Comments on: dolce italiano contest: ricotta pound cake

By: Ricotta Fresca or Fresh Ricotta - Three Recipes with Ricotta Fresca or Fresh Ricotta | Bleeding Espresso

Wed, 27 May 2009 06:23:03 +0000

[...] this a couple years ago? It’s still one of my favorite cakes, and you can find the recipe here. [...]

By: kathy

kathy — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:17:46 +0000

im dying to try this and there is an italian supermaket near me that makes fresh ricotta, it usually has quite a bit of liquid, do i drain this off first or does that give the cake the added moisture ?

I would use it unless it really seems like too much to add. Does that help at all? Hmm….

By: Recipe Exchange » Blog Archive » Ricotta pound cake recipe has Italian flair

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:42:52 +0000

[...] recipe comes recommended by a blog reader who goes by the name of Nupur: “I tried this ricotta pound [...]

By: The Left Over Queen » Blog Archive » O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest!

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:24:06 +0000

[...] of you may remember last year’s Dolce Italiano contest to spread the word about the wonderful cookbook by the 2008 Bon Appetit award-winner for best [...]

By: Bleeding Espresso » o foods for ovarian cancer awareness month contest

Bleeding Espresso » o foods for ovarian cancer awareness month contest — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:39:17 +0000

[...] of you may remember last year’s Dolce Italiano contest to spread the word about the wonderful cookbook by the 2008 Bon Appetit award-winner for best [...]

By: jaci

jaci — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:50:52 +0000

im going to try this out on my italian learning class- can i check a couple of things first thou- is that three quarters of a cup of butter, and how long on 180? i dont want to spoil it. x

Yes 3/4 cup of butter and on about 180 degrees Celsius, this cake takes at least an hour, but it’s best if you keep an eye on it b/c oven temps and times vary; just reading some of the comments here you can see that people had different experiences with how long to bake it.

By: sognatrice

sognatrice — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:43:00 +0000

*Sara, good point about the pan. Sorry to hear you weren’t impressed with the new ricotta; to be honest, I *never* used ricotta in America, and it’s probably why I never really liked lasagna there since everyone seemed to put it in. I just didn’t see the point. Here though, I can eat it by the little log roll in the summer especially. YUM!

Sorry about the ass thing. Mine empathizes especially since P doesn’t do sweets….

By: saraarts

saraarts — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:38:00 +0000

Also, it occurs to me that she might not be using a pyrex loaf pan, as I do habitually. Maybe she uses something much less insulating, like metal.

And no, I don’t really think she’s on crack. hee hee But yes, a professional oven is a very different thing than a home oven in an ordinary (not rich) household. (I’m just thrilled ours is gas, not electric, since we rent and have no control over this.)

Very good point about the ricotta flavor. The best I’ve ever had is — get this — Calabria brand organic! (It comes in sealed plastic tubs, but it’s still even better than any fresh organic that I’ve tasted in this country.) Unfortunately, the stuff I used for this recipe was new to me, the new Organic Valley brand ricotta, which I know means not a lot to you but, for other North America-dwellers, I have to confess that I found just not that impressive. (And that’s disappointing, because I am a big fan of Organic Valley generally, esp. their butter.)

Anyway, it was a worthy experiment, and it’s not like I regret the exercise, though it is bound to grow my ass a little more. ‘Cause it’s also not like we’re throwing away the results, you know?

Cheers!

By: sognatrice

sognatrice — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:48:00 +0000

*Sara, thank you for your dedication! I really did like the texture and flavor of this cake, didn’t find it bland at all–perhaps the quality of the ricotta has something to do with it because I’ve had some really bland ricotta and really tasty ricotta (like what I used). And perhaps I’m just used to *really* bland pound cake (I’m not normally a fan at all), so the fact that this had flavor was huge for me.

As for Gina’s being on crack, well I don’t *think* she is, but I do know that she has access to a pretty powerful oven at Babbo, which may account for the difference unless it was a typo or something. I am somewhat relieved, though, I have to say, to hear that I’m not the only one whose cake took a while longer than the directions. After the first 15 minutes, mine got so brown around the edges, I was nervous that it would burn by the end, so I was just happy that it eventually baked through and wasn’t dried out anywhere.

Thanks for playing along *and* reporting back

By: saraarts

saraarts — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:08:00 +0000

Reporting back after having made The Cake:

1. Not crazy about the texture. I have a better basic recipe that uses sour cream and even comes out nicer than this when I use reduced fat sour cream, as is my wont.

2. Not crazy about the blandness, so I did what I said and added 1 T freshly grated lemon peel and ½ t (should have made it 1 t) nutmeg. Also used salted butter, a whole vanilla bean, and a T alcohol-free vanilla flavoring. Excellent flavor resulted. (I did try the batter first her way, but it was just too nothing for me. I like a little more complexity, I'm afraid.)

3. That thing about the timing? Yeah, the girl's on crack. My regular pound cake recipe takes 90 minutes in the oven at 325°F. This recipe took 15 minutes at 350°F and then an hour at 325°F.

It's not your ricotta. That's how long pound cake takes.

It sure did pop right out of the baking dish, and it is moist and delicious. I probably won't make it again, though. It didn't overwhelm me with joy. Still it was fun to try, so thank you again!