Ricotta and berry cake

This is a cross between a cheese cake and a butter cake, combining the best of both. It’s a very moist and light cake dotted with fresh berries and scented with lemon zest. I saw the recipe in Bon Appetite and marked it to make when the need arise, and it has.

I like the look and aroma of a freshly baked cake on the kitchen counter inviting you to slice a piece and enjoy with a cup of tea or on its own. If you serve it with berry sauce or whipped cream it would make a nice dessert.

As often is the case I didn’t have the exact ingredients that the recipe called for and substituted with others. Instead of frozen raspberries I used fresh blackberries and sliced them in 2-3 pieces each so they were not too heavy and remained suspended in the batter.

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Ingredients:

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1.5 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1.5 cups ricotta

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup butter, melted

Grated zest of a small lemon

1 cup fresh raspberries or blackberries. If you use blackberries slice them into 2-3 pieces

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Directions:

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Preheat oven to 350F and butter or spray with non-stick oil a 9″ round cake pan with a removable bottom.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl

In another bowl whisk eggs, ricotta, vanilla and lemon zest.

Add ricotta-egg mixture to the flour mixture only until; incorporated, then add butter.

Gently mix in 2/3 of the berries, then pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Scatter the remaining berries on top.

Bake for about 50-60 minutes. You can inset a knife into the cake to check if it is done. The knife should come out without batter clinging to it.

Let the cake cool in the pan before removing it.

Store covered at room temperature.

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