Ricotta Amaretto Cheesecake

From the kitchen of: Yolanda Caccamo Quackenbush

Ingredients for Crust:

*50 small (1-inch) Amaretto Cookies (believe it or not I bought mine at Marshals, but you can try any Italian import store or Italian section of your grocery store).

*3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled

Procedure for crust:

*Whirl the cookies to a powder in a food processor

* Add in the butter to evenly coat them.

* Pat the crumb mixture in the bottom of a 9 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch spring form pan.

* Wrap a large sheet of Aluminum Foil around the outside of the pan and set aside

Ingredients for Filling:

* 2 3/4 cup Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese

* 1 1/4 cups Mascarpone Cheese

* 1/2 cup Sour Cream

* 1 cup Granulated Sugar

* 3 Large Eggs

* 1/4 teaspoon Salt

* 2 1/2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose Flour

* 1 teaspoon Pure Almond Extract

*1/8 cup Amaretto Liqueur

~*~Optional~*~ Caramel Topping

Procedure:

* In a stand mixer or by hand with a hand held mixer, beat the ricotta cheese with the mascarpone and sour cream.

* Beat in the sugar and eggs one at a time.

* Beat in the salt, flour, extract and the liqueur.

* Pour the batter carefully into the prepared pan.

* Place the pan in a larger pan and carefully pour boiling water into the larger pan until it is about 1-inch up the sides of the spring form pan.

* Bake on the middle oven shelf for 50 minutes.

* Turn off the oven and allow the cake to sit in the oven 50 minutes longer.

* Remove the cake from the larger pan and carefully remove and discard the aluminum foil.

* Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes.

* Cover the top of the cake loosely with wax paper and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

* When ready to serve, allow the cake to come to room temperature. Unlatch the spring form pan rim and carefully remove it. Place the cake on its base on a serving platter.

* Top with whatever you wish! I put Caramel topping in a ziploc bag and cut a small piece of the tip off and decorated the top with it and then placed the extra Amaretto Cookies I had around the cake for a beautiful presentation!

~*~Enjoy!~*~