Ricotta Cheese Cake with Fresh Berries

First and foremost, Happy Valentine's Day!  I am having such a busy month but I'm happy I'm able to post this cake I made the other day… by accident. 

I was grocery shopping with my daughter, a little spaced out.  I grabbed a container of ricotta cheese to make ravioli with - thinking this is an unusual section to place this item??

I got home, opened the container and noticed that it looked weird.  I could see it wasn't ricotta cheese.  What a surprise.  It was a vegan ricotta cheese made with soy.  I would never buy this if I knew what it was.  But I am happy that I bought it this time by accident! 

I tasted it and it was horrible.  It didn't taste anything like ricotta made with cow's milk.  By the way, I love soy products and I eat tofu almost everyday.  I just don't like eating the imitation vegan version of meat or dairy projects.  

I wasn't sure what to do first.  I didn't want to throw it away.  I paid like $5 for it too.  But then I quickly realized that there are many desserts made with tofu, okra (soy pulp) and soy milk in Japan.  

Boom!  Cheesecake!  

Growing up, cheesecake was my absolute favorite cake.  But the typical cheese cake in Japan is made mostly with eggs and is very light compared to New York style cheese cake.  I made this cheesecake mostly with eggs and the vegan ricotta cheese.  I also added some sugar, honey and sour cream.  So it is very light and yet super moist.   You can of course make this with ricotta cheese with cow's milk.

I love these kind of little surprises once in a while when I cook, don't you : )

Recipe: 9"x3" round baking pan

1 cup soy/vegan ricotta cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup powder sugar
1/3 cup rice flour
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh berries


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut out the parchment paper to cover the bottom and inside of the baking pan.

Separate egg whites and yolks.  Beat egg whites and powdered sugar together in a large bowl with a hand mixer until it makes becomes creamy and forms a peak.  Then beat egg yolks with vanilla extract and lemon zest until the color becomes lighter in a smaller bowl.  Combine the two mixtures and add sour cream.  Mix well.  Shift rice flour into the wet mixture.  Mix it by gently folding. Pour into the baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes.  Let cool.

Decorate with fresh berries and powdered sugar.