Sardinian Ricotta Cake

This is definitely the best plain cake I’ve ever tried, light and spongy with intense lemon flavor; the use of ricotta cheese in the batter provides a nice smooth texture and adds a little bit of richness to the cake. Delicious and so easy to make. The cake originates from Sardinia island in Italy, but I've found the recipe for it on Le Chou de bruxelles food blog in French here. Hope you’ll try it!!!

Sardinian Ricotta Cake
300 g flour
300 g sugar
300 g fresh ricotta cheese
3 eggs
1 lemon, zest and juice of
16 g (3.5 teaspoon )baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F)
2. Place ricotta and sugar in a large bowl. Crush with a fork until smooth and creamy.
3. Stir in egg yolks, lemon zest, flour and baking powder.
4. In a mixing bowl beat egg whites until stiff peak then gently fold them into the batter. (this might be a little difficult as the batter is rather thick if so add lemon juice)
5. Place the batter in 22 cm baking pan.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Print the recipe

Recipe in Polish:

Sardyńska babka z ricottą

Lemon White Chocolate and Pistachio Cake

This is a wonderful cake, light, tender and very moist. The sweet taste of white chocolate is a perfect complement to the refreshing flavor of the lemon. Besides, white chocolate pairs incredibly well with pistachios; It makes just a perfect combination of textures and flavors, elegant and absolutely delicious!!!

The inspiration for the cake comes from Chatelaine magazine, the August 2007 issue. In the original recipe (which you can find here), it was actually called a loaf and was made without chocolate at all. Since I wanted to make a cake rather than a bread, I decided to add some white chocolate to the recipe. It adds extra sweetness and provides a little bit of richness to the cake.

Note's to the recipe: I like pistachios with white chocolate most. If you aren’t into white chocolate much, you can use milk chocolate instead. If you decide to omit the chocolate completely, add 1/2 cup of sugar more to the batter for the right sweetness. This cake will keep well at room temperature 1 day, refrigerated up to a week or frozen up to 2 months. Enjoy!!!

Lemon White Chocolate and Pistachio Cake

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 lemon
1 cup (250 ml) coarsely chopped shelled pistachios
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar + 1/4 cup for the glaze
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup (150 ml) milk
100 g white chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease lightly a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl stir flour with baking powder and salt. Grate peel from lemon, then stir in. Coarsely chop nuts.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth.
4. Gradually beat in 1 cup (250 ml) sugar until well mixed, 2 minutes.
5. Gradually add the eggs and beat well until light and fluffy.
6. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk.
7. Add chocolate and nuts and mix until ingredients are just combined. Do not overmix.
8. Pour batter into pan, bake until deep golden brown and a cake tester or skewer inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, squeeze 3 tbsp (45 ml) juice from lemon into a small bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup (50 ml) sugar. It won't completely dissolve.
10. When loaf is baked, remove pan to a rack. Using a cake tester or skewer, immediately poke several holes in top of loaf. Brush or drizzle half of lemon glaze over hot loaf. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove the loaf. Carefully turn upside down. Evenly brush or drizzle remaining lemon glaze overtop.

Przepis po polsku:
Ciasto cytrynowe z białą czekoladą i pistacjami