Notes from the Test Kitchen: Ricotta cheesecake

Sometimes it's hard to get sympathy from friends when you tell them you work in a test kitchen. For the last two weeks, we were "forced" to test cheesecakes.....

One of our recipes was for a classic Italian cheesecake from Ciro Marino of Marino Restaurant in Hollywood. Like many chefs, he uses no measuring cups or spoons -- everything's eyeballed -- and the cake bakes in the oven until it's done -- no timers. That, and his method is different. Rather than bake the cheesecake in a water bath, Ciro places the cake on the bottom of a 450-degree oven and props the door open with a pan. And the baking process is twofold: The cake bakes first until it has risen properly, then bakes again for coloring.

Yeah, it is a pretty wonderful job, especially for this cheesecake fanatic.  Amy Scattergood has today's cover story on cheesecakes, so naturally we simply had to test various recipes incorporating classic cream cheese, farmer cheese, mascarpone and even ricotta as a cake base.

But even cheesecake testing can have its stressful moments -- and I'm not just talking about how to burn off all the extra calories you consume with all the testing and tasting.  Each recipe has to be tested (and retested) until we're certain it will work in the average home kitchen.

Amy scrupulously noted every measurement and step when she watched Ciro in his kitchen (check out the video on the Food section website), but could we duplicate the results?  We tested a recipe from Amy's notes in the test kitchen, measuring out ingredients and assembling the cake.  Everything looked fine. We put the cake on the bottom of our 450-degree oven and propped the door open with a small saucepan. Then we stood there and watched it bake. Everything seemed to work fine, but when the cake was sliced after chilling, it just fell apart. The flavor was there, but the texture definitely wasn't.

What to do? We wanted to keep the integrity of Ciro's recipe but still have a cake that worked. We talked it over and retested the cake, keeping everything the same except for the method. We moved the cake to the bottom rack of the oven, and cut the baking process to just one step. Oh, and we closed the oven door. (To be honest, we were a little uncomfortable with a recipe that required that the oven door be propped open.) The result?  The cheesecake was great, faithful to the original, and the slices disappeared in no time.

For you fellow cheesecake fanatics, check out the recipe (and two others) in today's section.

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter

Comments

[tom, freeman]

i cut the recipes out of the paperm but lost them. does anyone know ehere i can get them? they sound delcious/

[Noelle Carter]

Hi Bryce,

I must say that I loved all the recipes, each for different reasons. Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful recipe (it is the cover picture) follows the mold of a classic, traditional cheesecake, but has those great additions of fresh blackberries and nuts in the crust. Sherry Yard’s amazing version focuses simply on the cheese (no crust), and so really highlights the farmer’s cheese. I’ve never before had a ricotta cheesecake, but fell in love with Ciro Marino’s version. This one too is all about the cheese – 5 pounds of ricotta – but the incorporation of rose and orange blossom water, as well as the orange and lemon (straight and candied) peel, really brighten the filling in a fun way.

About the oven door, we felt the door was left ajar to minimize the direct heat (much like a water bath). Like all custards, cheesecakes can be pretty temperamental, and run the risk of curdling if overcooked. This recipe, however, has fewer eggs proportional to the rest of the filling and is totally enveloped in the crust, which should make it more forgiving as it bakes. While we couldn’t duplicate the propped door method, we were able to duplicate the texture in a closed oven with some adjustments.

Thanks!

Noelle Carter

[Alexa Fleckenstein M.D.]

I hate to spoil your fun - but dairy is about as unhealthy as food can get. Milk products are highly inflammatory foods, promoting obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression and cancer among others. We are not made to have milk after our tender toddler years - and never are made to drink the milk that by Nature is intended for the calf.

Wish you would show people how to make better choices!

Alexa Fleckenstein M.D., physician, author.

[Bryce]

Hi Ms. Carter,
Do you have a favorite among the three cheesecake recipes printed in the May 14 Food section? And, is that a picture of the "Tall and Easy" cheesecake from Dorie Greenspan's recipe on the cover?
Did Mr. Marino provide any scientific reasoning on why he props the door open during baking?

[Bryce]

Hi Ms. Carter,
Which was your favorite cheesecake of the three cheesecakerecipes in today's paper? And, is the picture on the front of the Food section of the "Tall and creamy" from Dorie Greenspan? Thank you.