Italian Amaretti and Mascarpone Cheesecake | Cheesecake Italiana agli Amaretti e Mascarpone
An Italian cheesecake is not a softened New York one. It is built on mascarpone and ricotta, two fresh dairy products that set differently, and the whole method exists to respect that difference. The base is crushed amaretti, the filling is dense and pale, and the finish is a small crown of the same cookies. Cut cold, it tastes of almond, cream and lemon zest.
Yield: 10 slices from a 9 inch springform. Prep: 35 minutes. Draining: overnight. Bake: 65 minutes. Oven rest: 1 hour. Chill: 6 hours minimum. Difficulty: intermediate. Course: dessert. Region: Lombardy.
The Story
Italy baked sweetened cheese long before anyone called it cheesecake. The line runs from the Roman crostata di ricotta through the Sicilian cassata al forno to the Neapolitan pastiera, and in each of them the cheese is ricotta, a whey cheese recooked from the liquid left after making pecorino or mozzarella. It is cheap, fresh, faintly sweet and perishable, so it became a feast day ingredient: it had to be used within days, and feasts were the reason to use a lot of it at once.
Mascarpone comes from a different economy. It belongs to the plain around Lodi and Abbiategrasso, southwest of Milan, where in the cold months cream was acidified with citric or tartaric acid and drained in cloth. For most of its history it travelled no further than the neighbouring provinces because it spoiled so quickly. It is less a cheese than set cream, close to 40 percent fat, and that richness is what gives this cake its dense, velvet texture.
The amaretti belong to the same Lombard kitchen. The name comes from amaro, bitter, and the best known cookies come from Saronno, in the province of Varese, sold in pairs wrapped in thin paper. Children there learn to roll the empty wrapper into a tube and light it, so that it floats up as a small paper lantern. Crushed amaretti are a regional reflex in Lombardy and Piedmont: folded into the pumpkin tortelli of Mantua, packed into halved peaches in the Monferrato, scattered over baked apples.
Putting them under a cheese filling rather than over it is the one modern move in this recipe, and a practical one. The word cheesecake reached Italian pastry shops only in recent decades, and Italian cooks answered it with the dairy they already had. The bitterness of the apricot kernel gives a very rich dessert a spine, so the cake tastes made in Lombardy rather than imported and translated. Nothing in the pan is exotic to a Lombard grandmother: cream, eggs, lemon, almond and a little liqueur, the same pantry that has filled festive tarts around Milan for generations. What changes is the proportion, and the patience the method asks for. In a Lombard pasticceria the same cake would be sold by the slice on a Sunday morning, cut thin, beside a small coffee, and eaten slowly because it is dense enough to deserve it.
Ingredients
Buy amaretti secchi, the hard dry cookies, not the soft amaretti morbidi. Weigh the ricotta after it has drained, and bring the mascarpone, eggs, yolks and cream to room temperature 90 minutes before mixing. Use whole milk ricotta from a dairy if you can, and fresh mascarpone with a short ingredient list: cream and acid, nothing else. Lemon zest should come from an unwaxed lemon, grated without the white pith, which is bitter.
For the amaretti crust
Crisp amaretti secchi, ground to crumbs, 2 1/2 cups, 7 oz (200 g)
Unsalted butter, melted, 6 tbsp (85 g)
Granulated sugar, 1 tbsp (13 g)
Fine sea salt, 1 small pinch
For the mascarpone and ricotta filling
Mascarpone, room temperature, 16 oz (450 g)
Whole milk ricotta, drained overnight, 15 oz (425 g)
Granulated sugar, 3/4 cup (150 g)
Large eggs, room temperature, 3
Large egg yolks, room temperature, 2
Heavy cream, 1/2 cup (120 ml)
Cornstarch, 2 tbsp (16 g)
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp (5 ml)
Finely grated lemon zest, 1/2 tsp, from 1 lemon
Amaretto liqueur, 2 tbsp (30 ml), optional
Fine sea salt, 1/4 tsp (1.5 g)
For finishing
Crisp amaretti, roughly crushed, 1/2 cup, 1 3/4 oz (50 g)
Whole amaretti, 4 or 5
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Preparation
Drain the ricotta the night before
Set the ricotta in a fine mesh sieve lined with a double layer of cheesecloth, stand it over a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. It will release two or three tablespoons of whey, the usual cause of a cheesecake that weeps at the base. In the morning push it through the sieve with a spatula. It takes three minutes and removes every sandy crumb, which is the difference between a silky filling and a faintly grainy one.
Grind and bake the amaretti crust
Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Grind the amaretti in a food processor to an even crumb, pulse in the sugar and salt, then add the melted butter until the crumb holds when squeezed. Amaretti already contain sugar and egg white, so 6 tablespoons of butter is enough. Press the crumb over the base and 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform, bake 12 minutes until toasted, then cool completely. Wrap the outside of the pan in two sheets of heavy foil, carried over the rim.
