I received this recipe from my husband’s Italian mother-in-law. It is the kind of cheesecake without a crust that is offered in New York’s Italian bakeries. Since whole-milk ricotta is creamier than low-fat, that is how I often make it. This is not a food for diets! If you’d like, you can top the dish with fresh fruit.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 10-inch cheesecake |
Ingredients
- 1 pound cream cheese, softened
- 1 pound ricotta cheese
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Move an oven rack to the middle of the oven.
- Beat the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the butter, flour, cornstarch, and vanilla extract; mix until well combined. Fold in the sour cream and lemon juice. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 10-inch springform pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 2 more hours. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Run a thin spatula around the edge of the cheesecake before springing open the pan to remove. Serve at room temperature or cold; refrigerate leftovers.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 452 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 150 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Sodium | 215 mg |
| Sugars | 26 g |
| Fat | 32 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It was so delicious!!!
Made this per recipe at least 6 times. Great taste but always cracked. Doesn’t matter because I just cut pieces along the cracks.
Very easy & delicious. Made it for my son who wanted a crust but cheesecake still turned out lovely. Served with fresh strawberries & whip cream. Yummy!!
Yes I did. I made the 1st one exactly as recipe. The 2nd I made the same but took about 3/4 cup of mixture minus the sour cream and lemon juice. I poured a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream into the 3/4 cup of batter and added enough sour cream to make it a full cup. What pouring the batter, I did it in 3 layers. With each layer I would start from middle pouring the Irish Cream mixture while slowly spinning the cake from center to outter edge. When the layers complete, I took a kabob stick and did ” S” , through the Bailey’s Irish Cream swirls. When we served it to our guests, they thought it was professionally made because the marble look of the cheesecake. The slices were put on plates with a Raspberry sauce with little dots of melted white chocolate the you have to make and “S” pattern through each dott before it hardens. This trick I learned when I worked as a cook at. “Top of the Cove” in La Jolla CA.
I had never made a crustless cheesecake before and I can say now that I am not a fan. The taste was just OK but I’ve made and had much better cheesecakes than this one. I ended up throwing a lot of it out.
Easy mix to follow.
Huge hit at the house. Made as is and converted a non-ricotta cheesecake lover.
My mother has made this recipe for years and years. She always made us put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before we could eat it. That was so hard to do, but it gives it time to set and for the flavors to really kick in. Making it today for my son’s birthday as it is a real family favorite! Thanks for posting it as we are away from home and I forgot moms recipe book!
I made this today. I love dense cheesecake. Unfortunately, this is not at all. It has a nice flavour but more custard like/eggy. Way too soft for my liking. I definitely wouldn’t make it again.
Delicious (I added a simple graham cracker crust) but it cracked severely. Next time I will try with a water bath.
made it 3[?] times as of this review. .. the only one i’ve found that calls for all 3 cheeses: cream cheese, sour cream, and ricotta. impressive presentation and perfectly delicious of course. OH – – > remember to make 1 or 2 days ahead!
This cheesecake reminds me of my old family recipe. It turned out great. I will definitely make this recipe again.
Perfect I only change using mascarpone instead of cream cheese it was excellent.
Easy to make. wonderful to eat. Top did crack after following recipe. Next time I will bake in a water bath as I normally bake my cheesecakes. Hopefully that will solve the problem. The delicate lemon flavor was perfect. 5 stars for texture and flavor.
Very good and not too sweet. I did have to cook it an additional 30 minutes to get it to set but excellent recipe.
Update from my first review: The next day we tried it and it was not as custard like. We do miss the crust and it is not at sweet as other cheesecakes. I am sure you have to like the type of cheesecake to appreciate it.
I’m usually a NY Jewish style cheesecake guy but this was more like the ones I remember from my Italians friends. So light. The citrus was perfect and there is no need for a crust. I’m going to do the next one with orange liquor And orange rind. My Texan wife loved it. I’ll definitely make this again. Thanks for gifting us with your family recipe. She’ll be smiling Heaven knowing so many are enjoying her cheesecake.
I will most definitely make it again. The top of it cracked though and I don’t know why.
My husband LOVES when I bake/cook/grill and totally looks forward to the recipes I select from here. I made homemade Ricotta cheese and ended up with about 2 lbs. It was the yummiest Ricotta I have ever tasted. I followed this recipe exactly as written and my husband had an expression on his face after the first bite…that “Sorry babe…this doesn’t taste good…it’s too grainy!” I made a beautiful, fresh strawberry topping and even that wouldn’t help. Sorry, this just didn’t work for us…don’t know how to make it again without the same results.
No changes maybe a little change next time. Yes i will make it again
Amazing cheesecake. I’ve been looking for a cheesecake similar to the cheesecake served at Bucca Di Beppo and this is as close as I can find