As I kid…

There weren’t too many deserts that I enjoyed more than grandma’s cheesecake!

Philie cream cheese & biscuit base.

That’s it!

Nothing more, nothing less.

And I’d have it no other way …

Making sure she always threw away the passionfruit sauce that was meant to cover the top of the cake!

That’s right…

My grannie used to make me the packet variety and for me…

It was the best cheesecake…

Correction….

The best thing, ever!

So my taste buds have evolved over time…

And I now prefer baked to refrigerated.

Not sure when that shift happened…

But if I had to guess…

It was on a hot summer’s night…

At Café Greco on Chapel St.

South Yarra for those of you that don’t remember!

Cake heaven for a 19 year old boy!

Until the waiter accidentally brought me over the New York baked instead of refrigerated.

After looking at it with disgust, I ploughed into it because I wasn’t willing to ask him to change it over!

The first mouthful of baked NY changed me.

A convert for life.

Our version today is not NY baked…

But Italian style.

Using Ricotta, we’ve also added this week’s pick of the week, lime, to give it a summer theme.

The soft, white and light Italian Ricotta kinda gives it a texture like no other.

The zinginess of the lime a perfect balance for the sweetness of the cake.

Especially the base.

OMG.

Ginger bikkies,

Crumbled…

And drowned in butter.

Soft, sweet, fluffy and zingy.

Crunchy, sweet, buttery & pop.

Ricotta, lime & ginger is a thing.

As I’m sure you’ll agree once you’ve made it for yourself.

Buon appetite

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Ingredients for the Base

300g gingernut biscuits
120g melted salted butter

Ingredients for the Filling

4 cups ricotta
2/3 cup lime juice (approx. 6 limes)
1 tsp lime zest/rind
½ cup caster sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

Method for the Base

Grease a round 22.5cm spring form pan and line with baking paper.

Add biscuits to a food processor and pulse until all biscuits are crushed.

In a small pot, melt the butter then add the butter to the biscuit.

Put biscuit mixture into the greased baking pan and press down firmly, covering the base and coming up the sides a little.

Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Method for the Filling

Pre-heat oven to 160°C.

Put the ricotta in a mixer and beat on medium for around 2 minutes.

Now add the sugar, salt, flour to combine and then lastly the eggs one at a time.

Once combined add the lime zest and lime juice and beat until nicely combined.

Pour mixture over the biscuits in the pan and bake for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven. The middle of the cake should be a little wobbly. Let the cake stand until cool then put in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

Serve as is, with fresh berries or dusted with icing sugar.