Mix the filling on the lowest speed
Paddle the mascarpone with the sugar, cornstarch and salt on the lowest speed only until the sugar disappears. Add the sieved ricotta, then the whole eggs one at a time and the yolks, stopping the moment each vanishes. Fold in the cream, vanilla, lemon zest and Amaretto by hand. Everything should sit near 65°F (18°C). Cold mascarpone meeting egg forms lumps that only more mixing removes, and more mixing adds air.
Bake at 300°F in a water bath
Pour the filling over the crust and rap the pan once on the bench to release trapped air. Stand it in a roasting tin and pour boiling water around it to come halfway up the side. Bake at 300°F (150°C), checking the oven with a separate thermometer, for 60 to 70 minutes. The oven must not climb above that temperature at any point, so keep the door closed until the last 10 minutes.
Pull the cake while the centre still trembles
At 55 minutes, nudge the pan. The outer 2 inches should look matte and set, while the central 3 inches still move as one soft mass, like a loose panna cotta. A probe in the middle should read 150°F (65°C). Lift the pan out of the water at that moment. If the centre ripples in waves rather than trembling, give it 5 more minutes and check again.
Cool in the switched off oven, then chill
Turn the oven off, prop the door open with the handle of a wooden spoon and leave the cake inside for one hour. Then cool it to room temperature on a rack and refrigerate it uncovered for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. The centre finishes setting during this time.
Unmould cold and finish at the last moment
Run a thin knife dipped in hot water around the ring while the cake is thoroughly chilled, then release it. Leave the cake on the springform base. Within 30 minutes of serving, scatter the crushed amaretti in a band around the edge, leaving the centre pale, set the whole cookies at even intervals and dust lightly with powdered sugar.
Plating
Cut with a long thin knife dipped in very hot water and wiped dry between every slice. A wet blade drags a milky film across the cut face, and a cold dry one tears it. Ten wedges from a 9 inch cake is the right weight for a dessert this rich.
Let cut slices stand 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature, so the mascarpone softens and the almond aroma is released. Plate each wedge slightly off centre with the point toward the guest. Add a spoonful of roasted apricots, wine poached pears or crushed raspberries beside it, and a few cookie fragments next to the slice rather than on it. A short pour of the same Amaretto, served in a small glass alongside, echoes the crust without adding another sweet element.
Professional Technique
Cream cheese is the exception, not the rule. The American kind is stabilised with gums that hold its water and fat together, so it tolerates a hot oven and a fast paddle. Mascarpone and ricotta carry no such insurance, and each fails in its own way. Mascarpone is almost pure fat, and at high heat that fat separates from the mass and pools. Ricotta is a lattice of casein granules holding whey inside them, and in the oven the granules tighten and release it. That is the whole reason this cake behaves so differently from a New York one.
That is why every step here is a defence. The ricotta is drained by weight, for hours, until 15 oz (425 g) remain, so the whey is out before the oven can squeeze it out. The mascarpone goes in cool, just soft enough to stir, and is never whipped or warmed, because heat and air both break it. The oven stays at 300°F (150°C) and never above it, and the cake leaves it at 150°F (65°C) in the centre, while the middle 3 inches still tremble. Carryover heat completes the set, so a cake that looks finished in the tin is already overbaked.
Cooling follows the same logic. Turn the oven off, prop the door ajar and leave the cake for one hour, so the temperature falls slowly. The crack across the surface is not overbaking. It is contraction from fast cooling: the top shrinks faster than the dense mass beneath and tears. A cake pulled at the right moment and carried straight into a cold kitchen will still crack, while the same cake cooled gradually will not.
Texture and Moisture Control
Three moisture problems run through this recipe. The ricotta must lose its whey before mixing, or the baked filling weeps. The mascarpone must not lose its water, which is exactly what happens when it is beaten hard, so the paddle stays on the lowest setting from first minute to last. And the crust must stay dry inside a pan standing in hot water, which is why the foil is doubled and carried over the rim.
Air is the fourth variable. Every extra turn of the paddle after the eggs go in beats in bubbles that expand in the oven and lift the surface into a dome. A batter with a few faint streaks left in it is better than a perfectly smooth one. Two tablespoons of cornstarch help by holding the free water in the filling as it sets.
The final texture is readable only after the full chill. The milk fat has to recrystallise before the slice stands on the plate, and that takes hours, not minutes. Cut after three hours, the same cake slumps. Cut after eight, it holds a clean edge and the flavours have knitted together, with the almond rounder and the lemon quieter.
Professional Mise en Place
One long passive stage and one short window of attention. Start the ricotta the evening before, and decide the finish and the dessert wine before the cake goes in the oven.
