A properly baked ricotta cheesecake has a lovely texture and concentrated milk flavor. Leaving it in a turned-off oven for an hour lets it finish cooking gently, without risk of cracking. This cheesecake gets an extra lift from a shiny glaze of blood orange marmalade. Substitute regular orange marmalade if you prefer, or can’t find one made from blood oranges.

What to buy: Store-bought ricotta is fine to use in this recipe, or you could make your own ricotta cheese.

Special equipment: You’ll need a 9-inch springform pan for this recipe.

  • Yields: 1 (9-inch) cheesecake (about 12 servings)
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Total: 2 hrs 55 mins, plus 2 1/2 hrs cooling time 
  • Active: 40 mins

Ingredients (13)

For the crust:

  • 1 1/4 cups ground almond biscotti
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), melted, plus more for coating the baking pan

For the filling:

  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut into pieces
  • 8 ounces whole-milk ricotta, drained in a fine sieve for 30 minutes to get rid of excess moisture
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 4 large eggs, separated
  • Finely grated zest from 1 medium orange
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the topping:

  • 1/2 cup blood orange marmalade
  • 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with butter.
  2. In a bowl, stir together the biscotti crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Pour into the prepared pan and press evenly onto the bottom and about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Let the crust cool on a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.
  3. To make the filling, in the bowl of a food processor, process the cream cheese until smooth. Add the ricotta, sugar, cream, egg yolks, orange zest, vanilla, and salt and process until smooth, about 2 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl and process again. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
  4. In another bowl, beat the egg whites to medium-stiff peaks (an electric hand mixer makes this a breeze). Using a rubber spatula, fold about one-third of the whites into the cream cheese mixture. Then gently fold in the remaining whites. Pour into the crust and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes, then increase the oven temperature to 325°F. Continue baking until the surface is golden and the center still jiggles slightly when gently shaken, about 30 minutes longer. Turn off the oven and let the cake cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool on a rack for about 30 minutes.
  5. To make the topping, in a saucepan over low heat, warm the marmalade and water, stirring constantly, until melted and combined. Let cool about 5 minutes. Spoon the glaze over the top of the cheesecake, spreading evenly. Let the cheesecake cool completely.
  6. Cover and refrigerate the cheesecake until well chilled, at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
  7. Remove the pan sides and run a long, thin knife between the pan bottom and the crust, slide the cake onto a serving plate, and serve.