Strawberry Ricotta Cake
I’m not usually a very fancy baker. When making desserts I definitely tend towards the rustic. A jam-filled crostata is my go to dessert, especially when I’m having people over here in Umbria. But when I wrote The Italian Table I realized I would have to include at least a few desserts that were out of my comfort zone.
One of my favorite recipes from the book is the fruit-topped cake that I had over and over again at Masseria Potenti in Puglia. The version in the book is topped with figs and is (in my opinion) the perfect cake all day long. At Masseria Potenti they put it out as part of the breakfast buffet (because in Italy cake for breakfast is a totally normal thing). But I love it in the afternoon with a cup of espresso, and for dessert after dinner with whipped cream or gelato.
The version in my book calls for just a bit of milk in the batter, but I also love a richer version of this cake from Ina Garten, that calls for a full cup of ricotta. And since I happened to have ricotta on hand this week, I went for Ina’s version.
And since we are nowhere near fig season I dove into the pints of strawberries Sophie has picked up at this week’s market and I have to say that I think I like this version even better than the fig one
Strawberry and Ricotta Cake
Prep 20 mins
Cook 40 mins
Total 60 mins
Yield 8
This recipe is based on one by Ina Garten. While hers calls for figs, I used strawberries. Any juicy soft fruit will do: plums, peaches or even kiwis.
Ingredients
1¼ sticks/ 140 gr unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup fresh whole milk ricotta
2 tablespoons whole fat plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated lemon zest (from one lemon)
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12-14 large strawberries, stem removed and cut in half
2 tablespoons light brown granulated sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C.
Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan
If you have a stand mixer it makes things easier.
Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one in.
Next add the ricotta and the yogurt and mix well.
Mix the dry ingredients together, then add them to the wet mixture, just folding them in until mixed. Don’t over beat.
Pour the dough into buttered cake tin, and level it out with a spoon. Place the strawberries on top of the batter, cut side up, pressing them in a bit. Sprinkle the cake with the sugar and bake for 40 minutes.
Let cool, remove from pan and serve with whipped cream or creme fraiche.
This recipe is adapted from one by Ina Garten.
If you don’t have any ricotta, there is a similar recipe in my book The Italian Table, which uses milk instead. You can find that recipe here.
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