Equipment and tools
9 inch springform pan and two sheets of heavy foil
Roasting tin with clearance on every side of the pan
Food processor, stand mixer with paddle, fine mesh sieve, cheesecloth
Oven thermometer, instant read probe and a long thin slicing knife
Prepared ahead
Ricotta draining in the refrigerator overnight
Amaretti weighed into two bowls, one for the crust and one for the finish
Crust baked, cooled and foil wrapped, up to 1 day ahead
Dairy and eggs out of the refrigerator 90 minutes before mixing
Kettle boiled before the filling is mixed, never after
Service setup
Cake chilled on its base, ring released only at the last moment
Jug of hot water and a dry cloth beside the board
Crushed amaretti held dry, sieve loaded with powdered sugar
Slices cut and left to stand 15 minutes before service
Chef Tips
Choose cookies made with some apricot kernel as well as almond. That extra bitterness stops the mascarpone reading as merely sweet, while soft amaretti turn the base into a sticky layer that never cuts cleanly.
Weigh the ricotta again after draining. Tub ricotta can lose a great deal of weight overnight, and you need 15 oz (425 g) in the bowl. If it still looks loose, hold back a tablespoon of the cream.
For a version without Amaretto, add 1/2 tsp almond extract instead of omitting it. Without either, the filling tastes flat against an almond crust.
Check the mascarpone with a probe. Below 60°F (15°C) it will not take the eggs smoothly. Spread it thin in the bowl for 15 minutes rather than warming it over heat, which splits it.
Bake on the middle rack, away from the oven walls, and turn the pan only once, in the first 20 minutes, if your oven has a strong hot side.
Common Mistakes
Using ricotta straight from the tub. Undrained ricotta guarantees a wet base and a grainy filling. Drain it overnight, then sieve it.
Beating the mascarpone hard. It is set cream, and a fast paddle breaks it and releases water. Keep the mixer on its lowest speed.
Adding the eggs all at once. The batter cannot absorb them evenly, and the extra mixing beats in air. Add them one at a time, and stop each time the yolk has vanished.
Baking until the centre is firm. Carryover heat keeps setting a dense mass for 20 minutes. Pull it while the middle still trembles.
Cutting too soon. After three hours the fat has not recrystallised and slices slump. Chill at least 6 hours, and overnight is better.
Wrapping the pan with a single seam of foil. A springform is not watertight, and water in the crust turns it to paste. Use two full sheets, carried over the rim.
Topping the cake early. Amaretti pull moisture from the surface within the hour and turn pasty. Finish within 30 minutes of serving.
Wine Pairing
Moscato d'Asti DOCG: Low alcohol, around 5 percent, and a gentle frizzante lift keep the palate moving through a slice this rich. The grapey muscat aroma sits beside the almond without arguing with it, and its moderate sweetness suits a cake that is only lightly sweet. Serve it very cold, around 45°F (7°C), and it refreshes rather than weighs down. It is the safest bottle for guests who dislike heavy dessert wines.
Recioto di Soave DOCG: Garganega dried on racks gives candied apricot and a bitter almond finish that runs straight into the apricot kernel of the amaretti. Its acidity is firm enough to cut through mascarpone. Serve at 50°F (10°C) in a small glass, and pour less than you think, since it is a concentrated wine that needs only a mouthful with each bite.
Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOC: Years in small sealed caratelli give dried fig, walnut and orange peel, flavours that meet the toasted crust more than the dairy. Choose a drier bottling than you would for cantucci, since the cake already supplies the sugar. The oxidative notes also flatter the browned amaretti crust, so keep a little crust in every forkful.
Ramandolo DOCG: Late picked verduzzo from the hills above Nimis, unusual among sweet whites for its noticeable tannin. That grip scrapes fat from the palate between mouthfuls, while honey and quince notes stay close to the lemon zest in the filling. It is the most structured of the four and stands up to the richest slices, especially when the cake is served with roasted apricots.
Storage & Reheating
This is a cold dessert and it is never reheated. Keep it refrigerated, loosely tented under a cake box or an inverted bowl, for up to 4 days. Do not press cling film onto the surface, which lifts the skin of the filling. Store it undressed and add the amaretti only as each portion goes out.
It freezes well. Freeze whole or in cut wedges, open on a tray until solid, then wrap in cling film and foil for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, never on the bench, where the outside sweats while the middle is still frozen. Blot any condensation with kitchen paper before the topping goes on. The crust softens slightly after freezing, so the fresh crushed amaretti matter even more, and leftover slices are best eaten within two days of thawing.
Nutrition
Per serving, based on 10 slices from a 9 inch cake:
Calories: 520 kcal
Total Fat: 38 g
Saturated Fat: 22 g
Trans Fat: 0.6 g
Unsaturated Fat: 14 g
Cholesterol: 165 mg
Sodium: 160 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 34 g
Fiber: 1.2 g
Total Sugars: 24 g
Added Sugars: 21 g
Protein: 11 g
Lactose: 3.5 g
Principal micronutrients: calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin B12, riboflavin, selenium
These figures are estimates. Cut into 12 slices, fat and sugar per portion fall by about a fifth.
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