Homey - I almost never post on this forum but I'll help you out. Ricotta can make a great cheesecake. You can simply bake ricotta actually, and don't even call it a "cake". The texture will not be smooth like with Philadelphia Cream Cheese. You can use a crust that's kind of a pate sucree - mix together some butter, flour and sugar and add an egg or two. Can incorporate crushed nuts of some sort if you want. Bake it a bit before putting in the filling - many people don't do that but they should. Matter of fact, do that with the graham cracker crust too - if you put a wet filling on an unbaked crust, the crust will never quite cook right. But be careful - it will burn fast so watch it. When you're making a cheesecake, what you're really making is a custard. You thicken a custard with eggs. When the temp gets hot enough to change the proteins of the eggs, they solidify and that's why your custard hardens. Exactly the same thing you do with flan, etc. So when you cook it, don't leave it in the oven until it's completely done. Take it out or stop cooking it when the center is still kind of gooey - the internal temp of the custard will finish the cooking itself. If you cook until done completely, you'll end up with an overcooked cheesecake and it won't be smooth. You don't have to use Philadelphia cream cheese obviously, and the better the cheese, the better the finished product. You can actually make your own and it will be delicious. Get some good yogurt, or make your own yogurt, and strain it well. That's essentially cream cheese - the commercial version adds a lot of starch and stabilizers, but the original is very common in the Middle East, Greece, and France. Whatever you use, if you whip the batter and incorporate a lot of air, you'll end up with a kind of souffle that will rise and sink, so it's better to mix by hand or with minimal help from the food processor or whatever else you're using. As always, don't worry about specific measurements in your cooking. As a rule of thumb, if you use those 8 oz packages of cheese, use one egg per package and a tablespoon of sugar. If you like it sweeter, use a bit more sugar or honey or maple syrup or whatever. Also add a pinch of salt and maybe a few drops of vanilla. From there, you can go anywhere. When they're in season, I add blueberries or raspberries or strawberries, etc. Or peaches, which are wonderful. You can put in a food processor or put in chunks. For the holidays, add pumpkin - baked not canned because it's less watery, and add some cinnamon, cloves, ginger, etc. Or dice up a jalapeno really fine and incorporate that. Or burnt butter or a banana or melted chocolate or peanut butter. You don't need a "recipe" for any of those - just add what you feel will work. It's the ratio of liquid to egg and the cooking time that is going to make the difference in your final product. You don't need to add sour cream, and I wouldn't. Or you can make a savory cheesecake - forego the sugar and add chunks of blue cheese, mushrooms, herbs, or whatever. It's essentially a kind of quiche at that point. What you should NOT do is use condensed milk. That's way too sweet and has a grainy texture that's horrid. If you want something similar, make dulce de leche or confiture du lait - you can do it in a crock pot. Use about 1/2 cup of sugar for every 2 cups of milk and add about a quarter spoon of salt. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down way low and simmer until it's reduced to a fraction of what it was. You decide how thick you want it. Good luck and happy baking!

I've done a little gluten free baking, and I've had some times where the loaves are reasonable looking, and others where they were mishapen. I think it helps to beat the batter longer. But I also think it is very difficult to produce a gluten free loaf that really looks like a wheat-based loaf. They just aren't as pretty and don't rise as high. I only eat GF bread occasionally--and usually just as toast. I haven't made a loaf that I could really use very well for sandwiches. I think the foccacia or wrap recipes work better. There may be more experienced GF bakers who will have tips on getting better results, and I would be grateful to hear them too!

I, for one, admire your quest to learn And try new recipes! Have you tried this one from Paula Deen? Several folks here discredit her, But I have found a number of her dishes To be very good! Pretty much simple, "down home" fare. CORN PUDDING CASSEROLE (Paula Deen) By Southern Lady on November 25, 2012 Prep Time: 8 mins Total Time: 58 mins Servings: 9-12 About This Recipe "Five Star, 1457 ratings on Food Network. NO EGGS, SIMPLE, AND DELISH!! Can't get any easier! Served at Thanksgiving and was a hit with the many cooks and guests. This is a pudding, not a souffle. Butter and cheese. . . . .doesn't the scream Paula Deen?" Ingredients 1 (15 1/4 ounce) cans whole kernel corn, drained 1 (14 3/4 ounce) cans cream-style corn 1 (8 ounce) packages corn muffin mix ( recommended -- Jiffy) 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 -1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese . Directions 1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2.In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. 3.Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. 4.Remove from oven and top with Cheddar. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. 5.Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm. Rusty

I have had both good and bad pumpkin cheesecake. It is BF's favorite, so he makes it every year. I have made it too. I use the Cooking Light recipe. But anyhoo, the best pumpkin cheesecake I ever had was at a friends house who is something of a gourmet. She got the recipe from Cooks Illustrated. The secret was draining/drying the canned pumpkin, which I have done. I did mine with paper towels. It somehow makes the pumpkin less bitter. Here's a copy of Chris Kimball's directions: Spiced Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake �" 'The Squeeze Job' Many people have turned to making pumpkin cheesecake instead of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. And while Kimball recommends using pumpkin from a can instead of roasting your own, he also warns against a common, and serious, flaw in the store-bought variety. "The problem is, it has a lot of moisture in it, and you don't want that extra moisture in your cheesecake," Kimball says, "because it ruins your cheesecake. So, what do you do?" "The secret," Kimball says, "is the way we wick away the moisture." His technique calls for putting a triple layer of paper towels onto a baking sheet �" one that has sides, to catch the eventual runoff. The pumpkin goes from the can right onto the towels, where it's smeared around. "This is a great thing for kids," Kimball says. "They can make a big mess." Then Kimball puts more towels on top, and folds the whole thing in half, then folds again. As he does, he's patting the bundle, squeezing water and moisture out. Then he flips it over, and carefully peels back the top layer of paper. "This looks like one of those fruit rollups, doesn't it?" Kimball says. Repeatedly flipping the bundle and peeling back the top layer of paper, Kimball eventually uncovers the pumpkin mash �" now much denser and ready to be combined with the cream cheese, which he recommends taking out of the refrigerator at least one to two hours ahead of time. In another tip, Kimball says to use spices like cinnamon and allspice sparingly. But his recipe also uses plenty of white sugar and heavy cream. "There's no stinting," Kimball says. "Stinting is not a verb that's used at Thanksgiving. Absolutely not." When all is ready, he reveals the next trick to the cheesecake: baking it in a springform pan that sits in a water bath, so the entire cheesecake cooks evenly.