Goat cheese gives this traditional cheesecake a mellow acidic flavor that pairs well with wild honey and fresh fruit. Goat cheese citrus cheesecake is lighter and tangier than New York Cheesecake and it’s prepared in under 1 hour.
I love goat cheese. The creamy texture and tangy flavor go so well with just about everything.
I think I found the original recipe for this on Sur La Table. I dressed it up just a little by using lemon wafers for the crust.
The cheesecake doesn’t look as impressive as a New York style cheesecake but it’s much simpler to make and the flavor is wonderful.
The texture is also a bit different from a New York style cheesecake. It’s not quite a smooth. The bits of zest give a little change in texture as well.
What I really love about this cheesecake is that you make most of it in a food processor and it whips up in just under an hour.
Yield: 1 cheesecake
Goat Cheese Citrus Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
2 cups cookie crumbs (206 g)
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted (75 g)
Filling
10.5 ounces fresh, mild goat cheese (297 g)
⅔ cup sugar (75 g)
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta (427 g)
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
Topping
Honey
optional thin slices of orange for decoration.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325°F and position an oven rack in the center. Line the bottom of an 8.5- inch or 9-inch spring-form pan with parchment paper.
Crust
Place the crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to moisten the crumbs evenly.
Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan. Use a glass with a flat bottom or a spoon to press the crumbs in an even layer across the bottom of the pan, working outward from the center.
Bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes until set and lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool, leaving the oven on.
Filling
Place the goat cheese and sugar in the bowl of the food processor and process until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl once with the spatula.
Add the ricotta cheese and process until incorporated and smooth, about 20 to 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl halfway through. Be sure there are no lumps left (you won’t be able to smooth them out later).
Add the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and orange and lemon zests and process until well blended, about 20 seconds. Pour the mixture into the cooled crust.:
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes (9 inch pan) or 50-55 minutes (8.5 inch pan), until the edge is set but the center still has a 1-inch wide pool of liquid batter (it will firm up during cooling and chilling).
Transfer the cheesecake to a cooling rack and immediately run a thin, flexible knife or spatula around the edge the cake, gently pressing into the side of the pan to avoid gouging the cake from the side of the pan and prevent cracking as it cools.
Let the cheesecake cool completely, 1 to 2 hours. When cool, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours prior to serving.
Serving
Run a thin knife or spatula around the cake edge again, as described above. Pop the side off the pan. Use an icing spatula to loosen the bottom of the cake from the pan and then slide it off the pan bottom onto a cake cardboard or a serving plate.
