Red, White & Blue Ricotta Cheesecake

Crust

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9” springform pan.

Pulverize the graham crackers into crumbs in a food processor.

Melt the remaining butter over low heat and mix into crumbs in a separate bowl. Stir until well-combined.

Add the crust mixture to the bottom of the springform pan. Work it until packed flat and even on the base of the pan. It can go slightly up the side of the pan.

Transfer the unbaked crust onto middle rack in a 350 F degrees preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove and let the crust cool at least 10 minutes before filling.

Filling

Place the sugar in a bowl, sift the flour into it, mix, and set aside.

Beat eggs in another bowl and add the vanilla extract.

Put the ricotta in another larger bowl. Using a rubber spatula or a large spoon, gently fold the sugar mixture into the ricotta until well-combined.

Then, add the egg mixture, a little at a time, gently mixing until well-blended and smooth. (Do not use an electric blender or hand mixer because it will overwork the cheese and make it runny.)

Carefully pour the batter into 3 separate smaller bowls. One of the bowls should be 75% white batter, set aside and then the other two bowls divided equally. In one of those bowls, drop 5-7 drops of red food coloring and in the other drop 5-7 drops of blue food coloring.

To fill the graham cracker crust, pour half of the white batter in the pan, then add some red on one side and blue on the other. Using a toothpick swirl the colors together. Add the rest of the white batter on top, then red on one side and blue on the other. Carefully swirl the colors again.

Poke a few holes in the batter with the toothpick to prevent air pockets and smooth the top with a spatula, if needed.

Bake the cheesecake on the middle rack in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for 55-70 minutes or until the cake is firm all the way through.

Allow cheesecake to cool completely at room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, remove cake from the springform pan and carefully transfer it to a plate. The cake should be refrigerated for at least 3 hours to set before serving. Feel free to top with powdered sugar or whipped cream.