Fresh ricotta will always make me think back to my first trip to Sicily. A group of us were lucky enough to spend a glorious week in the coastal town of Cefalù where we ate and drank our way around the island on the back of scooters. Some of my favourite local sweets there were made with fresh ricotta. To this day indulging in these still brings back memories of our decadent and carefree time in the Italian sun. One of my favourites is this heavenly moist ricotta, almond and lemon cake. This recipe is the closest to what I could find to the authentic version I had in Sicily, and is based on a recipe by Manuela Darling-Gansser from her book Four Seasons (as published on SBS Food).
Ricotta Lemon Almond Cake
Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
250g caster sugar
6 medium eggs, separated
250g almonds, ground
75g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
grated zest of 4 lemons
juice of 4 lemons
400g fresh ricotta
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Butter a 25-30cm cake tin.
- Add the butter and sugar into a bowl or electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg yolks and mix until combined.
- Combine the ground almonds, flour, salt and lemon zest and fold into the butter and sugar mixture.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the lemon juice and ricotta to a light and airy consistency then fold into the above batter.
- Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and fold carefully into the batter.
- Pour into the cake tin and place into the oven to bake for 50 minutes to an hour. The cake will be done if you insert a skewer in the middle and it comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven once ready and turn it out onto a cake rack to cool.
- Enjoy straight away dressed with a sprinkling of icing sugar and a dollop of clotted cream and pair it up with a glass of marsala for afternoon tea or dessert. Otherwise keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay moist for a few days.
