Spiced Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

My mom's recipe for cheesecake has been widely request from friends and family over the years. It is her go-to dessert when she wants to impress. And it's no surprise, because it is amazing!

This past weekend, when I volunteered to bring a dessert to our friends Christmas party, I knew this cheesecake would be perfect!

Instead of using sugar cookie dough, like my mom, I used gingersnap cookie crumbs for the crust to make it a little more "Christmas-y". I also added some spices to the batter to compliment the crust.

One new thing I tried was baking the cheesecake in a shallow pan with a little water. This is a trick I learned from Martha Stewart to prevent the cake from cracking on the top, like it is prone to do.

The result is an extra creamy, and a tad bit spicy, cheesecake. And a little bit goes a long way! One small slice is perfectly decadent, so an 8 to 9 inch pan can serve well over 10 people.

Unless you are serving a large crowd of cheesecake lovers, in which case, you may want to make 2.

What is your go-to recipe for the holidays?

Ricotta Cheesecake

For Easter, we went over to a friends house for dinner and I wanted to bring over something special. I immediately thought of cheesecake, since it is a family specialty. But since B isn't a huge cream cheese fan, and thus doesn't like my mom's cheesecake recipe, I decided to try out a ricotta cheesecake.

I took my mom's cheesecake recipe and basically just replaced the cream cheese with ricotta cheese. I also did some research on some traditional Italian ricotta cheesecake recipes and adapted it even further. Then I added my own spin on things, like adding an almond biscotti crust.

In the end, this cheesecake was heavenly. It doesn't have that strong cream cheese flavor, but it is still rich and creamy. I thought the almond crust was delicious, but not necessary. A graham cracker crust, or no crust, would work just fine.

Ricotta Cheesecake
Ingredients
6 eggs, separated
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
30 oz. whole milk ricotta (2 small containers or 1 large)
6 oz. plain Greek yogurt (1 small personal container)

3 cups cookie crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cookie crumbs and butter. Dump into a spring form pan and press along the bottom of the pan with your hands or the bottom of a glass. Blind bake the crust for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks in a large bowl and the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the egg whites on high until it forms soft peaks. About 5-10 minutes.
4. In the large bowl with the yolks, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
5. Add the ricotta, vanilla, lemon zest and Greek yogurt and beat until combined.
6. When the egg whites are ready, fold them into the ricotta mixture, until just combined.
7. Pour the mixture into the spring form pan. Gently shake to evenly disburse the batter.
8. Bake the cheesecake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 60 minutes. If the top starts to brown, cover with tin foil and continue baking.
9. Let the cheesecake cool completely. Ideally overnight. Store in the refrigerator and keep chilled until ready to serve.

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