Before you make this recipe, erase any preconceived notions about cheesecake from your mind. This is not the smooth, cream cheese-version of a cheesecake set on a graham cracker crust that we often times see served with a cherry or strawberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream. This is a traditional southern Italian dessert often made around Easter time each year.
If you have ever visited the Campania region of Italy where this rich dessert is most popular, you can attest to the fact that this is an area of the world where there is no such thing as too much cheese—cheese of any kind, and in this case, creamy ricotta cheese. I thoroughly enjoy the rustic beauty of this sweet, but not overly sweet dessert. Its base is sweet shortbread dough or even a nice homemade pate sucree, and the filling is a mixture of ricotta cheese and eggs flavored with the delightful taste of candied orange pieces, orange flower oil, and cinnamon. This is a common combination of ingredients for desserts in the area, which is ‘a-ok’ with my taste buds!
The real secret to the hearty, thick texture of the pie’s interior is….drumroll please….cooked barley! I know, I know, this might seem unusual, but I love the fact that there is a healthy grain added into the base of this pie recipe. I imagine that cooked oatmeal would also work very well and would also add the appropriate texture to the pie’s filling. This might be a traditional Easter dessert in Italy, but you don’t wait until next Spring to make this pie! I know it will be one of the first desserts I will be baking when I get back home from this glorious trip…
The cheesecake prepped and ready for the oven
(To view this recipe, click on the blue blog post title above)
Italian Cheesecake
Ingredients:
- *Recipe Courtesy of Mami Camilla Cooking School*
- (This recipe does make (4) 9-inch pies, so feel free to reduce the ingredient amounts if you want to make fewer pies.)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix 4 lb. drained ricotta cheese and 1.5k sugar together in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer. Add in 5 whole eggs plus 5 additional egg yolks. In addition, add (3) 600g jars full of cooked barley (cooked oatmeal would also work well), 2 cups of candied orange pieces, 1 Tablespoon of orange flower oil (or Gran Marnier), 1 Tablespoon of ground cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon of pure vanilla extract, and a ½ kilo of custard cream (recipe below*). Stir this mixture until well combined with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the mixture into (4) uncooked, perforated shortbread crusts (or pate sucree crusts) that you have fit into (4) 9-inch pie plates. Top each filled pie with a lattice work decoration of shortbread dough/pate sucree (see photos). Bake the pies in the preheated oven until the crust is lightly browned and the pies insides are not liquidy, but moist and set. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
- For the custard cream:
- Place 400g of granulated sugar along with 200g of all-purpose flour into a large sauce pan. Whisk to combine. Whisk in 4 whole eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Next, slowly whisk in 1 liter of whole milk until creamy and combined. Place the saucepan on the stove and over medium heat, add 2 thick slices of lemon peel and while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, cook the custard cream until it becomes very thick. (almost as thick as a pate a choux dough).
Directions:
Tagged: barley, candied orange peel, cheesecake, cinnoman, culinary school, custard cream, dessert, Easter, eggs, externship, Italian cheesecake, Italy, Mami Camilla cooking school, orange flower oil, pie, ricotta cheese, Sorrento
Looks delicious; I like the barley idea too, and the oatmeal option! Will have to try. Hope you are having a great trip.
I agree! This filling is used a lot in southern Italian cooking; from pies to pastries…sweet, but not too sweet which I love.
We are enjoying a lovely day in Verona today, and tomorrow, andiamo a Milano!
Love you.
What Orange Flower oil is suggested. And where can it be purchased? I use to use Orange Flower Water but Company went out of business and others I’ve tried do not add same flavor.
Hi Phyllis. Orange flower water can be purchased online at either Savory Spice Shop (www.savoryspiceshop.com) or King Arthur Flours (www.kingarthurflour.com). It is a wonderful baking ingredient to have in the pantry for a number of recipes! I will work on reducing the overall recipe to one for 1 pie, I will post that revised recipe once I have done so.
Enjoy your day!
Can you please give the recipe to one pie. I fear that if I do it, it will not come right. Thank you.
Hi Phyllis. I did my best of converting the original southern Italian recipe for a classic Italian Cheesecake into 1-pie as opposed to 4-total pies. Please let me know how it turns out for you! Enjoy!
(Conversion done based on the original recipe for (4) pies at Mami Camilla Cooking School in Sorrento, Italy*)
Yield: (1) 9-inch pie
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1 lb. drained ricotta cheese and 1 ½ cups sugar together in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer. Add in 2 whole eggs plus 1 additional egg yolk. In addition, add 2 cups of cooked barley (cooked oatmeal would also work well), ½ cup candied orange peel, 1 teaspoon of orange flower oil (or Gran Marnier), 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and 2 cups of custard cream (recipe below*). Stir this mixture until well combined with a rubber spatula.
• Pour the mixture into (1) uncooked, perforated shortbread crust (or pate sucree crusts: https://www.marthastewart.com/336048/pate-sucree) that you have fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Top each filled pie with a lattice work decoration of shortbread dough/pate sucree (see photos). Bake the pies in the preheated oven until the crust is lightly browned and the pies insides are not liquidy, but moist and set. (This timing is vague, I know, but I would check the pie after 45 minutes, but it may take up to 1 hour total*) Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
• For the custard cream:
• Place 2 cups of granulated sugar along with 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour into a large sauce pan. Whisk to combine. Whisk in 1 whole egg and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Next, slowly whisk in 4 cups of whole milk until creamy and combined. Place the saucepan on the stove and over medium heat, add 1 thick slice of lemon peel and while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, cook the custard cream until it becomes very thick. (almost as thick as a pate a choux dough).