Rhubarb (or Any Fruit Really!) and Ricotta Cake
Welcome to another edition of Comestible Kitchen Club, in which we offer up recipes and virtually gather together in our kitchens. Today, Molly Reeder is bringing us a recipe for ricotta cake, which she made with leftover ricotta from last week’s recipe for imeruli khachapuri. Since rhubarb is just coming into season, it felt like the perfect match.
We hope that you take a little time this week to make cake, with rhubarb, or any other renditions that you see fit.
Rhubarb (or Any Fruit Really!) and Ricotta Cake
By Molly Reeder
I personally found the rhubarb a nice but slightly bitter contrast to the cake. It could really work with any stone fruit or berry too if rhubarb is hard to come by. Also, you could add in some herbs like rosemary or thyme or even orange blossom water to the batter would be really nice.
The texture of the cake is so light and fluffy, while still feeling rich and satisfying.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (6.5 ounces/180 grams) all purpose flour
1 cup (7 ounces, 200 grams) sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup (10 ounces, 285 grams) ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter (113 grams/ 1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup berries or a few stalks of rhubarb or stone fruit of your choosing (peaches, plums, apricots)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 orange, zest and juice
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease a 9-inch springform pan. Line the pan with a circle of parchment paper.
If using stone fruit or rhubarb, slice the fruit into thin attractive looking slices. These will be laid on top of the cake. Put all of your fruit into a bowl, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar, the zest of an orange (I used a blood orange for this) plus all of the juice from that orange. Mix the fruit with the sugar and juice well, and let it sit and macerate in the juices while you prepare the rest of the cake.
*If using berries, you only need to sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar, and gently mix together so you do not smush or bruise them too much.
In a clean bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the ricotta, eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Pour this wet mixture into the flour mixture and mix until almost entirely mixed through, then pour in the melted butter and fold it into the batter.
Once it is thoroughly combined, pour it into your greased cake pan, making the top as flat and smooth as possible. Take your fruit and make a fun pattern by pressing it gently into the top of the cake batter.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick goes through clean, and a light push of your finger on the center of the cake springs back.
Let cool, serve with nice yogurt or whipped cream and a quarantine buddy!
Comestible Kitchen Club is an ongoing baking and cooking endeavor to keep us virtually connected to each other through food. Every Monday, we will post a new recipe here that one of us has chosen (and maybe you’ll consider submitting one down the line!). You’ll have the rest of the week to make it and then post and share your creation/experience/ideas with others using the hashtag #comestiblekitchenclub. We’ll choose a few favorites to feature here and on social media.
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