Christmas peppermint candy ricotta cheesecake

Velvety ricotta cheesecake mixed with crushed peppermint candy and topped with a layer of white chocolate ganache, Christmas candy and sprinkles.

Years ago, before I had Tiffany you’d find me in the local bookstore with a book, a coffee and a sweet treat. It was a nice way to enjoy an afternoon, get out of the house, try new books, see other people and always willing to try the seasonal treats.

There’s something about seasonal desserts. I think it’s mostly because you only get to enjoy them few weeks a year. Of course you can get a candy-cane in July but it won’t be the same. The same goes for cotton candy in December. No, ice-cream and chocolate are in season 52 weeks a year, let’s make that clear!

If you’re reading my blog for a while then you probably know my favorite dessert is chocolate cheesecake. I’ve baked and probably will lots of other desserts but I have a weakness for cheesecake. As you can guess it wasn’t hard to decide what dessert to make for today.

At first I thought about making a peppermint bark cheesecake but by the time I got around to make it I was without peppermint bark and since candy is not my specialty i went with the next best thing : Christmas mints.

A simple peppermint cheesecake was all I wanted to make but we had to take the sprinkles out again. I have the feeling one day Tiffany will add sprinkles to one of my yeast bread. I don’t want to hear I didn’t warn you! Some girls like diamonds, my baby girl loves sprinkles.

I’ve found the peppermint cheesecake recipe on Sargento website and not only the peppermint got me but I was intrigued by the recipe itself. I usually make cheesecake with at least half cream cheese and ricotta or cottage cheese but have never made it completely with ricotta cheese. My first thought went to a ricotta cake I’ve made years ago that was so creamy and velvety I could not get enough of.

I had to try this peppermint cheesecake made with Sargento® Light Ricotta Cheese, there was no doubt about it! And I’m glad I did. It’s unbelievable creamy, with just the right amount of peppermint. Half of it I had to take it to the neighbors for fear I eat the whole thing in one sitting.

I did a few changes to the original recipe : I’ve used heavy cream instead of half-and-half, added more chopped peppermint candy (and I’m glad I did) and covered it in white chocolate ganache (a sticky layer for the sprinkles).

There’s just one minor thing I would change about the recipe (now that I know how it turns out) – instead of finely chop the mints I would break them in rough pieces and add the same amount of red and green ones for a more Christmas-y look

[mpprecipe-recipe:410]

For other Christmas treats check out #25recipestoXmas. You can also see the gallery on Pinterest or on Google+

Sending love your way,

Roxana