Ricotta cake

• portionen: 10 servings

Zutaten

250g butter

250g golden caster sugar

4 large eggs

1 lemon grated zest and juice

50g ground almonds

175g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

500g ricotta

250g mascarpone

3lightly heaped tbsp icing sugar

2tsp finely grated lemon zest

2tsp finely grated orange zest

A few drops vanilla extract

250ml double cream

A little icing sugar to finish

Strawberries to serve

Anweisungen

You will need 2 x 20cm cake tins, preferably springform. Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Line the base of the cake tins with baking parchment. Drain the ricotta for the filling in a sieve over a bowl.

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar in a food mixer until truly light and fluffy. It should be very pale and creamy.

Beat the eggs lightly and add, a quarter at a time, to the butter and sugar. If they curdle, just keep beating, adding a little of the flour to bring the mixture together.

Add the lemon zest to the butter, reserving the juice. Mix together the ground almonds, flour and baking powder. Fold the flour and almonds into the mixture, then add the lemon juice. Spoon the mixture into the lined cake tins, smooth the top and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove, leave to settle for 5 minutes, and turn upside down on a rack.

Make the filling by putting the ricotta in the bowl of a food mixer with the mascarpone and icing sugar. Beat briefly to mix. In a separate bowl, softly whip the cream. Stop while it is still in soft folds, then fold gently into the ricotta.

When the cakes are thoroughly cool – don’t try to do this while they’re still warm – slice each into 2, horizontally. You will have 4 discs of cake. Place a bottom half of one of the cakes back in its tin, then spoon a third of the ricotta filling on top, smoothing it gently. Cover with a second layer of sponge and a second layer of the filling. Finish with a third sponge and a final layer of filling.

Reduce the remaining piece of cake to coarse crumbs by hand or in a food processor. Sprinkle two-thirds over the surface of the cake, reserving the rest, then cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Free the cake from its tin, dust lightly with icing sugar, press the reserved crumbs into the sides and serve with whole or sliced strawberries.