One of the biggest things that I miss about living in Chicago-land is the amazingly delicious Polish delis. Ever since we moved I have been slowly accumulating, learning, and tweaking our favorite recipes. With relatively minimal changes, I present the fluffy, sweet, light, and delicious Polish cheesecake.
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Polish Ricotta Cheesecake
My version of the light and fluffy Polish cheesecake. Slight changes made based on available ingredients.
4eggsroom temperature and with yolks and whites separated
2Tbsplemon juice
2lbsricotta cheese(see notes on cheese preparation)
¼tspvanilla extract
Instructions
For the crust
In a food processor mix flour, sugar, and baking powder. Pulse in the cold butter. Add egg yolks and sour cream and mix until you are left with a fine, buttery, crumble.
Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and press the dough to line the pan, coming up the sides slightly.
For the filling
Preheat your oven to 350ºF
In a KitchenAid stand mixer with the whisk attachment cream your room temperature butter and sugar until well mixed, light, and fluffy. (not a huge issue if it’s not super fluffy at this stage)
Beat in egg yolks, vanilla, and lemon juice.
Mix in the drained ricotta cheese (see notes)
In a separate bowl, use a hand blender with a whisk attachment to beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture until just barely mixed.
Pour the filling into the crust and spread it evenly.
Bake 50-60 minutes on the middle to lower racks of your oven. You want the center to be slightly jiggly, and don’t want the edges to be overly brown (though it’ll taste amazing either way).
Allow to cool fully before serving, refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
The traditional Polish recipe calls for Twaróg, also known as ser biały. This is a dry curd, white, farmers cheese that is very similar to ricotta. To substitute ricotta into this recipe you need to hang it in a cheese cloth or flour-sack towel for a minimum of three hours to remove excess moisture. This is a necessary step or else you’ll end up with a very soggy cheesecake.
This recipe can easily be split in half and baked in a 9×9 baking pan, or a loaf pan. It will be slightly thicker or thinner than the standard recipe depending on which option you choose, but both are delicious and follow the general baking instructions, you may just want to add an additional 5 minutes in the loaf pan to guarantee the center is set.
