Here’s my take on an old family recipe for Italian cheesecake, including different versions. It’s very creamy, and always a big hit, and is not difficult to make:

Marilyn’s Italian Cheesecake

About 12 generous servings; recipe can be halved

3 pounds ricotta cheese, room temperature
8 oz. marscapone or cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
8 large or 6 extra large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
Graham Cracker, Amaretti, Chocolate or Vanilla Wafer crumbs or flour for dusting pan
Butter for coating inside of pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9″ springform pan, dust with crumbs or flour, discarding excess.

Place cheeses in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand or stand mixer till very well blended and fluffy (it should take about 2-3 minutes). Then add eggs and flavorings and mix until well blended. Add sugar in three batches and mix very well after each addition, scraping down sides so ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Cover the bottom of the pan very carefully with heavy duty aluminum foil, making sure there are no breaks in the foil so that when the cake is immersed there will not be any leaks. Place the pan in a large roasting pan and carefully pour water in to the roaster to a depth of about 1 inch. Bake for about 1-1/2 hours or until the top of the cheesecake is beginning to turn golden (if it looks more than golden it will taste burnt). This is a very creamy cake, so a cake tester will not come out completely clean; the cake will solidify upon cooling.

Remove cake from the oven and remove the foil that wraps the pan. Cool till room temperature before refrigerating. Serve at room temperature or chilled slightly.

Variations:

Almond:

For 2 tablespoons vanilla, substitute 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon almond extract, or two tablespoons Amaretto Liqueur (add instead of the vanilla, and use Amaretti cookie crumbs or pulverized almonds to dust pan).

Chocolate:

Add 1 small package chocolate mini morstles to cheesecake batter and mix well; use crushed chocolate wafer crumbs to dust pan). Top of cheesecake can be drizzled with chocolate ganache.

Lemon:

Substitute 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract for 2 tablespoons of vanilla. Add one teaspoon of freshly grated lemon zest and mix well.