Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake

This Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake is tender, velvety and so chocolatey. Using ricotta for the cheesecake makes it so much softer and more luscious than using just cream cheese.

The chocolate sour cream topping and the fresh raspberries make it extra special and even more delicious. It's looks so elegant and sophisticated, but is really easy to make.

When I'm rarely but suddenly attacked by a chocolate craving, sometimes there's nothing to do but give in. Since cheesecake is my vice, a decadent, creamy Chocolate Cheesecake was the way I decided to go. My cheesecake of choice is a soft and tender sort, so I prefer to add some ricotta cheese to it.

Even though I'm in the mood for baking now and then, it's nice to have options for a cake that takes hardly any effort. You know what? This is probably the easiest cheesecake in the world. You don't even need to use any electrical appliances and will have just a few dishes to deal with. Even though this is a Chocolate Cheesecake, there is no finicky chocolate to deal with. That's right. I have a confession to make. Sometimes I'm too lazy to melt chocolate, so in this case, I'm using cocoa powder. I can promise you that it tastes just as chocolaty and delicious, even without it, and most of all, you can have it in the oven in 20 minutes. That's pretty great in my book.

Most importantly, the velvety and luscious chocolate cheesecake will have you whispering compliments to yourself with every bite. Most likely you already have most of these ingredients on hand, so you can whip this up anytime. Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup tea biscuit cookie crumbs (or vanilla wafers or graham crackers)

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

4 Tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

Filling:

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature

¾ - 1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup ricotta cheese

½ cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

Chocolate Glaze:

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

4 Tablespoons sour cream

6 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons butter

To decorate:

fresh raspberries

Or you can use toasted nuts, other berries, coconut flakes or chocolate shavings

Video of How To Prepare the Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake

 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large ziplock bag, crush the tea biscuits with a rolling pin to get 1 cup of cookie crumbs. You can also use vanilla wafers or graham crackers. You can also pulse the cookies in a food processor. Add the sugar, melted butter, cocoa powder and salt to the ziplock bag, close and massage the bag with your hands to mix the ingredients together. (You can also add all these ingredients to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.) Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch round springform baking pan. If you want to make your crust come up the sides of the cheesecake, make another ½ batch of the crumb mixture. Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 8 minutes, then cool slightly.

Meanwhile, mix the softened cream cheese with the granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. If your cream cheese is softened enough and you're willing to put your arm muscles to good use, you can use a large wooden spoon, but you can most certainly use a standing mixer or a hand mixer. Mix until smooth. Add the ricotta, sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract.

If you would prefer not to use ricotta cheese, you can use the same amount of farmer's cheese or cream cheese.

At this point, I like to switch to a whisk.

Add the cocoa powder and flour. Mix to combine.

Pour the filling into the baking pan over top of the slightly cooled crust. The thing that I'm happiest about right about now is that I only have one bowl, one spoon and one whisk to wash. Bake in the 325 degrees Fahrenheit preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Turn off the oven, crack the oven door open and let the cheesecake cool gradually until the oven is completely cool. Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight, or for about 6-8 hours. Take the cheesecake out of the springform pan and transfer to a serving plate or a cake pedestal.

Make the chocolate glaze.

This glaze/frosting is AMAZING! Something about the addition of sour cream makes it extra creamy and flavorful. I actually prefer it to melted chocolate.

You can totally skip making the glaze though. If I'm going with the easiest route possible, I only make the cheesecake itself.

Place the cocoa powder, sour cream and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk everything together until smooth while still cold.

Cook on medium-low heat until it comes to a boil, simmer for a few minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the glaze thins out to a syrupy consistency. Whisk in the butter.

Pour the chocolate glaze over the top of the cheesecake. Quickly tilt the cheesecake while swirling it around to distribute it all over the top. Do this quickly, since the cheesecake is cold and the chocolate glaze will set up fast. (My husband was kind enough to help me out with the glaze, so I could have this picture. So now you can stop wondering about the manly hands in the picture. My arms are really not that hairy.)

I also spread the glaze on the sides of the cake. You can make more crumbs and spread them up the sides of the cake. Decorate with raspberries. I also use chopped, toasted nuts, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, etc.

Bring the cheesecake to room temperature before serving.

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This is an updated version of the Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake recipe that was published originally on February 4, 2013. The recipe is the same; I added a new video.