95% French Canadian, 5% New Yorker

No, I'm not really a New Yorker. I'm a Canadian, all the way through. Heck, I've never even been to New York!

But when I tasted this ricotta cheesecake that I had made as a birthday request, something was missing. The proper tang that you get in a New York style cheesecake. The tang that isn't in this Italian style cheesecake.

Don't get me wrong - this was very good! It was light and creamy, with a hint of the fresh vanilla bean I had used in place of extract. According to my mouth, however, this was not a cheesecake. It was a light tart that just happened to have some cream cheese and ricotta in it.

(One of my goals for this year is to work on my photography. I think I am getting a bit better at placement, but honestly, I don't think it matters how I place a dish or plate if it is so dark out that you can't see anything anyways! I will be so glad when we begin to sloooooowly start getting more light around here.)

Back to the "cheesecake".....

Standard graham cracker and sugar crumb base. My very favorite way to bottom a cheesecake. Usual mixture of cheese, eggs and sugar. But where it differs is in the cheese. Rather than 3-4 blocks of tangy cream cheese, this one only uses one, with the balance of the cheese replaced with ricotta that has been drained first. Good in theory but, I don't know, maybe I bought the wrong ricotta?

Either way, the thought was appreciated, and the cake enjoyed.

Course now that I'm thinking about it again, it is bugging me - and I am going to have to make a proper cheesecake soon. Maybe tomorrow morning. For breakfast! (Kidding! At least on the breakfast part.)