Can  you say Torta di Latte Formaggio 3 times without feeling swanky?  Throw in the word, claw-seek-o, and you’ve got one amazing Classic Man Cake on your hands with this elegant Italian Sour Cream Cheesecake.

Heading for the double-decker cake finish line with the third in this recipe series for the Italian Lovesong Cake, starting with the ever-so-vintage Boiled Milk Cake with Cream Cheese & White Chocolate Frosting, then to the Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust that wraps around….this elegant Italian Cheesecake made with rich sour cream…just before we close the series with the pink Hibiscus Vanilla Custard to top it all off.  Old school fancy! Way!

If you’re looking for a special vintage sour cream cheesecake, this cake can stand it alone with the best of them. Well, along with the Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust, that is. It’s a hefty and decadent cake that will do you proud at your elegant dinner party or special birthday cake celebration or holiday cake time. Just know that this cake may not share the table with any other dessert. Why? Because it is a single star event. 🙂 Serve it on a vintage plate, with a hand-folded cloth napkin, a silver fork, a glass of fine champagne and you’re good to go.

Slow Cooking Warning: You won’t have to make your own cream cheese. 🙂 (We’ll do that another day. 🙂 ) But this cheesecake bakes in a “slow” oven for one-and-a-half hours and then rests in the “cool” oven for 2 hours after that. The cheesecake is wrapped in a crust made from homemade cookies (see separate recipe for the Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust).  If you’re heading for the whole shebang (because you’ve been looking for a Lawyer Cake or an Architect Cake or a vintage cake for your best friend on a special birthday), you’ll see that this cheesecake sits upon an old-fashioned Boiled Milk Cake that is frosted with White Chocolate & Cream Cheese Frosting and the entire double-decker deal is topped with a homemade sweet-pink Hibiscus Custard that is made from organic Hibiscus Flower petals. So you will need to carve out a chunk of your schedule or just prepare in advance to gift this precious vintage dessert from you kitchen with love for a very special occasion. It is do-able and I will show you every step of the way! 🙂

Recipe Note:
t=teaspoon
T=Tablespoon
c=cup

Tools Needed for Italian Lovesong Cheesecake:
9″ Springform pan (filled with our recommended Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust)
Small sharp paring knife (for scraping vanilla bean)
Small flat plate (for vanilla bean)
Cup or small bowl (for the lemon juice)
Electric mixer
2 Large bowls (for egg whites and cream cheese base)
2 Medium bowls (for separated egg yolks and whites)
Spatula
Measuring cups and spoons
Toothpick (to pierce stubborn bubbles from the batter)

Ingredients for Italian Cheesecake:
1 T unsalted butter (to grease the pan)
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 whole vanilla bean
7 large eggs, separated
2-3/4 c cream cheese (1-1/3 lb or 22-1/2 ounces)
1 c sour cream
3/4 c sugar
2 T cake flour

Directions for Preparing Italian Cheesecake:

Have your Ladyfinger cookies baked and cooled. No, actually, have your Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust recipe prepared and get it locked-and-loaded inside the 9″ Springform baking pan. Check for step-by-step photo directions for the special Ladyfinger Cookie recipe and the Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust recipe (made with fresh-baked Ladyfinger cookies, roasted almonds and brown sugar) for a delicious crust that wraps around the bottom of this cheesecake.

Click here for the Ladyfinger Cookies recipe.
Click here for the Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust recipe.

Set the oven rack to center position and pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Baste the upper portion of the 9″ Springform pan (above the cookie crumb crust) with:
1 T unsalted butter

Squeeze from a fresh lemon and set aside in a cup or small bowl:
1 T fresh lemon juice

On a small plate, using a sharp paring knife, carefully slice open and scrap out the insides of:
1 whole vanilla bean

Separate into 2 medium bowls the whites and the yolks of:
7 large fresh eggs

In a large bowl, beat  on low-speed, graduating to high-speed for about 3 minutes:
the separated egg yolks

Slightly soften to room temperature in a microwave for a few seconds at a time:
2-3/4 c cream cheese (1-1/3 lb or 22-1/2 ounces)

Add into yolks and beat on low-speed, graduating to medium speed, for about 1 minute:
the softened cream cheese
1 c sour cream

Add into the bowl and beat on medium-speed for about 1 minute:
the prepared fresh lemon juice
prepared scraped vanilla bean “seeds”
2 T cake flour

Thoroughly beaten mixture looks like this…

If you are using a stand mixer, remove the cream cheese mixture to a separate bowl, and wash the mixer bowl and blades thoroughly for new use. If you are using a hand mixer, use a separate large bowl and wash the mixer blades thorough before beating the egg whites.
Tip: The bowl for beating the egg white should be sparkling clean. 🙂

Now we’ll use the egg whites…

On medium-low speed, increasing to high-speed, beat about 1 to 2 minutes until smooth with soft peaks:
the separated egg whites

Beat into the egg whites on high in one-third increments for about 30 seconds for each addition (about 1-1/2 minutes to 2 minutes total beating time):
3/4 c sugar
Tip: Do not overbeat to stiff or dry consistency.

Add the cream cheese mixture to the egg whites in portions and beat in thoroughly…

Fully blended cream cheese batter in the bowl…

Pour the cream cheese batter into the prepared 9″ springform pan that has been lined with gently packed cookie crumb crust.

Let batter sit in the prepared baking pan undisturbed for about 5 minutes to allow batter bubbles to rise to the top. Then, gently tap the pan of batter on the counter and use a toothpick to pierce any stubborn unbroken bubbles that have risen to the top of the batter to achieve a smooth (or mostly bubble-free) batter surface.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 30 mins to an internal temperature of 170 degrees.

Without removing the cake fully from the oven, turn off the oven heat and loosely wrap the top of the cake with aluminum foil and let the cheesecake cool down in the turned-off oven (without heat) for 2 hours.
Tip: Cooling the cake down slowly in this fashion might help keep the top of the cake from cracking, but if it does crack, remember it will be topped with a custard so don’t let it rent space in your head. 🙂

In the next article, we will show you how to serve this cheesecake by unmolding it on top of the frosted Boiled Milk Cake to be topped with an unusual homemade Hibiscus Flower custard.

Thanks for stopping by. I love hearing from you in the comments. Come follow us on Facebook!

Now on to the Hibiscus Vanilla Custard (that doubles as an ice cream recipe). 🙂

Best,

Leslie

Related articles

• Ladyfinger Cookie Crumb Crust for the Italian Lovesong Cake (bakethiscake.com)
• Ladyfingers for Wild Blackberry Charlotte Russe (bakethiscake.com)
• Boiled Milk Cake for The Italian Lovesong Cake (bakethiscake.com)
• Hibiscus Syrup and Hibiscus Vanilla Custard Recipe (bakethiscake.com)