The lemon zest and fresh juice will fill your kitchen with a fresh citrus smell.
This is a great lite-tasting cake. I think that it would go very well with some fresh berries or hot chocolate. I found the cake was a little dry; next time I make it I plan to try doubling the amount of ricotta.
Lemon Ricotta Cake
From The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking by Carla Capalbo
Pictures by Caroline
Makes 6-8 servings
6 tbsp butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
generous, 1/3 cup ricotta (more if you want)
3 eggs, seperated
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
1. Grease a 9 inch round cake pan or springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper; grease the paper and dust with flour. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the ricotta (I used the 1/3 cup that the recipe called for, but the cake was a bit dry for my taste. Next time I am going to increase the amount of cheese.)
3. Beat in the yolks one at a time. Add 2 tbsp four, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Sift in the remaining flour and add the baking powder and beat until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold them carefully into the batter.
5. Pour the mixture into the greased pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Before serving generously dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar.
* I would also suggest topping this cake with a glaze.
Makes 6-8 servings
6 tbsp butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
generous, 1/3 cup ricotta (more if you want)
3 eggs, seperated
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
1. Grease a 9 inch round cake pan or springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper; grease the paper and dust with flour. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the ricotta (I used the 1/3 cup that the recipe called for, but the cake was a bit dry for my taste. Next time I am going to increase the amount of cheese.)
3. Beat in the yolks one at a time. Add 2 tbsp four, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Sift in the remaining flour and add the baking powder and beat until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold them carefully into the batter.
5. Pour the mixture into the greased pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Before serving generously dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar.
* I would also suggest topping this cake with a glaze.
-Caroline
7 comments:
That looks really yummy! I like the new blog.
looks yummy. Smell, will you make it for me? I think when I get home, i am going to eat a lot at your house hahahaha
Yum! It just so happens that I have all the necessary to make this recipe.
Preparing for a church event this evening, I used this recipe to make cupcakes. I nearly doubled the amount of ricotta, as recommended. That seems to have cured any issues of dryness. My own little chef, ACRL, declared that they are delicious. I should have doubled the recipe, as this made only enough to take to my church function, leaving no extras for home.
Looks and sounds delicious. I think it would be excellent with some raspberries on the side. Oh, I love lemon and rasps together!
P.S. These need every bit of the baking powder. Riding my success from last week, I decided to use the rest of my ricotta cheese and make another batch. Unfortunately, I was running very low on baking powder. I shook the last 1/2 teaspoon into the mixing bowl. Rather than light lemony cakes, I got flat hockey biscuits. Oh well.
Jessie:
Glad to hear the first batch went so well, sorry to hear about the second batch. One thing I find with baking is that it is important to measure and include things like baking powder. You can't get away with guessing on measurements as much as you can when you are cooking.
-Caroline, twolittlechefs
Post a Comment