Last updated on February 26th, 2017 at 07:16 pm
Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake – a not so classic creamy cheesecake infused with pumpkin puree and ricotta cheese over a walnut crust, served with a dollop of pumpkin whipped cream.
I made this pumpkin ricotta cheesecake a couple times before and it’s always been a hit, especially at this time of year. I’ve been fighting a bad cold this week and when I’m sick I crave comfort food and while this may not be everyone’s type of comfort food, cheesecake is my all time favorite dessert, thus making it comfort food to me. If you’re a pumpkin fan, like me, and you love pumpkin season, then you’re simply going to love this cheesecake, assuming you like cheesecake as well.
This isn’t really your traditional cheesecake, it is in fact made with ricotta cheese and a bit of cream cheese as well and lots of pumpkin puree. The crust is a delicious walnut crust, making this cake that much more decadent and if that wasn’t enough, I made a pumpkin whipped cream that’s out of this world.
I just got a new oven, so I’m still learning the ins and outs of it, it’s quite complicated, it’s a dual oven and so I baked this in the top oven, but I should have really baked it on the middle rack instead. I think that’s why I got a crack on the side of the cake, but thankfully it didn’t crack in the middle, which would have been worse. Well not really worse, we’d still eat it, who am I kidding.
But let me get back to that whipped topping again because it’s so good. I actually made double the recipe just because I like to add a dollop or so to my morning coffee, who needs Starbucks!! Trust me, it will turn your boring morning coffee into a delicious pumpkin spice latte, eh?
The cheesecake! Yeah let’s get back to the cheesecake. I know I’m all over the place here, but my brain still isn’t functioning properly. Even though the cheesecake is made with ricotta cheese you still end up with a soft and creamy cheesecake. It’s smooth and rich and tastes like fall. I love pumpkin pie spice, so I used 2 teaspoons of it in the cake, plus I sprinkled some over the cake, then let’s not forget the whipped cream has a bit of pumpkin spice in it as well.
And then if that’s not rich enough for you, then go ahead and drizzle some chocolate sauce over the top. Or even caramel sauce, yep I’ve done that before too! Whatever does it for you. It sure did make me feel better, if only for a few moments.
If you guys love this recipe, and most importantly make it yourselves, please let us know. Take a picture and tag it #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake
Ingredients
Walnut Crust
- 2 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup flour
- pinch of salt
Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake
- 1 lb ricotta cheese 454 g
- 10 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 5 large eggs separated
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 15 oz canned pumpkin
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Pumpkin Whipped Cream
- 1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
- 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Walnut Crust
- In a food processor, add the walnuts, cinnamon, sugar, butter and flour. Pulse until everything is well mixed together and the walnuts are ground. Take the mixture and spread over the bottom of the cake pan, pressing down to cover the entire bottom of pan and a little bit up the side. Place pan in the fridge for about an hour. I used a Nordic Ware Leak proof Springform Pan, 10 Cup, 9 Inch.
Cheesecake
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin spice and set aside.
- In your mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Place in a bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer add the ricotta cheese and cream cheese and mix together. Add pumpkin and mix until well incorporated. Add egg yolks, vanilla extract and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Gently fold in the egg whites, a third at a time.
- Pour the pumpkin cheese mixture into the cake pan over the walnut crust and bake an hour to an hour an a half. It really depends on your oven. You need to bake it until the center is firm. Cool completely before slicing into it and serving.
- While the cheesecake is cooling you can make the pumpkin whipped cream. Add the whipping cream to the bowl of your mixer and mix until it forms soft peaks. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon, powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice.
Notes
Nutrition
More delicious recipes from my kitchen
Mini Salted Caramel Cheesecakes
Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops
ChugMama says
November 22, 2018 at 5:49 pmThis was excellent!!
brendan freeman says
November 19, 2018 at 6:46 amExcited to make this! But can you tell me about all the flour it calls for in the cake? Is it because you use more pumpkin than most recipes? Thank you.
Nicole Beaulieu says
November 19, 2018 at 9:47 amYes exactly. The pumpkin will add a lot of moisture to this cake and would result in a runny consistency without the flour.
Karen says
November 19, 2018 at 1:12 amI’ve seen 2 versions of your ricotta cheesecake online. One recipe calls for 1/4 cup flour and 1 tsp. pumpkin spice. The other calls for 1 and 1/4 cups flour and 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice. Which is correct? I’d love to make this for Thanksgiving.
Nicole Beaulieu says
November 19, 2018 at 9:49 amYou may have seen it on someone else’s site. This is the correct version, at least for Jo Cooks.
brendan freeman says
November 18, 2018 at 7:43 amExcited to try this, but I’m wondering about all that flour in it. Is it because you use more pumpkin than a lot of recipes? Thanks.
Nicole Beaulieu says
November 19, 2018 at 9:54 amYes exactly. Without the flour the cheesecake would have a very runny consistency with all that pumpkin.
