Italian Cheesecake with Lemon and Pine Nuts Recipe
This is a super easy recipe, super delightful both to look at and to eat. This cake is delicious at room temperature or after being chilled in the refrigerator. People will think you are a gourmet chef, when you just opened a box of cake mix and made a filling. As this cake bakes the cheese layer will fall to the bottom and the cake layer will become the top!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pine nuts, divided
- 2 lemons
- 1 box butter cake mix
- 2 pounds whole milk ricotta cheese
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Toast pine nuts about 6 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just lightly brown. Allow to cool completely.
- Spray 9x13 baking dish with baking spray. (I used 1-10â and 1-9â spring form pan.)
- Grate 1 lemon, reserve juice.
- Prepare cake mix as directed, adding grated lemon peel and lemon juice from one lemon, and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pine nuts.
- Grate remaining lemon, reserve juice.
- In a large bowl, blend together the ricotta, sugar, eggs, adding grated lemon peel and lemon juice from one lemon,and vanilla, until well mixed. Pour this over the cake batter, but donât mix it into the batter.
- Bake for 1 hour. Let sit about 30 minutes before serving so it can firm up a bit. (My cakes took about 50 minutes to bake and I allowed them to sit until completely cool before serving.)
- Sprinkle remaining pine nuts over cake and dust with powdered sugar before serving.
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Nutrition Facts
| Amount Per Serving | %DV |
|---|---|
| Serving Size 77g | |
| Recipe makes 18 servings | |
| Calories 163 | |
| Calories from Fat 87 | 53% |
| Total Fat 9.95g | 12% |
| Saturated Fat 4.86g | 19% |
| Trans Fat 0.0g | |
| Cholesterol 76mg | 25% |
| Sodium 64mg | 3% |
| Potassium 92mg | 3% |
| Total Carbs 11.49g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.2g | 1% |
| Sugars 8.76g | 6% |
| Protein 7.58g | 12% |
