Is that good?
Is that good cake?
You're so cute, I can't take it!
Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale, on this episode of Laura in the Kitchen I want to share with
you how to make such a delicious, perfect for Spring and Summer Cake, it is an Italian
Ricotta and Lemon Cake, now I know that in every Italian household that I know personally
has their own version of this cake, Idon't want to say mine's the best but it is pretty
darn delicious, and it's really easy, Icall it a snack cake because it's not like a frosted
cake or a glazed cake, it's sort of along the lines of a coffee cake that you would
eat with an espresso or a coffee or some iced tea, it's just so delicious, you're going
to love it and I feel like because it's so bright and lemony it would be perfect for
any Spring occasion whether it be Mother's Day, Father's Day, anything really, but if
you love lemons as much as I do then this cake is for you!
Wow that rhymed!
Ha!
Let me get to the list of ingredients.
I've got some unsalted butter here that's softened, more than just softened, it was
sitting on the stove while the oven was pre-heating, I've got eggs, I've got granulated sugar,
I've got lemons, really good ricotta, I've got some vanilla extract and then in here,
Ihave a mixture of all purpose flour, salt, baking powder and ground almonds, now the
ground almonds are really non negotiable in this recipe, they are absolutely fantastic
and if you really want to amp up the almond flavor you can also add about a half of a
teaspoon of almond extract to this but I just feel like it overpowers things too much and
I really want the brightness of the lemon and the hint of vanilla to be the star of
this cake.
I have my oven preheated to 350 degrees F, I have a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish, any
baking dish will do that's been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with some non-stick
spray so I'm going to go ahead, rock on and get started.
In my large bowl, I've got my butter, I'm going to add my sugar, and using my handheld
elecric whisk I'm going ot combine the two together until well combined.
See how fluffy that looks?
That looks perfect, I'm going to add in the eggs, I'm going to let that continue to go,
also going to add - if Ican do this one handed, a good splash of vanilla at this point.
A good tablespoon, and that's going to mix, mix mix just for another minute or so, Iwant
the mixture to be really smooth and lovely, move this out of the way because it keeps
making noise.
Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally whenever you're working with
a handheld whisk or even a standing mixer, okay going back to work here.
That is perfect, we are going to set that aside, now what I'm going to work on is I'm
going to zest three lemons, and this is really lemony, and I'm going to get enough juice
to, I need about a third of a cup of lemon juice so usually about three lemons, so I'm
going to zest first then I'm going to juice them in this bowl, well in this measuring
cup here because I want to mix this mixture with the ricotta before I add it to anything
else.
I use my fork method to squeeze out all that lemon juice and I just do it over a sieve
so that it catches all the little pits there.
Beautiful.
Yep, we got about a third of a cup of juice!
Beautiful.
Set that aside, smells so good already.
I've got my mapeen here.
Can't love without my mapeen.
Now I'm going to add the ricotta filling, the ricotta mixture, the ricotta straight
to the lemon zest, mix the two together and that way it makes it kind of easier to incorporate,
yes I'm making a mess, I'm aware, but you know what, it's fine show me one cook that
doesn't make a mess from time to time, you know?
Plus I cook a lot so I feel like it's fine, it's fine, now here's where it's realy easy.
You combine the dry and the wet at the same time, you put in your dry mixture, already
mixed it all together anyway, and the ricotta lemon mixture.
And you're going to whisk this long enough to combine it all, but don't over whisk becuase
it really isn't necessary.
So whisk long enough to combine it, and I'll show you what it looks like when it's done,
I'll probably switch to a spatula towards the end to stir it all together.
This batter is really thick and gorgeous.
Just going to get it out of here.
Into there.
And you're going to spread this out as even as you can possibly get it.
And this is going to go into your preheated oven at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour until
it's completely cooked through, I just use a toothpick to check, if the toothpick comes
out clean, then it will be perfect.
Just get that in there.
Cake was in the oven for exactly 45 minutes, I took it out I let it cool completely, I've
got my sous chef here, not quite sure what her role is at this very moment except banging
a spatula on the counter.
I let it cool completely, now like Isaid this is not going to be your thick fluffy cake,
this is a really dense, Iwant to say gooey, but I don't mean like under cooked, I just
mean it's a very dense coffee cake like cake that's why it's called a snack cake, and I'm
going to cut this in little squares but you can also do this in a nine or ten inch spring
form pan if you want to maybe serve it as a whole on a sunday lunch or whatever.
Right?
Okay how about we cut this and then you can sprinkle all the sugar on top okay?
Good job!
Let's cut it again.
These are going to be really big squares, right?
Mommy cooking!
You are cooking!
How about, okay okay hold on let's get some big squares.
Okay and then we are going to sprinkle powdered sugar on top, does that sound good?
What do you think?
I'm cooking!
You'll be cooking in a minute!
Okay, you have to sprinkle these - you can see the texture inside, that's the texture
of a ricotta cake, that's so good.
You have to sprinkle these very liberally with some powdered sugar, it's part of the
recipe, Idon't know how to explain it but like you can't leave it out it just won't
taste the same, so now that we have them all here, here you want to help me?
No wait, wait wait, put this there.
Good!
Here's another one.
Good job!
Come on let's keep moving, move that down.
You've gotta sprinkle it really heavily with powdered sugar, Ijust refilled this baby so
it's like raining sugar.
I'm going to go for this one because I like a middle piece.
Cut this into a little square.
Can mommy eat a piece of cake?
Mmm.
Ha ha ha.
That's the best ricotta cake you'll ever have in your life.
High five!
It's yummy!
Mmm hmm.
Want it?
Mmm!!
That good?
Hmm?
Yummy cake!
Is it yummy cake?
Yummy, it's a yummy cake!
Don't take my word for it, it's a yummy cake!
Go to LauraintheKitchen.com for the written recipe, you have to make this cake because
it is a yummy cake.
Another one?
You still have it in your mouth that's okay.
LauraintheKitchen.com has the recipe written for you Ihope you have enjoyed spending time
with us, give me a hug.
Say bye bye!
Is that good?
That good cake?
You're so cute I can't take it!
[laughing]
You're so cute!