Crustless Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecakes

Crustless Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecakes

Hello! Sorry it’s been a few days, things in my personal life got overwhelming this weekend and I needed to deal with that.

But, as promised, tasty pumpkin dessert using the ricotta we made! I sort of combined a bunch of different recipes I was looking at for inspiration and came out with this. It’s a total experiment and probably could use some revision, but for now…

Crustless Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake – Take 2

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of that tasty homemade ricotta  (if you can let it sit out for awhile to soften up that’s very helpful)
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (or light brown, whatever you have)
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup – grade B is probably best, but I only had grade A on hand
• 1/4 cup of honey – I used my local honey which tends to be pretty sweet. If you don’t have both honey and maple syrup use just 1/2 a cup of one of them.
• heaping 1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin – I used the canned kind (NOT pumpkin pie mix, just solid-pack pumpkin)
• 3/4 cup of heavy cream – depending on how your ricotta came out, if it’s on the drier side, use a bit more heavy cream, if it’s on the wetter side use a little less. The first time I made this my ricotta was very dry which is why I added the cream, this time though my ricotta was pretty wet/creamy
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 level teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 egg

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, blend together the ricotta and heavy cream, add in the pumpkin. Mix in the brown sugar.
   

   Add brown sugar to the ricotta, heavy cream, pumpkin mix.

3. Mix in the honey/maple combination and vanilla (if you choose to use it).
   

   Add in the maple syrup/honey mixture and vanilla.

4. Mix in all the spices – nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, allspice. I probably put in a little bit more cinnamon because I really like cinnamon, so feel free to change the amounts of spices to your taste. Experimentation is fun! At this point, it will have a kind of whipped frosting like consistency (you may notice whipped peaks) and because there is no egg or flour or anything in it you can use it as a whipped frosting (taste it! it’s delicious)! I imagine this would be great on some kind of autumn/wintery spiced muffin or spiced cake. Or dolloped into a rich and cream squash soup. But, if you’d like to continue on with making a cheesecake-like dish, proceed!
   

   Mix in the ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice.

5. Blend in the egg. You’ll notice the consistency change.
   

   Southtown Farms - the only place I'll buy my eggs from these days. Check out the link to their facebook page at the end of this post, or find him at the Ramsey Farmers Market on Sundays!

   

   Look at how beautiful the eggs are! Can't go back to store-bought after getting used to these tasty eggs!

   

   Blend in the egg. Notice the whipped frosting-like consistency of the mixture before the egg gets blended in.

   

   Change in consistency once the egg is added.

6. I had 6 ramekins, and this time also used a Corningware dish to see what would happen with a larger quantity being baked in the oven. I imagine you could also just use a glass pie dish. So I filled the ramekins and corningware dish halfway (sometimes a little less). I noticed the first time I made this that they puff up in the oven and kind of look like they’re breathing, then afterwards when taken out and let to cool they go back down.
   

   Fill ramekins about halfway.

7. When I first made these I don’t feel like I baked them for as long as it took this time (the first time I made them I also put them on the middle rack in the oven – for the record, the first time I also didn’t write anything down). But, this time I tracked the time and it took about 20 minutes for them in the oven (I baked them for a little longer than I thought they needed, used that old toothpick in the center trick but who knows if that means anything here). You can eat them warm, but I noticed that I liked them better the next day after they were refrigerated. Try them both ways! Just make sure to cover the ramekins/baking dish with foil or plastic wrap so they don’t get all stale-like.
   

   During bake time you'll notice they start to puff up.

   

   Right as they come out of the oven.

   

   After they've cooled, they fall down from their puffiness.

These little desserts are pretty rich, so although the amount made in the ramekins may look like very little I find that it’s about all one can eat before it becomes too much. Try drizzling a little maple syrup on top for a little extra sweetness (though I don’t think it needs it!). My family-friend/cousin is a pastry chef and I’m sure she could tell me everything I did wrong and enlighten me on what I should do next time, so for TAKE 3 I will consult with her.

Want to buy the freshest eggs you’ll ever have? Visit Southtown Farms facebook page for more information! Farmer Matt knows what he’s doin’ pasturing those hens! Pastured chicken eggs are healthier for you and for the chickens. Less cholesterol, the proper ratio of omegas for the human body (a more even balance of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids, currently the majority of the population is consuming unhealthy, high levels of omega-6’s, and not enough omega-3’s). Eggs raised on pasture have 4-6 times more the amount of vitamin D than your mediocre supermarket egg. In addition, they have more vitamin A, vitamin E, and seven times more beta-carotene. So, I highly recommend pastured eggs – and THEY TASTE BETTER!

Southtown Farms: https://www.facebook.com/southtownfarms

Pastured egg information: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

I will be doing a post on pastured chickens, backyard flocks and more in the future!

Beast,

Erica