Strawberry Hazelnut Ricotta Cheesecake
My Cake and Tea Runners Tea
Strawberry Hazelnut Ricotta Cheesecake is the perfect summer dessert. And, it pairs delightfully with my favorite teas, made by Tea Runners. If you haven’t heard about Tea Runners before, let me tell you about them. Tea Runners is a subscription tea service, which is super convenient. I recently received my August shipment which contained four different pouches of loose tea. By my calculations, I received enough tea to make one hundred cups of hot or iced tea. The four flavors were: Lemon Drop Black, Mumbai Chai, Ginger Lime Rooibos, and Tangerine Pear Green. With this scrumptious cheesecake, I served the Lemon Drop Black. We enjoyed it iced with some lemon slices. We’re having so much fun trying all the teas.
About Tea Runners Tea
One of the things I love about Tea Runners is that each pouch has detailed instructions on it. I really like that each packet tells me how much tea and how much water to use for each cup of tea. Also, the packet tells me what temperature to heat my water to, for optimal steeping. And, finally, it tells me how long to steep each tea. I love that it’s so easy to use my instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the water. With all of this, each cup of tea is just perfect. Since my tea ball seems to be missing, I just used a strainer to remove the steeped tea from my tea. So, you really don’t need any special equipment to make fabulous Tea Runners’ tea. Although, I do recommend using the thermometer.
About my Cheesecake
As I said, we really love this cake. I like that it combines ricotta cheese and cream cheese. This makes it lighter than a New York cheesecake, but creamier than an all ricotta cheesecake. It’s really the best of both worlds. For the crust, I use a combination of cookies and hazelnuts. That way, I get lots of hazelnut flavor, at less expense. Then, I top the cheesecake with more hazelnuts and sweet sliced strawberries.
The Equipment I Used
- A Food Processor- You’ll need this to smooth out the ricotta cheese. And, then you can use it to mix the filling and the crust.
- A Food Scale- For best results, use this to weigh your ricotta and sugar.
- A Springform Pan- Be sure and use a nine inch pan.
The Ingredients Needed for Strawberry Hazelnut Ricotta Cheesecake
- Fresh Ricotta Cheese- You can find this with the gourmet cheeses at your market. I really like the Bel Gioioso brand.
- Cream Cheese- Be sure and use full fat cream cheese. I like Philadelphia brand cream cheese.
- Hazelnuts- You can find skinned, chopped hazelnuts in the baking section of your market.
- Vanilla Wafer Cookies- I used Nabisco brand Nilla wafers.
How I Made my Cake
- First, I made the crust. It’s important to make sure the cookies and nuts are all ground up.
- Next, I made the filling.
- Finally, I baked the cake and then chilled it overnight. I added the toppings right before serving.
If you’re a cheesecake lover, you need to try this fantastic Strawberry Hazelnut Ricotta Cheesecake.
Strawberry Hazelnut Ricotta Cheesecake
Equipment
- 9 inch springform pan
- heavy duty aluminum foil
- large roasting pan
- Food processor
Ingredients
- ½ cup skinned hazelnuts, chopped
- 1½ cups vanilla wafer cookies
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 12 ounces fresh ricotta cheese, all water drained
- 16 ounces full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
For the Cheesecake Topping:
- 2 cups sliced strawberries
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- ½ cup chopped hazelnuts
Instructions
- Begin by making the crust: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9 inch springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan in two layers of aluminum foil.
- Using the food processor, grind up the nuts and put them in a mixing bowl. Next, grind up the cookies and add them to the bowl, along with the butter. Stir this mixture until it's well combined. Press this on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while you make the filling.
- Put the ricotta in the food processor, and process it until it's smooth. Add the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, and process until well combined and no lumps are left. Add the eggs and process until just combined. Pour this filling into the crust.
- Place the springform pan into a large roasting pan. Place this in the preheated oven. Then, pour in hot water, until it comes halfway up the cheesecake pan. Bake for one hour.
- Cool on a wire rack for a couple of hours, and then cover and refrigerate for at least four hours more. But, preferably chill overnight. Remove the sides of the pan.
- For the topping: Mix together the strawberries and the sugar. Sprinkle the hazelnuts all over the edges of the cake. Top the cake slices with some strawberries and serve.
