Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crustless pumpkin cheesecake made with ricotta and mascarpone. A Tasting History favorite!

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City/Region: Italy

Time Period: 1570

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THIS IS SO GOOD.

Scappi was way ahead of his time when he put together this cheesecake-like tourte. The pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger come through beautifully and it’s just fantastic.

This recipe really checks all the boxes. It’s crustless, easy, and absolutely delicious. It’s one of the best things I’ve made on the channel and has been made and enjoyed by many, many viewers. The texture is smooth, but not quite as smooth as a New York style cheesecake, and is just firm enough to hold together, almost like a pudding. Feel free to reduce the amount of cream to give it a firmer texture.

Definitely try this.

“To prepare a pumpkin tourte without a shell.
When the pumpkin is scraped, cook it in a good meat broth or else in salted water and butter. Then put it into a strainer and squeeze the broth out of it. Grind it in a mortar along with, for every two pounds of it, a pound of fresh ricotta and a pound of a creamy cheese that is not too salted. When everything is ground up, put it through a colander, adding in ten well beaten eggs, a pound of ground sugar, an ounce of ground cinnamon, a pound of milk, four ounces of fresh butter and half an ounce of ginger. Have a tourte pan ready with six ounces of very hot butter in it and put the filling into it. Bake it in an oven or braise it, giving it a glazing with sugar and cinnamon. Serve it hot. ”

— Opera di Bartolomeo Scappi by Bartolomeo Scappi, 1570

“Eat your heart out, Cheesecake Factory.”

— Bartolomeo Scappi, probably, if he could time travel 450 years

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups (450 g) pumpkin puree, canned or homemade*
• 1 cup (240 g) ricotta cheese
• 1 cup (225 g) mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
• 7 medium eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cup (250 g) light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ginger
• 1 cup (240 ml) cream or high-fat milk
• 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) melted butter
• Cinnamon sugar, for topping

*See notes below.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, ricotta, and mascarpone until smooth. I used an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs.

3. After the eggs are incorporated, mix in the brown sugar.

4. Mix in the cinnamon and ginger, then mix in the cream and unsalted butter until smooth.

5. Pour the melted butter into a cake or pie pan. You really just need it to cover the bottom of the pan, so you don’t have to use all of it.

6. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until it’s puffed up and just a little wobbly in the center. Bedight the top with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in it to slowly cool for 45 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and let it cool until it isn’t liquidy anymore.

8. Slice and serve it forth.

Notes

• To make your own pumpkin puree, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, remove the guts, and peel it. Cut into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then stir in 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of salted butter. Once the butter is melted, add the pumpkin and boil for 20 minutes or until it’s soft enough to stab with a knife or fork very easily. Puree the pumpkin in a food processor. Set the puree in a sieve over a bowl to let the excess liquid drain out of it. Don’t press it through the sieve. Now it’s ready to use!

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