Cherry Ricotta Cheesecake

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 55 minutes

Serves: 8

Description
A lighter, better-for-you crustless cheesecake with a delectable cherry topping. Cheesecake CAN be a part of a healthy diet!

Ingredients

 * nonstick cooking spray
 * 16 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
 * ½ cup reduced fat sour cream
 * 4 oz neufchâtel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese), softened
 * 3 large eggs
 * ¾ cup sugar
 * ¼ cup all-purpose flour
 * 1 tsp vanilla extract
 * 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
 * ¼ tsp salt
 * 2 cups fresh or frozen pitted sweet cherries
 * 1 tbsp honey
 * 1 tbsp lemon juice
 * ½ tsp unflavored gelatin
 * 1 tbsp warm water

Directions

 * 1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a 9" springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
 * 2) Place the ricotta in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add the sour cream, cream cheese, eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, lemon zest and salt. Process until well blended. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the center is just set, about 50 - 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then cover and chill for 3 or more hours.
 * 3) Put the cherries, honey, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat. In a small bowl, stir the gelatin into the water until dissolved, then stir the dissolved gelatin into the cherry mix. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thickened, but is not sticking to the pan.
 * 4) After 3 hours of chilling, top the cheesecake with the cherry mixture and serve immediately or keep in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days.

Nutrition Information
Per serving: 290 calories; Total Fat, 12g (Saturated fat 7g, Monounsaturated fat 3.5g, Polyunsaturated fat .6g); Protein, 12g; Carbohydrates, 34g; Fiber, 1g; Cholesterol, 115mg; Sodium, 230mg

Note: If you wish to reduce the fat content to almost zero, feel free to use fat free versions of the ricotta cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. I've made it this way before and it tastes just as good using the fat free versions versus the reduced fat versions. Feel free to experiment with the topping as well. Cherries are good but a blueberry topping is fabulous, too.