Ricotta Pound Cake

When I was little, my aunt Stacy would throw Valentine's Day tea parties for my cousins and their friends. They were always so much fun. We tried to act fancy as if we were British or something, ha! To this day I smile at the idea of tea parties, or having tea with someone. It reminds me of this. Well, being in the middle of midterms, I wasn't about to throw a Valentine's Tea this year, but in the spirit of vday I made something that pairs perfectly with tea- a Ricotta Pound Cake. I'm so glad I stumbled across this recipe on Food Gawker. God Bless whoever started the gawker websites. If you're ever feeling uninspired, just go look at one of those and your eyes will be opened. Anyway this recipe comes from the blog My Kitchen In The Rockies.

More please!

This pound cake is one of the best I've ever had. It's moist, it's flavorful and pretty easy, too. The original recipe calls for whole milk ricotta which I felt guilty buying. I think the cake would do fine with part-skim because it was super moist with the whole milk ricotta, almost too moist. The 2 or 3 slices from the middle of the cake were doughy in the middle, but I couldn't bake it more- one, because it had already cooled and you can't really go back after, and two because the outsides were already perfectly browned. I didn't want to burn it! Other than using part-skim ricotta, my other note would be to add lemon juice and zest. Lemon in vanilla based things is perfect, it adds a little bit of brightness that the final product might otherwise be lacking. I still had those meyer lemons my boss had given me that I used in my Lentil Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit. I used the zest of one medium sized lemon, and about a tablespoon of the juice. I resisted the urge to put a little almond extract in these, it was tough, but I made it through. If I keep putting almond in everything I'll be known as the almond lady. Could that be worse than being the bag lady?

Always let it cool completely or the bottom wont come
out of the pan! Unfortunately, I know this from experience.

Ricotta Pound Cake

Makes 1 loaf pan

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup fresh whole-milk ricotta
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and place rack in center. Grease and flour 9-inch loaf pan.

1. In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, ricotta, and sugar until smooth and light.  Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl after each addition.
3. Split a vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the blunt side of a small knife, then beat them into the batter along with the vanilla extract. If you don't have one, just use another teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
4. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients to combine them, scrape down sides of the bowl, and beat the batter for 30 seconds on medium.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula. Tap pan on counter a few times to remove air pockets.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 60 minutes. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert it on wire rack to cool completely. Do not slice until completely cooled. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.

**My cousin (more like my sister) just gave me the idea of using this in a trifle. My aunt (her mom) makes a trifle out of a cubed Sarah Lee pound cake, layered in a trifle dish or a big glass bowl with sliced strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Pound cake, strawberries, whipped cream, repeat, repeat, repeat. She's right though this would be fantastic. If you want to stick with a lemon theme you could also fold a little bit of lemon curd into the whipped cream. In the summer you could do a berry mixture, peaches, mangoes, whatever you like!

Enjoy!