Haberfield Taste Off: Ricotta cheesecake

I've been hearing a lot about the ricotta cheesecakes that can be had in Haberfield recently. On Saturday I decided to walk across to the not too far away suburb and conduct my own taste test.

Pasticceria Papa - $4 a slice

First up was the famous ricotta cheesecake from Pasticceria Papa. This is a cake that lets the ricotta do the talking. It's rich and luscious as you'd expect. They'd managed to get some air into the ricotta preventing it from feeling too dense. Apart from a slight sprinkling of cinnamon on the top there weren't any additional flavours added to the cheesecake. The ricotta had a nice mild flavour.

Sulfaro - $4 a slice

The contender from Sulfaro was as different as you could get form a cheesecake that looked almost identical! The initial flavour I got was mildly coffee/liquor like, with a definite finish of cinnamon. I blame my tasting partner for mentioning tiramisu just before I took my first bite and potentially seeding ideas in my mind. She didn't get the coffee/liquor, but I'm convinced there was an initial flavour there. The cinnamon finish was in no doubt.

Despite the additional flavours the taste of the cheese still came through. The ricotta was more dense than in the Papas cheesecake resulting in a slightly heavier cake. Although it should be said neither could be described as light.

My vote would be for the Sulfaro cheesecake. I found the Papas cake, as good as it was, a bit one dimensional by the end of the slice. I preferred the additional dimensions of cinnamon and, my perhaps made up, tiramisu notes.

Pasticceria Papa:


Sulfaro: