Big City, Little Kitchen

Isn’t lemon curd a wonderful invention?  Its uses are seemingly endless:  filling a tart, gliding down a pile of ice cream or sorbet scoops, swirled into yogurt, spread across a toasted slice of brioche, dolloped onto a piece of pound cake….  Its latest maneuver, in my kitchen, is to masquerade as frosting, sandwiching two layers of ricotta cake, also an endlessly-useful recipe to have in the arsenal.

I added lemon zest to the cake to unify its flavor with that of the tart, rich curd.  A scattering of raspberries across the curd and a crown of vanilla-scented whipped cream completed the project.

Ricotta cake:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tb lemon zest
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder

Filling:

•  zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup frozen raspberries

Whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

To make cake:

Preheat oven to 350; butter 2 8-inch cake pans.

Cream the butter and 1 cup sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by the ricotta, vanilla, and zest.

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder, and add to ricotta mixture, being careful not to overmix. Pour half of batter into each pan, using spatula to smooth top.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.  Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

While cake is baking, make lemon curd:

Beat together the zest, juice, eggs, yolks, and sugar.

Melt the butter over low heat, then stir in the above mixture; stir constantly until thickened (5 to 7 minutes).  Let cool.

While cake and curd are cooling, make whipped cream:

Pour cream into a bowl; beat on medium-high speed, adding confectioner’s sugar gradually, 5 minutes, or until medium-soft peaks form.  Add vanilla extract, and beat to combine.

To assemble cake:

Slice off the rounded tops of each cake, so that they are flat.  Place one cake cut-side up on a plate or cake stand; spread with curd, and scatter raspberries across.  Place second cake on top of filling, cut-side down, and press gently (a bit of filling oozing out is ok, but you want to ensure that a thick layer remains between the cakes).  Using a spatula, scrape the whipped cream out of its bowl and onto the top of the second layer of cake.  Spread across, creating dips and peaks with the spatula or a spoon.

I like this cake best when it has rested awhile, to allow the filling to soak into and bind the layers a bit.  Store in refrigerator to keep the whipped cream from melting, but allow to sit at room temperature for an hour before serving.