Italian Chocolate And Ricotta Cake Food

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE AND RICOTTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
• Whisk ricotta cheese and sugar together in a large bowl. Whisk in eggs one at a time until well combined.
• Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl; sift into ricotta mixture. Mix until batter is well combined and no dry spots remain. Add chopped chocolate, melted butter, and vanilla extract; stir until batter is smooth. Spoon batter into prepared cake pan (batter will be very thick).
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before serving.

SICILIAN CASSATA: RICOTTA CAKE

Steps:

• Place the ricotta into a fine mesh sieve and nestle this over a bowl, place into the refrigerator overnight to allow the excess moisture to drain out before proceeding with the cassata recipe.
• Place the ricotta into the bowl of a mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until the curds smooth out. Mix the drained and beaten ricotta with 1 cup powdered sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, chocolate chips and half the candied fruit. Set aside.
• Lightly oil a 10-inch springform pan with canola oil. Slice the sponge cake very thinly so that the springform may be lined with it in an even layer. Line the sides and bottom of the pan with the sponge cake. Pour the ricotta filling into the cake-lined pan. Place a final layer of cake over the ricotta filling; this now creates the bottom to the cassata. Before serving, the cassata will be inverted onto this cake bottom. Refrigerate the cassata overnight to firm the filling.
• Invert the springform pan on a wide platter. Open the hinge and remove the springform sides and bottom.
• The cassata may now be finished by either covering with a heavy coating of the remaining powdered sugar or may be coated with a thin layer of green marzipan. Either way, the remaining candied fruits should be used to decorate the finished cassata. Slice thinly and serve.

CHOCOLATE-RICOTTA PIE

Steps:

• Blend the flour, cornmeal, 3/4 cup pine nuts, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse, just until the dough forms. Press the dough over the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of an 11-inch-diameter tart pan with a removable bottom. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line the tart dough with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the tart shell in the lower third of the oven until just set, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and pie weights. Bake the shell until golden, about 10 minutes longer. Cool completely.
• Combine the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar with 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Cool the sugar syrup slightly.
• In a double boiler, melt the chocolate over very softly simmering water.
• Pulse the ricotta cheese and cream cheese in a food processor until smooth. Add the egg and egg yolks, 1 at a time, and process until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and process until combined. With the machine running, add the sugar syrup in a thin steady stream and process until smooth.
• Pour the custard into the tart shell and bake until the filling is almost set, about 30 minutes or until the custard has set. Scatter the remaining 3/4 cup toasted pine nuts on top of the filling. Let the tart cool completely before serving.
• The tart can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Return the tart to room temperature before serving.

RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 320°.
• Grease and flour a 9" springform pan.
• For the crust, in a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, egg, milk and grappa, if used.
• Add the slices of cold butter to the mixture working it in gently, but not so much that everything blends together.
• Take half the crust mixture and press it gently into the bottom of the pan.
• In a medium size bowl, mix the ricotta and sugar well.
• Add the chocolate chips mix again.
• Spread the filling evenly over the top of the crust.
• Crumble the remaining crust mix over the top of the filling.
• During the baking process the butter melts to form a nice crust.
• Bake 50 to 60 minutes.

RICOTTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Grease and flour 9x13 pan.
• Follow cake mix direction and pour into prepared pan.
• Mix ricotta, vanilla and sugar until well blended with hand mixer.
• Place by spoonfuls on top of batter as close together and evenly as possible.
• Bake for 25 mins and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture and continue to bake until toothpick comes out clean,about 15-20 more minutes.
• The ricotta will be on the bottom and the nice moist cake on the top.
• ENJOY!

ITALIAN RICOTTA CAKE

Steps:

• Cream butter and gradually add sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, while continuing beating. Add brandy. Add flour and baking powder. Mix into a dough until the consistency is like Play-Doh®. Press dough into a greased and floured 9x13-inch pan. Refrigerate for 2 1/2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat ricotta cheese in a large bowl 4 to 5 minutes on high speed. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add sugar and heavy cream and beat until blended. Fold in egg whites.
• Spoon 1/2 of the mixture into the crust. Sprinkle 1/2 of the zests and 1/2 of the cinnamon on top. Repeat with remaining filling, zest, and cinnamon.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and let cake cool in the oven for 2 hours. Remove from the oven and chill completely before serving.