup
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) water
- Scraped seed of 1/4 vanilla pod
- 40 gr. (3 tbs) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes.
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°/180° F
Lightly grease the sides of your muffin pan and line the base with a circle of parchment paper.
Roast the hazelnut on a pan over medium heat, until golden and let it cool completely. Chop 50 gr. (1/3 cup) of the cooled nuts and set aside, you’ll use it later for garnish. Place the rest of the hazelnuts in the bowl of a food processor along with the flour. Process until fine, then tip into a medium bowl. Add the chocolate and the almond meal, mix together and set aside.
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until light and creamy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, then add the choc – nut- flour- mixture and mix until combined. Stir in ricotta, vanilla extract, and salt.
In a separate bowl beat the whites on medium-high speed until you get peak stiff and fold them into the cake mixture, carefully, without deflating the whites.
Fill your lined and buttered muffin pan and bake for 25/30 minutes. When ready, let cool and remove the cakes from their pans.
To make the water ganache, place the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. Put sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Stir to combine and when the sugar has melted, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil stirring gently from time to time. Continue to boil for about 5 minutes until the color is pale amber.
Remove from the heat and carefully pour in the water (it could seize, don’t worry).
Return the pan to the heat, add the scraped vanilla seeds and stir gently and continuously until it returns to a boil. Remove from the heat and wait a minute before pouring the water-caramel over the chocolate.
Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then whisk to combine. Add the butter, a couple of cubes at a time, whisking after each addition. Continue until all the butter has been added, whisking to combine until the mix is smooth and shiny.
Final step: spoon the ganache over the cakes letting it drip down the sides. Sprinkle with the reserved hazelnuts and serve.
