Espresso cheesecake revisited

  I'm pretty much a minimalist in my approach to cooking. I start with the idea in mind to use as few ingredients and steps as necessary to get to my end result. Then, if a little fine-tuning is necessary, I'll take it from there. Unfortunately, I'm also of the mind that whatever I make, I can make better. So there's a constant battle going on in the crazy food world inside my head!

    

origninal recipe

  Back to the espresso cheesecake. I liked the flavor and ease of creation, but the end-result was too "thick" for my liking. So, it's bouncing around inside my head with all the other food thoughts for the past week and in one of those, "Well, duh!" epiphany moments, it came to me. One simple step to create a lighter cheesecake: separate the eggs, add the yolks in the mixing process as before, but beat the whites til they form peaks, then add them in in two steps at the end. So, here's the updated recipe:

• 4-5oz honey graham crackers (typically, one sleeve from a standard retail box)
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp instant espresso
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 15oz whole milk ricotta cheese
• 12oz cream cheese
• 1 14oz can sweetened, condensed milk
• 3 eggs, yolks and whites separated into two bowls
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 9" nonstick spring-form pan

  Preheat oven to 325. Place ricotta in a fine sieve over a bowl or in the sink to drain.
  Crush graham crackers and place in small bowl. Melt butter, mix into cracker crumbs. Pour into spring-form pan and press out evenly across bottom and slightly up the sides. Even though my spring-form claims to be nonstick, I spray a little olive oil around the inside edge of the pan to help ease the cheesecake out of it later.

revised cheesecake

  Mix espresso with hot water in a small cup and set aside.
  Place cream cheese in a large mixing bowl, and with a handheld mixer set on low, mix it for about 30 seconds (don't forget about mixing at a low speed so you don't paint the walls and ceilings with cheese). Add drained ricotta and blend together. Add sweetened condensed milk and blend together. Add 3 egg yolks and blend together. Add vanilla extract and espresso and blend again. Beat egg whites til they form stiff peaks. Add half the whites to the mixture and blend in with a spatula or spoon. Then, carefully fold in the remaining half of the whites.
  Pour mixture into spring-form pan. Place in oven and cook 50 minutes. After 50 minutes, remove from oven, place on rack, and let sit at room temperature for at least one hour or until cool enough to carefully handle. Do your best to gently remove it from spring-form pan and move to a serving plate, and let chill in refrigerator at least one more hour. I hope you enjoy!
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