Creamy, silky and ultra-smooth cheesecake with cream cheese, ricotta and sour cream complete with a buttery graham cracker crust. The best cheesecake ever!For best results, all ingredients should be mixed together at room temperature.
12ouncescream cheese softened at room temperature, cut into chunks
1cupsour creamat room temperature
¼cupall-purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Then wrap the outside of the pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil to ensure water will not get inside. Set aside.
Add the graham crackers to a food processor or blender and process until they become fine crumbs. Alternatively, place the crackers in a zip-top bag and crush with a rolling pin or mallet.
Turn the graham crackers out directly into the prepared springform pan. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar, mixing with a fork. Microwave the butter in a microwave-safe bowl on high in 15-second intervals, until melted.
Drizzle the graham cracker mixture with butter. Stir until well combined and all of the crumbs are moistened and become similar to the look and feel of beach sand.
Using the bottom of a measuring cup or small glass, firmly press the graham cracker mixture down into an even layer on the bottom and up around the sides of the pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat.
In a food processor or blender process the ricotta cheese, sugar, eggs, egg whites, lemon zest, lemon juice and almond extract for 30 seconds. Leave the machine running and add the cream cheese a few chunks at a time. Process until smooth. Remove the top and give it a stir with a spatula to ensure there are no solid pieces of cream cheese and the mixture is extremely smooth.
Add the sour cream and flour. Pulse until smooth.
Pour the cheesecake mixture onto the prepared crust inside the springform pan. Give the pan a few gentle taps on the counter to make some of the air bubbles rise up to the top.
Place the foil-wrapped springform pan into the center of a shallow roasting pan. Add the boiling water to the pan to come up 1-inch up on the sides of the springform pan.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Turn off the oven leaving the cheesecake inside. Let stand for 30 minutes before removing from the oven.
Remove the water-filled roasting pan from the oven and carefully lift out the springform pan. Allow the cheesecake to cool on a metal rack. When the cheesecake has cooled, refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.
Notes
For best results, all ingredients should be mixed together at room temperature, so that the ingredients come together quickly and combine smoothly. There's nothing worse than chunky cream cheese cheesecake... bleh!Homemade Ricotta Cheese is highly recommended, however I have used store-bought and it works well.What’s a Water Bath?Cheesecakes love humidity, so the best way to avoid cheesecake cracks is to prepare a water bath for the cheesecake to bake in. Basically, the springform pan that the cheesecake is baked in is placed inside a larger pan with hot water inside.A Lighter Cheesecake?If I’m going to make a cheesecake, I want the real deal. However, the original recipe for this cheesecake called for light ingredients. I’ve never used light ingredients, so I cannot speak of the taste and consistency of the cheesecake. By using light sour cream, cream cheese, and ricotta cheese instead of regular full-fat ingredients you can save over 60 calories. That means this cheesecake would be only 180 calories per slice!Click HERE for the Caramel Sauce recipe.This recipe is adapted from Healthy Recipes in Minutes™
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