Louisa’s Ricotta Cake

If you use the Scardillo Italian Style Ricotta Cheese that I recommended for the ricotta gnocchi, you will find that there will be about 1 cup of cheese remaining after making the gnocchi. You will not have to wonder any longer what to do with the leftover cheese if you check out the Food52 website here where you will find a ton of ideas from savoury to sweet. It made me think of Iron Chefs and how many different ways they think of to use one ingredient. Bravo to Food52 for using healthy ricotta cheese for one of their contests. I am eager to try many of them over the next while but here is the winner of the contest, with two adjustments that I have made: less sugar, and raspberry sauce to accompany it.

9 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
pinch salt
1 c. fresh ricotta cheese
zest of 1 lemon
1 T. baking powder
1 apple, peeled and grated (about 1 cup)
Powdered sugar for serving
Raspberry Sauce for serving

Heat the oven to 400º. Butter and flour a 9 or 10-inch spring form pan. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly add the flour, salt, ricotta, lemon zest, baking powder and apple. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for about 40 minutes (but watch after 30 minutes, the time will depend on the size of your pan and your oven. I used a 9″ pan and it took 40 minutes in my oven) until the cake is golden brown and the sides start to pull away from the pan. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out of the pan and cool completely on a rack. Sift powdered sugar over top and serve with raspberry sauce. Serves 6.

Raspberry Sauce
2 c. frozen raspberries
sugar to taste

Put frozen berries in a small pot, cover and cook over medium heat, until berries soften. Purée in a food processor, then strain into a bowl. While still warm, add sugar to taste. Pour purée into a plastic squeeze bottle and refrigerate until ready to use. Keeps several days in the refrigerator.