Our Favorite Recipe for Torta di Ricotta

If you’re like us at Peter Salerno Inc., there’s nothing better on a cold winter’s night than a hot espresso or cappucino, a fantastic dessert wine, and a traditional Italian dessert.

Even though it’s a bit early in the season for Torta di Ricotta (Ricotta Cheesecake) – it’s traditionally served in Abruzzi during Easter season as a pastime – it’s such a delicious, outside-the-box Italian dessert recipe that we just can’t wait to share it with you.

The tastes of ricotta, lemon and light confectioner’s sugar come together in this dessert, which is much lighter than you would expect! Done correctly, the sweetness of the ricotta and sugar blend with the zesty tang of lemon to create a one-of-a-kind, uniquely Italian flavor.

Pair your torta di ricotta with a delicious limoncello for a lemon-fresh dessert experience, or enjoy with your espresso of choice for a savory blend of flavors that will beautifully complete any meal.

Thank you to the wonderful people at DeLallo for their torta di ricotta recipe (ricotta cheesecake), which is quickly becoming one of our very favorites at Peter Salerno Inc. Enjoy!

Sweet Ricotta Cheesecake – Torta di Ricotta (from DeLallo)

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 cup sugar
3 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 sticks butter, cold
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Filling:

5 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 pounds DeLallo Whole Milk Ricotta, well drained
Zest of 3 lemons
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions:

For the pastry dough: in a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with a whisk until light in color. In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups flour, lemon zest and butter. Work ingredients together with a fork, allow butter to remain in small chunks. Add flour mixture to the beaten eggs and sugar. Gently work the dough and slowly add the remaining flour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough is too sticky, add more flour—a little at a time.) Gently form the dough into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the filling: beat egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until light in color. Slowly fold in ricotta until the mixture is smooth. Mix in lemon zest, flour and cornstarch. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until they form peaks, and then gently fold into the filling mixture.

Once ready to prepare, preheat the oven to 300˚F. Grease and flour mini bundt pans. Remove pastry dough from the refrigerator. Cut into 6 equal pieces (for mini bundt cakes).

Gently roll out dough with a rolling pin or pasta machine to create thin sheets. Arrange each sheet carefully inside bundt pans to line, allowing some of the dough to hang over the edges.

Fill each pan with ricotta filling and gently fold the excess dough over top to form a top.

Bake for 1 hour, or until golden. Allow cakes to cool completely before removing from pans, and then refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 6 hours.

Top with sifted confectioners’ sugar.

Makes 6 mini bundt cakes, or 1 full size bundt pan.