Plum, orange and ricotta cake with almonds: jump to recipe here.
I would start with “finally, another recipe” but realistically long silences here have become the norm. My aspiration of regular weeknight recipes has remained aspirational – work-life balance is a work in progress. A long term goal, let’s say. This could quickly get personal but I think on this Sunday morning when my to-do list remains 20 points long we will stick to the recipe: a late summer plum, orange and ricotta cake. It is the sort of cake you put together in the morning when you realise people are popping over in a couple of hours, or need a vehicle for the not-quite-perfect stonefruit on the bench. Moist and bordering on cheesecake-like in the centre, it lasts well into the next day (although it may disappear before then).
It’s flexible – try nectarines or apricots, roast rhubarb in spring or maple poached pear in winter (just pre-bake hard fruit first). Don’t skip the flaked almonds and caster sugar on top if you can help it – it adds a sweet crust-like finish. Most importantly, don’t over bake it. This cake is much better slightly under done when the centre wobble is just disappearing: don’t be scared to remove it from the oven when a skewer inserted into the centre is still coated in crumbs. It will continue to cook and set as it cools, and is equally lovely served warm if your guests have already arrived.
- 320 g ricotta drained (ideally firm ricotta)
- 250 g caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence or paste
- 3 large eggs
- zest 1 orange
- 130 g melted butter
- 120 g flour
- 50 g almond meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5-6 ripe plums quartered and stoned
- 1/4 cup flaked almonds to top
- additional 2 tablespoons caster sugar
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Preheat the oven to 170°C.
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Grease and line a 20cm cake tin.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric beater, beat together the ricotta, vanilla, sugar and orange zest.
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Slowly whisk in melted butter
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Beat in eggs, one at a time.
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In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt to get rid of any lumps. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mix until just combined.
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Pour into baking tin. Top with plums cut side up, scatter with flaked almonds and sprinkle caster sugar evenly over the top.
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Bake 45 min – 1 hour, until only just cooked through in the centre – a skewer inserted into the centre should still have crumbs. It will continue to cook as a it cools, and is better slightly under done than over.
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