Darlene Barber says
October 22, 2017 at 5:40 pmHi. I have this great looking cake in the oven . I am concerned it has too much flour. Is it the correct amount of 1cup and 1/4 cup of flour (1.25 cups) ?
Joanna Cismaru says
October 23, 2017 at 10:46 amHi Darlene, yes that’s correct. How did it turn out?
Keira Grant says
October 12, 2017 at 8:52 pmThe crust is epic! I will definitely make again, and use this crust for any cheesecake I’m making. I did have a lot of cracks on the top, but I didn’t really mind. I will try the water bath next time if I have time.
HootieHoo says
April 12, 2017 at 2:25 pmHi there! Love your website.
I was wondering if this recipe called for a water bath for when the filling bakes.
Thank you in advance.
Joanna Cismaru says
April 12, 2017 at 4:32 pmI didn’t actually use a water bath, but it’s not a bad idea. The water bath will ensure even baking, and lessening the likelihood of cracking on top. Great idea!
Amellia says
September 16, 2016 at 2:57 amI made it last week with some amendments and it was delicious 🙂 Thank you
Joseph says
April 28, 2016 at 3:57 pmI made this cheesecake yesterday, I just made my own simple pie crust with flour, sugar butter and some almond extract, all else the same as the recipe. It was really delicious, my only complain is that ricotta, stayed in pieces that didn´t incorporated to the batter and therefore the result was not homogenous as the pictures in this recipe, to prevent this, I´ll process it with an electric hand blender next time.
Elaine says
November 25, 2015 at 4:05 pmMy husband wanted to make an Italian cheesecake and I wanted to make a pumpkin pie so we settled on this. Still in the oven and looks delicious. This may be the perfect Thanksgiving desert.
jo says
November 25, 2015 at 4:15 pmLOL Great compromise! Hope you like it. 🙂
Elaine says
November 25, 2015 at 9:21 pmI baked the cheesecake for 1 hour at 350 and as it cooled the top began to crack. What did I do wrong?
jo says
November 25, 2015 at 9:45 pmCracking usually happens when you overbeat the batter because additional air gets in.
Vince says
November 24, 2015 at 4:00 pmJust made this cake and it looked terrific when it came out of the oven. Not serving it until thanksgiving day. Does it ave to be refrigerated until then?
jo says
November 24, 2015 at 4:16 pmYeah I would definitely refrigerate it, because of the cheese. 🙂
Vince says
November 24, 2015 at 6:01 pmThanh you!
Greg says
November 21, 2015 at 3:48 pmThis is great
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says
October 4, 2015 at 7:37 amThat looks absolutely divine! especially with a drizzle of chocolate sauce, yummm 🙂 The texture looks perfect!
Claudia | Breakfast Drama Queen says
October 3, 2015 at 7:10 pmThis looks absolutely amazing! I always use a mixture of ricotta and cream cheeses in my cheesecakes – it creates the best texture. So I’m certain this pumpkin version is right up my alley 🙂
Anne-Marie Freeman says
September 30, 2015 at 6:29 pmHi Jo – what a great recipe – especially as I LOVE ricotta cheesecakes. However – do you think it would work if I cut the sugar in half…or more? Thanks so much 🙂
jo says
October 1, 2015 at 1:35 pmHi Anne-Marie,
You should be able to, I usually already cut the sugar down a bit because I don’t like my desserts too sweet, but give it a try. 🙂
Anne-Marie Freeman says
October 1, 2015 at 1:39 pmGood to know! Thanks for your reply. I just wondered if it would alter it ‘technically’!!
Katalina @ Peas and Peonies says
September 22, 2015 at 9:47 amwow wow wow and just WOW! You know Jo, I am crazy for desserts, and these photos are amazing, I just want to close my office and star eating my screen! Love the ricotta addition, make the cake so much denser! Great recipe!
jo says
September 22, 2015 at 11:18 amThank you Katalina! 🙂
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
September 21, 2015 at 6:28 pmThis cheesecake looks so light and fluffy. I never worry about cracks. If I get a crack, I cover it with whipped cream or chocolate, depending upon the flavor. 🙂
jo says
September 21, 2015 at 7:37 pmThank you Maureen! 🙂
mila furman says
September 21, 2015 at 12:34 pmJo…I must admit…I am not a fan of pumpkin…HOWEVER I am a huge fan of ricotta cheesecakes…and this looks brilliant!!! I am just envisioning the epic flavors I could use with this technique though..and needless to say gorgeous pics!
jo says
September 21, 2015 at 12:38 pmThanks Mila!
Annamaria McDonald says
November 16, 2012 at 10:17 amLooks awesome! Come by and add it to our Blog Party, In The Kitchen Thursdays! Please share the blog party with others, thank you!
http://artbyasm.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-kitchen-thursdays.html
Warmest Regards,
Annamaria
jo says
November 16, 2012 at 2:44 pmThanks Annamaria,
I’ll check it out.