Chocolate + Ricotta Cheese = Cheesecake Heaven! This Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake is light & creamy with the perfect amount of chocolate sweetness. With minimal effort you’ll create an impressive gourmet dessert!
A BIG THANKS to Imperial Sugar for sponsoring the Choctoberfest Event. I was not compensated for this post but was provided with a very generous supply of sugar!
Published 10/16/19. Post updated 3/26/25
Chocolate & Ricotta – A Gourmet Dessert Made Easy
This Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake is super simple to mix-up & bake. With minimal effort you’ll have a light, creamy & gourmet dessert!
I love chocolate, I love ricotta cheese and I love cheesecake – so combining these is a no brainer for me. Ricotta, with it’s light & creamy texture is a staple in many desserts – just think cannoli.
I enjoy this Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake served plain with fresh berries. You can go many different directions here. You can go totally extra and top this with a ganache. Or you can serve with a berry sauce, chocolate sauce or whipped cream.
Love ALL things cheesecake? ME TOO! Check out these recipes : Käsekuchen German Cheesecake & Chocolate Orange Cheesecake !
Ingredients & Instructions
The hardest part of making this cheesecake is deciding what kind of chocolate to use. I prefer dark, high cacao chocolate for nibbling & desserts but it doesn’t always mingle well with everyone’s taste buds.
Milk chocolate, for me, is out of the question. Semi-sweet – that would be the compromise – I think everyone can agree on the flavor.
Still, I opted for 74% Cacao Dark Chocolate. I found this to be the perfect amount of sweetness.
I’ll add that as much as I love chocolate, I am not a big fan of overly sweet chocolate desserts. I like to taste the chocolate – not just a sugar bomb with some chocolate thrown in for color & good measure. This cheesecake is the perfect level of sweetness.
For this cheesecake I decided to use chocolate graham crackers for the crust. You can use anything you’d like here. Chocolate cookies, regular graham crackers, ground nuts, crushed waffle ice cream cones – or you can skip the crust all together!
Another think you might notice here is that I lined my springform pan with parchment paper. I know recipes using a spring form don’t usually call for parchment paper, nor do you have to use it. From my experience, I can admit I always have a difficult time in not so much releasing the cake from the pan – but moving it to serve. Parchment paper makes this effortless. Lift from the pan and slide the cake onto your serving dish / cake stand. Not breaks, no crumbles or fumbles.
Hope you enjoy!
Amanda ♥
Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs about 6 whole sheets
- 1 tablespoon Imperial granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoon salted butter melted
- 1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese MUST be whole-milk
- 1/2 cup Imperial granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped melted and slightly cooled
Instructions
- For Crust: Preheat oven to 350°
- Mix graham crackers crumbs & sugar. Stir in melted butter until combined.
- Press mixture evenly into lightly greased/springform pan. Bake for about 8 minutes. Cool on wire rack.*NOTE* I line the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper, overhanging, before I clamp close the pan. I trim the excess on the outside before pressing crumbs in. Then I lightly spray the sides with non-stick cooking spray.
- For filling: Stir together ricotta cheese & sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Add in eggs, stir until combined.
- Stir in cocoa powder, cinnamon & vanilla until combined.
- Add in melted & slightly cooled chocolate, mix until mixture is of even color.
- Pour mixture into springform pan. Bake at 350° for 40 – 45 minutes. Top should be risen & look set.
- Cool cheesecake on wire rack for an 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Then move to fridge, uncovered. Once cheesecake is completely cooled you may serve or cover to serve later.
- Eat as is or serve with fresh berries, whipped cream, berry sauce, chocolate sauce – or top with a ganache.
A perfect dessert and very elegant looking. Will be looking at this dessert for my next dinner party.
Fabulously easy to make, much more delicious than that. I made a crust from crushed pecans, rgg white and sugar. Ill make this again and again.