This baklawa and Lebanese ricotta cheesecake is one of my favorite fusion recipes.
I tried so many versions of this recipe before settling on this recipe that I am sharing with you today.
I made the crust with filo pastry and nuts mix filling exactly like we do our traditional baklawa recipes. And I prepared the filling with a traditional Lebanese cheese called arishee that is very similar to unsalted ricotta. A rich mixture of Lebanese aromas made this cheesecake super authentic. And the honey syrup is just the cherry on top of all this deliciousness.
You will find a lot of similar recipes out there but I can guarantee you that you won’t find anyone like my baklawa and Lebanese ricotta cheesecake recipe!
It is authentic and rich in middle-eastern flavors. What makes the cheesecake recipe even more special is that it is easy and simple to make. Despite her sophisticated look it is very easy to prepare no matter how new you are in the kitchen. And the ingredients are also simple to find. You can find Lebanese special ingredients in the grocery store in the middle-eastern section.
This Baklawa and Lebanese ricotta cheesecake is a perfect colorful dessert for this holiday season.
And it is a perfect make-ahead kind of recipe, you can prepare it the night before and let the flavors intensify in the fridge while you get busy preparing your Christmas dinner.
Ingredients substitions
I mentioned a few substitutions you can use in this recipe that I tried and tested. I highly recommend you don’t substitute any of the ingredients other than the ones mentioned in my recipe below to have the same great result. Read the full recipe below along with the notes before starting your recipe to make sure you have everything ready including the right baking pan before starting. And it is essential you follow the same steps as in the recipe.
If you are interested in more occasions recipes for this holiday season check my collection for occasions recipes here.
For similar sweets make sure you check my super twisted Lebanese fruit cocktail with rose water ashta cream.
and for more delicious similar recipes you can check my delicious no-bake cheesecake, or my other super healthy ricotta recipes like my ricotta pumpkin lasagna rolls, my latest fall squash ricotta pasta with crunchy walnuts .
Lebanese baklawa and ashta cheesecake
Equipment
- 22 cm springform pan
Ingredients
For the honey syrup:
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 5 mastic grains grinded into powder
- 1 leave fresh geranium
For the crust:
- 10 sheets filo pastry 250g
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp extra virgin oil
- 150 g mixed chopped nuts almonds, walnuts, pistachio
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp rose water
- 1 tsp flower blossom water
- 2 tbsp of the honey syrup
For the ashta filling:
- 500 g arisheh cheese or no salt ricotta cheese, at room temperature (see notes)
- 300 g cream cheese at room temperature (see notes)
- 3 medium eggs at room temperature
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp rose water
- 1 tsp flower blossom water
- 60 ml fresh lemon juice 1 ½ lemon approx.
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 2 tbsp water
For garnish: optional as in the picture
- Extra chopped nuts
- Dry rose petals
- Geranium leaves
- Lebanese cotton candy ghazel el banet
Instructions
First, we start with the honey syrup so it has time to cool:
- Place all the syrup ingredients in a pan and whisk till combined. Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat. After it start boiling reduce the heat and keep stirring for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the geranium leave and set the syrup aside to cool
Second, we prepare our crust:
- Preheat oven on 180 C° and grease a 22 cm springform pan generously with butter.
- Make sure your filo pastry sheets are fully defrosted before rolling open. Lay the sheets between two damp clean towels to keep them moist while you are assembling the crust.
- Cut your sheets into 20 cm square that fits the diameter of your cheesecake pan. If you are using a bigger pan change the dimensions accordingly.
- After brushing your pan and preparing your sheets, start by adding 1 sheet to the pan than brush it with butter. Don’t drench the sheet with butter just make sure it just covered. Lay another sheet of filo on top and brush it again with butter. Spread some of the nuts mixture on top until you fully covered the sheet. Top it with another sheet if filo and repeat the whole process: 1 filo sheet, butter, filo sheet, butter, nut mixture.
- Finish off over the last layer of nuts with one layer of filo than butter than one layer of filo to seal the crust.
- Trim and clean the edges as you like, I like to keep some of the messy sheets coming out of the pan edges but you can trim as clean as you like.
- Bake your crust for 7 minutes to set before adding the filling. Let it cool down while we prepare our filling.
For the arisheh cream filling:
- After you baked your crust. Lower the heat in oven for 150 C°.
- In a deep mixing bowl, gently whisk together the arisheh cheese cream, cream cheese, eggs and sugar until smooth. add the lemon juice and whisk till combined. Add the rose water and flower blossom water and whisk. Mix aside the water and corn flour and add to your filling mixture.
- After the crust has cooled down for a bit. Gently pour your filling on top and smooth the surface with the spatula. Add your cheesecake pan inside a bigger pan and fill the pan with water until it reached the middle of the pan edge. To create a water bath for the cheesecake while baking.
- Gently put inside the oven and bake on the low heat for 1 hour. The edges of the cheesecake will look set and the center will look slightly jiggly. Turn off the oven at that point and the cheesecake cool inside the oven with door slightly open for around 15 minutes until it is not to hot to touch. Remove from the oven and pour over the honey syrup in a circle motion focusing on the edge so it can soak better.
- Put your cheesecake pan in the fridge and let it rest and set for 3 hours up to overnight.
Assembly and serving:
- Prepare some extra honey syrup for serving. Just before serving garnish your cheesecake. Cut into pieces and enjoy!
Notes
- Lebanese arishee cheese: the arishee cheese is a type of ricotta cheese made from milk and lemon juice. Here in the middle east, it is easy to find in supermarkets. I use this brand. but it can be easily replaced with normal unsalted ricotta cheese. And you can also quickly prepare it at home by adding 1/3 cup of lemon juice to 1 liter of steaming milk. When the milk starts to curdle and develop big lumps remove with a strainer and let it drain in a cheese close for a couple of hours.
- Cream cheese: you can use any kind of cream cheese you like, but after many trials, my favorite cheese for this cheesecake is the “KIRI squares” click here to check which one I am using.
- Honey syrup: you can use normal sugar syrup instead of honey syrup or what we called in Lebanon water.
- Storage: I like to prepare this cheesecake a day before serving and let it soak and sit in the fridge overnight to enhance all the flavors. After cutting you can store any leftovers in a closed container in the fridge for up to 2 days only.
- Springform pan: I never tried to prepare this cheesecake with a different kind of pan. So I highly recommend using a 22 cm springform pan, I love the pan that use you can check it out here.