Ingredients
100g Amaretti biscuits
150g Arnotts Granita biscuits
40g unsalted Butter
60g Raw Sugar
650g Ricotta
100g Cream Cheese
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract with seeds
Zest of 1 Orange and juice of half
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°c - conventional.
Line a springform tin with baking paper, use your base upside down, this will give you a straighter, higher cake and will make it so much easier when removing the cake later. Next get 2 strips of foil about 40cm each and make a cross on your bench, sit your tin the centre and bring up the edges. Scrunch the foil a bit so it stays in place.
Put your biscuits in your food processor and blitz till you have a pretty fine crumb, melt your butter and add it to the biscuits, giving it a few pulses to combine.
Add the mixture to your tin, level it out with your hands and then use the bottom of a round container to press it down nice and straight. Put it in the freezer till the next step.
Rinse out any crumbs from your food processor bowl and add in the ricotta, cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, zest, juice and eggs. Let it blend till its nice and smooth, I give it about a minute as like to get some air into the eggs.
Grab your base out of the fridge and pour in the filing, give it a few taps on the table to get any bubbles out and it'll also help make the cake level.
Place your tin into the middle of a deep tray and put it on the rack in your oven. Pour in some hot water from the tap, make sure it is below the foil line, otherwise the water will get into the cake tin. You only need about a litre of water.
The cheesecake is going to cook long and slow, this will stop any cracks or browning and will give you the creamiest texture.
Mine cooked for 1 hour and 15 minutes, it was set on the sides and when I moved the tin it still had a wobble in the middle. Depending on your oven it could be done quicker or slower but if you keep giving it a wobble every 10 minutes after 50 minutes of cooking, you'll be fine!
From the oven I let my cake cool a little and I remove the tin ring, but not the base. I do this just in case a little bit of water has made its way in, this will make sure it doesn't go soggy.
Then cover it and refrigerate for a few hours, you can cover it by using a container upside down. Put the cake on the lid and the base on top.
Garnish with some crushed amaretti biscuits and fresh orange slices. If you want to go that extra step, add a layer of sugar and torch it till it melts and turns golden brown (or you can make toffee shards). The bitter sugar cut's through the creaminess and gives you some extra crunch.
Enjoy x
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