CURRANT-MARSALA RICOTTA CHEESECAKE
Excerpt from The Ucross Cookbook: Cooking for Artists on a Wyoming Ranch, by Cindy Brooks with Cree LeFavour
This isn’t traditional cheesecake by any stretch. The ricotta gives a lighter, more cake-like texture to the cake, with a soft grain that smooth New York cheesecake should never have. Marsala wine, named for a town in Sicily and reminiscent of the flavors of Italy, plumps the currants and gives the crust flavor. Thanks to the Marsala, the cake has grown-up appeal. Thanks to the chocolate chips, it’s irresistible. The various versions of this cake I ate in Italy were fully encased in crust. This one is open, with an uneven crust around the edges that you can build up or cut down before baking, as you wish. I like to make it jagged and a little taller than the cake itself.
TIP: Sheep’s-milk ricotta, for a more central-Italian flavor, would be very good in this cake, if you can get it. And don’t skimp on the quality of the chocolate chips.
Ricotta Filling
4 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1½ pounds (2¾ cups) whole-milk ricotta
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Reserved ⅓ cup currants, set aside from Currant-Marsala Crust recipe below
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
⅓ cup mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate)
Crack the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place (or into a bowl using a whisk or hand mixer). Beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until frothy. Continue beating while slowly adding, one ingredient at a time, the sugar, vanilla, and ricotta. Add the flour but mix it in gently with a spoon or rubber spatula until just combined. Add the drained, soaked currants, pine nuts, and mini chocolate chips, mixing gently by hand.
Current-Marsala Crust
⅓ cup dried currants
⅓ cup Marsala, or just enough to cover the raisins
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed and cold
1 large egg yolk
Ricotta Filling
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting the finished cake
Oven temperature 400˚F/375˚F.
Put the currants in a small microwave-proof bowl and cover with the Marsala. Microwave for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on your microwave, or until hot. Set aside to soak and cool for 30 minutes.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment in place (or use a large mixing bowl with a pastry cutter or fork). Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is the texture of coarse sand.
Drain the currants, reserving the fruit for the cake filling (see the second part of the recipe) and 3 tablespoons of the liquid for the crust.
Mix together the 3 tablespoons of the cooled currant liquid (Marsala) with the egg yolk and then add it to the flour mixture. Cut into the crust until just combined.
Lay out a large cross of plastic wrap. Scrape the dough onto the wrap and encase tightly. Press down on the dough to form a cohesive disk. (If you’re working in a warm kitchen or the dough seems at all greasy, refrigerate for 10 minutes before rolling out the dough.)
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s about ⅛ inch thick and large enough to line a 10-inch springform pan. Lay the dough in the pan, working it into the sides and hooking it, here and there, over the edge of the pan. (Don’t worry if it’s even; the effect of the jagged dough sticking up unevenly is pretty when baked.) Line the base of the tart with a sheet of parchment paper and tuck pie weights around the circumference to help keep the dough in place. Refrigerate or freeze the unbaked crust for 10 to 15 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the parchment liner and pie weights, and bake another 5 to 7 minutes or until the crust just begin to show a little color—but take care not to overcook, as the sugar in the dough will burn. Let it cool.
Set the oven to 375˚F. Pour the Ricotta Filling into the prepared, cooled crust and bake for 1 hour or until puffy at the edges and lightly browned on top.
Remove the cake from the oven and let stand to cool for 10 minutes before releasing and removing the sides of the pan. Fully cool to room temperature before removing the bottom. Using a large spatula, ease the cake onto a plate. It should slide easily. Before serving, use a fine sieve to dust the outer crust with powdered sugar.
This isn’t traditional cheesecake by any stretch. The ricotta gives a lighter, more cake-like texture to the cake, with a soft grain that smooth New York cheesecake should never have. Marsala wine, named for a town in Sicily and reminiscent of the flavors of Italy, plumps the currants and gives the crust flavor. Thanks to the Marsala, the cake has grown-up appeal. Thanks to the chocolate chips, it’s irresistible. The various versions of this cake I ate in Italy were fully encased in crust. This one is open, with an uneven crust around the edges that you can build up or cut down before baking, as you wish. I like to make it jagged and a little taller than the cake itself.
TIP: Sheep’s-milk ricotta, for a more central-Italian flavor, would be very good in this cake, if you can get it. And don’t skimp on the quality of the chocolate chips.
Ricotta Filling
4 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1½ pounds (2¾ cups) whole-milk ricotta
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Reserved ⅓ cup currants, set aside from Currant-Marsala Crust recipe below
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
⅓ cup mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate)
Crack the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place (or into a bowl using a whisk or hand mixer). Beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until frothy. Continue beating while slowly adding, one ingredient at a time, the sugar, vanilla, and ricotta. Add the flour but mix it in gently with a spoon or rubber spatula until just combined. Add the drained, soaked currants, pine nuts, and mini chocolate chips, mixing gently by hand.
Current-Marsala Crust
⅓ cup dried currants
⅓ cup Marsala, or just enough to cover the raisins
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed and cold
1 large egg yolk
Ricotta Filling
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting the finished cake
Oven temperature 400˚F/375˚F.
Put the currants in a small microwave-proof bowl and cover with the Marsala. Microwave for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on your microwave, or until hot. Set aside to soak and cool for 30 minutes.
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment in place (or use a large mixing bowl with a pastry cutter or fork). Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is the texture of coarse sand.
Drain the currants, reserving the fruit for the cake filling (see the second part of the recipe) and 3 tablespoons of the liquid for the crust.
Mix together the 3 tablespoons of the cooled currant liquid (Marsala) with the egg yolk and then add it to the flour mixture. Cut into the crust until just combined.
Lay out a large cross of plastic wrap. Scrape the dough onto the wrap and encase tightly. Press down on the dough to form a cohesive disk. (If you’re working in a warm kitchen or the dough seems at all greasy, refrigerate for 10 minutes before rolling out the dough.)
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s about ⅛ inch thick and large enough to line a 10-inch springform pan. Lay the dough in the pan, working it into the sides and hooking it, here and there, over the edge of the pan. (Don’t worry if it’s even; the effect of the jagged dough sticking up unevenly is pretty when baked.) Line the base of the tart with a sheet of parchment paper and tuck pie weights around the circumference to help keep the dough in place. Refrigerate or freeze the unbaked crust for 10 to 15 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the parchment liner and pie weights, and bake another 5 to 7 minutes or until the crust just begin to show a little color—but take care not to overcook, as the sugar in the dough will burn. Let it cool.
Set the oven to 375˚F. Pour the Ricotta Filling into the prepared, cooled crust and bake for 1 hour or until puffy at the edges and lightly browned on top.
Remove the cake from the oven and let stand to cool for 10 minutes before releasing and removing the sides of the pan. Fully cool to room temperature before removing the bottom. Using a large spatula, ease the cake onto a plate. It should slide easily. Before serving, use a fine sieve to dust the outer crust with powdered sugar.
Did you enjoy this recipe?
Find more delicious dishes, along with artist essays, photographs of our Wyoming ranch, and stories from Chef Cindy Brooks, in The Ucross Cookbook, available for online purchase and at select bookstores, galleries, and boutiques. Proceeds directly benefit our nonprofit.
Buy The Ucross Cookbook!
Find more delicious dishes, along with artist essays, photographs of our Wyoming ranch, and stories from Chef Cindy Brooks, in The Ucross Cookbook, available for online purchase and at select bookstores, galleries, and boutiques. Proceeds directly benefit our nonprofit.
Buy The Ucross Cookbook!