She Uses This Cheese in Her Cheesecake for a Lighter, Fluffier Result!

The word “cheesecake” obviously hints at the presence of cheese. A little English from school days is usually enough to deduce that our dessert of the day includes cheese in its makeup, though not in its crumbly base—typically a simple mix of melted butter and crushed graham crackers or cookies.

In its sweet form, cheesecake calls for a cheese that is mild and subtle in flavor yet creamy enough to maintain a good structure—sorry to my friends from northern France, but maroilles cheese will have to sit this one out! In the US, the top choice is cream cheese, a commercial spreadable cheese whose thick, smooth texture falls somewhere between fromage frais and St Môret. In France, it is primarily found under the brand name Philadelphia in supermarkets. Although it’s less fatty than mascarpone, it still packs a hefty 21% fat content. Not exactly light as we head into summer…

Italian culinary author Edda Onorato sticks to her roots by preferring… ricotta! This choice also turns out to be quite cost-effective, as this fresh cheese contains only about 8 to 11% fat on average. And when it comes down to individual servings, the difference is noticeable.

For the base, Edda keeps it traditional: she blends 100 g of Breton shortbread cookies with 35 g of melted butter, and presses the mixture into the bottom of an 18 cm diameter springform pan before chilling it for 30 minutes. She then prepares the filling by mixing 450 g of ricotta (ideally fresh and made from sheep’s milk, but cow’s milk ricotta works well too) with 80 g of granulated sugar, the zest of one untreated lemon, and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. She then adds 18 cl of whipping cream. She incorporates 2 eggs one at a time, and then pours the mixture over the prepared crust. She bakes her cake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180°C (356°F), then lowers the temperature to 120°C (248°F) for an additional 20 minutes.

She allows the cheesecake to cool in the turned-off oven for at least one hour and then refrigerates it overnight to set. Edda serves it the next day chilled, topped with a homemade raspberry coulis.

One last tip: when she can’t find “real” ricotta, Edda substitutes it with brousse or brocciu, which she finds more readily available at cheese shops or large supermarkets.