Monday, February 11, 2008

Ricotta Cheesecake with Lemon Drizzle and Pine Nuts

3 Tbsp Pine Nuts
6 Large eggs, seperated
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup + 1 tsp granular sugar subsitute (or use same amount of sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 container (32 oz) part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice


1. Position rack in middle of oven and heat oven to 275. Lightly coat 9" springform pan with cooking spray. Spread nuts on a baking sheet and toast until lighlty golden, about 10 minutes. Cool. Increase oven to 325.

2. In large bowl, with electric mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until frothy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes more. Set aside.

3. In another latge bowl, beat egg yolks, 1/3 cup of the sugar substitute, and vanilla extract for 1 minute. Add ricotta and zest, and beat on high until smooth.

4. Gently fold on-third of egg whites into yolk mixture. Add the rest of the whites and gently fold until well combined. Pour batter into pan, place pan on a baking sheet, and bake until cake is golden and mostly set, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove cake from oven and cool on tack 20 minutes.

5. Combine lemon juice and remaining 1 tsp sugar supstitute in saucepan. Bring to simmer over low heat. Remove from heat and gently brush surface of cooled cake with two-thirds or mixture. Drizzle remaining mixture into cracks. Sprinkle cake with pine nuts.

6. Cool completely, then run a knife around the edge before releasing from pan. Chill, loosely covered, 4 hours or overnight. Serve chilled.

3 comments:

Melinda said...

I'll have to try this...once I get all the ingredients. Too bad this post wasn't on Saturday..that's when I had the car last. Thanks for posting it. Now I know it'll be there when I want to give it a try!

manny hernandez said...

My wife just made me this cake for my birthday. This is how it looked. It tasted SUPER-yummy!

Michelle said...

Glad you liked it! My husband wasn't too sure about it, since it is "healthy" and "sugar free", but he was suprised to find it not too bad!