Sicilian Orange Cheesecake (with Amaretti crust)

It is finally Memorial Day weekend. I wouldn’t know it, since Mondays, work days, sunny days, summer, spring, winter. It’s all one big blur.

It’s hard out there in Manhattan. I don’t wish any loss or sickness on anyone, old, young, healthy or otherwise. But Covid 19 has, with its only good personal result for me and my Turk, allowed us to be with each other all day and night. The majority of my nights during the week were spent going to bed alone and hearing him come home–late or later.

Nowadays, we go to bed early, wake up early, and move from room to room with intent and purpose. Yet, Memorial Day arrived and so is summer. I am not a summer person. This will become vividly evident when fall arrives and my blog blows up with rustic fruit, vegetable, and, holiday recipes of an autumnal variety. I won’t lie though; this part of late spring/early summer is lovely when it works.

Not yet a victim of perpetual sweating, I cherish these gentle, early warmer weather days. My Memorial Day was also the first time we decided to see my mother and brother, who we’ve been quarantined from since March. We made burgers on the inside grill, and I made Sicilian Orange Italian style cheesecake.

Growing up, my mother was (and is still) the New York style cheesecake champion. I have no idea where she got her recipe, and I will bring it here with a bright new flavor soon, but, for now, I am baking Italian style since I like the light quality of the cheese (this one uses equal parts ricotta and mascarpone), fresh orange flavor, and either no bottom crust or something other than graham cracker.

I decided to make my favorite Italian cookie, Amaretti, and enjoyed not nearly enough of them on their own, since I was forced to use most of them for the crust. I adore Almond flavor and better yet, with orange.

So, this recipe has two recipes: Orange Cheesecake and Amaretti cookies. The best part is, you can just as easily use store bought amaretti, or another Italian style cookie, or non-Italian style cookie, or no crust at all. This recipe, like many of mine here, is open to addition, change, and interpretation. I hope it stands up to that freedom and is as easy and fun to make as it was for me!

Sicilian Orange Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust

Mimi

A Sicilian/Italian style cheesecake using ricotta and mascarpone with an almond packed Amaretti crust.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Amaretti Cookies 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Equipment

• Spring form cake mold (I used 10 inch)

Ingredients

  

For the Amaretti Cookies

• 2.5 cups almond flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tbsp amaretto liquor
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar

For the Cheesecake

• 12 Italian Amaretti cookies
• 4 tbsp Unsalted melted butter
• 16 oz Ricotta cheese
• 16 oz Mascarpone
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup Granulated sugar
• 6 Eggs
• 1/3 cup All purpose flour
• Rind of two Oranges
• Juice of one Orange
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp orange extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 oranges, thin sliced with or without skins (depending on how you want to serve)
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade or peach/apricot jam

Instructions

 

For the Amaretti Cookies

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Whisk the almond flour and sugar together and set aside.
• Using a handheld mixer, whisk the eggs whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Whisk in the amaretto and almond extract just to combine.
• Fold the sugar and almond flour into the egg mixture until incorporated and the mixture resembles a dough.
  
• Place the confectioners sugar in a bowl. Form balls from the dough (some use a spoon; I use my hands) and roll in the confectioners sugar until coated. Place cookies on baking sheet about two inches apart.
• Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are golden brown and the tops show a crack. Move to wire rack to cool after 10 minutes. Enjoy as a delicious treat with coffee or other:)
  

To Make the Crust for Cheesecake

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a food processor or in a big plastic ziploc bag with a rolling pin as a weapon, process/smash up the amaretti cookies (12-15), add melted butter, and combine. 
• Press the cookies into the bottom of the springform pan (lined with parchment paper on bottom and sides and sprayed with Pam or grease and floured). 
• Bake the crust in the pan for 8-10 minutes, and set aside to cool down.

To Make the Cheesecake

• In a mixer on a medium-low speed, combine the ricotta, mascarpone, and yogurt  until incorporated. Add in the eggs one at a time until also incorporated. Add in the sugar, flour, salt, orange rind, orange  juice, orange extract and vanilla extract. Allow to blend until smooth.
• Pour the mixture into a prepared springform the pan over the crust and bake for 55-60 minutes or until the cheesecake has only a slight jiggle in the middle and the borders have come away from the sides (they might look golden brown as well.) 
  
• Shut off the oven and leave the cheesecake in there for an hour. Then remove to wire rack and gently remove the sides of the springform.

To Make the Garnish

• Put the jam/marmalade in a microwave safe dish and heat up for about 1 minute. This will thin out to spread.
• Once the cheesecake is cool, brush the jam/marmalade in a thin layer around the top and  border of the cheesecake. Place the orange slices on the top of the cake. I left the orange skins on for decoration, but then removed the oranges in order to eat. You can do so without skins if you prefer to leave the oranges on when serving.
• Brush the jam/marmalade on the top on the oranges and all exposed areas on the top of the cheesecake.
• Refrigerate the cheesecake for 6 hours at least (overnight is preferable).
  

Notes

 

• It’s a good idea to make the amaretti ahead of time and leave them out for a few days to harden a little. They will process easier and provide a stronger crust.

 

• The trick to a smooth top for the cheesecake is to leave the cheesecake in the oven after it is done, shut off the oven and prop the door open with a wooden spoon if need be. It allows the cheesecake to cool off gradually and evenly, and prevents a big crack from appearing across the top of the cake.

 

• You can replace the orange flavor with lemon rind/lemon juice, or even almond flour/extract if you want an all almond cheesecake!

Keyword almond, amaretti, cheesecake, italian, mascarpone, orange, ricotta, sicilian