Valentine’s Day is approaching and there’s nothing better than celebrating with a heart-shaped chocolatey dessert. I’ve decided to prepare the red velvet cheesecake, which is sweet like love and red like passion.
Just the fact that it’s a cheesecake makes it well-received at my house. We adore cheesecakes. However, the red velvet is a cake that endears itself to you with its unique taste and stunning color.
I was saying that at home we particularly love cheesecakes (except for my brother-in-law), but we’re not too fond of Valentine’s Day. However, this lovely dessert is perfect to be served as a dessert for the romantic dinner on February 14th, just shape it as a heart, and you’re done.
Here are three perfect recipes for the Valentine’s Day menu:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 1,234.90 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 105.75 (g) of which sugars 68.67 (g)
- Proteins 20.00 (g)
- Fat 81.97 (g) of which saturated 36.84 (g)of which unsaturated 18.34 (g)
- Fibers 5.96 (g)
- Sodium 623.26 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 310 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for the red velvet cheesecake
- 12.35 oz cocoa biscuits
- 8.82 oz cream cheese (I used mascarpone)
- 5.29 oz cow's milk ricotta
- 3.88 oz powdered sugar
- 3.53 oz butter (melted)
- 3.53 oz 55% dark chocolate
- 1.41 oz almond flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- to taste red food coloring
- to taste unsweetened cocoa powder
Tools
- Tart Pan
Preparation of the red velvet cheesecake
Put the biscuits and almond flour in the mixer and blend until you get a grainy mixture. Add the melted butter and run the mixer again until well combined.
Take the heart-shaped pan, lightly butter it, and line the bottom with a disc of parchment paper. Pour the biscuit mixture into the pan and press with a spoon to compact the bottom and the edges well. Put in the refrigerator to set so it becomes compact. If you prefer, you can use individual molds, in this case, divide the mixture among the molds.Put the ricotta, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl and mix carefully, if you want, you can use electric beaters. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue to mix. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave and let it cool slightly, then add it to the cheese mixture along with the red food coloring. The coloring should be dosed according to the level of color you want to achieve; the color doesn’t change much from raw to cooked, so decide the shade you want.
Pour the mixture into the mold and bake at 284°F in a preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes. The cream should set well, but the center should still be slightly soft.
Cool completely, remove the red velvet cheesecakes from the mold, and place in the refrigerator to set for at least two hours.Before serving, dust the surface with unsweetened cocoa powder.
Compared to the challenge version, I made two changes. As creamy cheese, I used mascarpone, and as chocolate, I used gianduia.
For ricotta, I used a gem from my Apennines, the fresh ricotta from the Poggio Castro Dairy in Pavullo nel Frignano (Mo).
The original recipe for the Red Velvet can be found by clicking on the name of the recipe I also prepared in cupcake version.
