Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Cake

One of the many great things to look forward to during summer in the Pacific Northwest Summer are berries, I mean all the berries, so many berries. First comes the anticipation of the Hood Strawberries, following suit blueberries, raspberries, marion berries, tay berries and black berries. Seriously, there is zero berry deprivation from June through September. I’m totally fine with that. Seeing how free time seems to be as abundant as berries these days I decided to whip up this delicious cake. The first run through I added chopped berries to the cake, it was good but wasn’t great. I decided to instead make a strawberry puree to swirl through with the addition some some chopped strawberries, that made for a really good cake. The great thing about a puree is that you could substitute almost any type of berry in the recipe. I’m thinking about going the marion berry route next time. This a pretty easy recipe to whip up and share with friends and family. Wouldn’t it be a great thing to drop a cake off on someones door step? I’ve been doing that a lot these days, or homemade jams, a stack of used books to pass along.

Speaking of books, I’ve had my nose in many for the past few months. Things that I’m reading or have recently read, House of Glass an amazing true story about a Jewish families survival of the Holocaust and their lives afterwards. Peace is Every Step everyone could use this one on their night stands, the world would be a pretty spectacular place if we could all practice these teachings. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee kept me up to the wee hours of the morning. I feel like we could all use a good escape from reality or just some positive words of encouragement right now. If you’re looking for a new read check these books out. If you have any good suggestions give me shout.

I hope everyones summer is going well and you are finding creative ways to fill your days and distract yourselves a little from our current reality. These are such trying times, I’m wishing you all good health to you and your loved ones. Bake a cake, have it for breakfast, take one to a friend, check in on people you care about.

Lx

Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups ricotta

zest of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon rose water (optional)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup chopped strawberries

Puree

1 cup chopped strawberries

1/4 cup sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Preparation

For the puree. Combine 1 cup chopped strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a low boil and cook until strawberries have broken down and mixture has thickened to a loose jam like consistency. Set aside and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9” round cake pan with parchment paper and coat with non stick cooking spray, I used a spring form pan. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing.

Whisk eggs, ricotta, lemon zest and rose water ( optional ) in a medium bowl until smooth, fold in dry ingredients just until blended. Fold in melted butter and 1/2 cup chopped strawberries. Scrape batter into prepared cake pan. Drop dollops of strawberry puree all around the top of the cake batter. Using a toothpick or slender knife gently swirl puree into cake batter.

Bake cake until golden brown and a tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes before unmolding.