Hey Everyone! So, I took a bit of a break from blogging, but, not from baking and crafting. If you follow me on Instagram or if you look down on the right hand side of this page you can see what I was up to during the holidays. How has the New Year been treating you? Hopefully good thus far. And for those of you who make resolutions, how’s it going? I may have mentioned this before, but, I don’t make resolutions. The way I see it, every day is a good day to set a goal or to make a change. So, for my first post of the New Year I bring you a Ricotta Pound Cake. Yeah, I know not too exciting, but, definitely a yummy treat nonetheless. It came about because I had about 2 cups of ricotta cheese in my fridge that was about to expire and I didn’t want to throw out.
This was a quick and easy pound cake to make. In one bowl I sifted together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) and in the bowl of my stand mixer I creamed together the ricotta, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla bean paste before incorporating the flour mixture into the mix. I then poured the batter into a 9-inch loaf pan that I sprayed with baking spray and baked it in a preheated oven for about 50 minutes.
And after letting it cool on a wire rack…
It was time to slice it and enjoy! This cake is definitely good for any time of the day… If you’re not into your typical breakfast foods it’s a nice accompaniment to your morning coffee or tea, as an afternoon snack or for dessert after dinner.
Ricotta Pound Cake
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract*
*I used vanilla bean paste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prep a 9-inch loaf pan by spraying it with baking spray or by greasing and flouring it.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in large bowl to using a hand mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta and the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next one. Add the vanilla.
On low speed, gradually add in the flour mixture. Once added, mix the batter for 30 seconds.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the batter.
Bake the cake on the center rack for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 325 F and bake for an additional 25-60 minutes. It will all depend on how wet the ricotta cheese is. The cake will be done when it springs back from touch and has slightly pulled away from the pan sides and a cake tested come out clean.
Cool the cake inside the pan for 15 minutes, before removing and letting it cool completely on wire rack before slicing.
Recipe from Epicurious
Bead Yarn & Spatula 