ITALIAN RICOTTA CHEESECAKE

PREP + COOK TIME 2 HOURS (+ COOLING & REFRIGERATION) SERVES 16

90g butter, softened

¼ cup (55g) caster sugar

1 egg

1¼ cups (185g) plain flour ¼ cup (35g) self-raising flour sifted icing sugar, to serve

FILLING

1kg fresh ricotta

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind ¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice

1 cup (220g) caster sugar

5 eggs

¼ cup (40g) sultanas

¼ cup (80g) finely chopped glacé

fruit salad

1 Grease a 28cm springform pan.

2 Beat butter, sugar and egg in bowl with an electric mixer until combined. 3 Stir in half the sifted flours, then work in the remaining flour with your hand. Knead pastry lightly on a floured surface until smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes. 4 Press pastry over base of pan; prick with a fork. Place on oven tray; refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5 Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan. 6 Cover pastry with baking paper, fill with beans or rice; bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper and beans; bake for a further 15 minutes or until browned lightly. Cool.

7 Reduce oven temperature to 160°C/140°C fan.

8 Make filling.

9 Pour filling into pan; bake for 50 minutes. Cool cheesecake in oven with door ajar.

10 Refrigerate cheesecake for 3 hours or overnight. Dust the cheesecake with sifted icing sugar. Serve with ice-cream if you like.

FILLING

Process cheese, rind, juice, sugar and eggs until smooth; stir in fruit.