Ricotta Cheese Pound Cake

After sharing with my very good friend Giselle Rossello that I was wanting to make a pound cake, she graciously shared her favorite Epicurious recipe ~ Cream Cheese Pound Cake.  Knowing what an excellent baker Giselle is, I was excited to try out the recipe.

The original recipe calls for cream cheese, but when I got home, it turned out I didn't have any.  Not wanting to make a run to the store, I started a search through my refrigerator for a comparable substitute. I found I had some ricotta cheese.  The result is a deliciously moist cake with a lovely crunchy top.  The glaze takes this delicious pound cake over the top!  Yum!

I've since made this pound cake with lemon, orange and a mixture of lemon/orange/lime zests and juice.  My son really loves the lemon, while my favorite is the orange.  We both agree is it fabulous.

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Note:  The cake starts out in a cold oven and then is baked slowly (takes a good 2 hours of baking!), gradually increasing the temperature.

Ricotta Cheese Pound Cake


Ingredients


2 sticks unsalted Butter, room temperature
8 oz. Ricotta cheese, room temperature
3 cups Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
6 large Eggs, room temperature
4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
3 cups sifted all-purpose Flour
Zest of 1 Lemon

Glaze
1-2 tablespoons fresh Lemon juice
1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar

Directions

1.  Butter and flour a long loaf pan, (12 x 4-1/2 x 3-1/8"), or a 12-cup Bundt pan.

2.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter and ricotta cheese in large bowl until fluffy, about 4 minutes.

3.  Add sugar and salt and beat for 10 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.

4.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition.

5.  Beat in vanilla.

6.  At low speed, beat in flour until batter is smooth, being careful not to over-beat.

7.  Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon.

8.  Place pan in a cold oven.  Set temperature to 200 degrees F; bake for 20 minutes.

9.  Increase temperature to 250 degrees F; bake for an additional 20 minutes.

10.  Increase temperature to 275 degrees F; bake for 10 minutes.

11.  Increase temperature to 300 degrees F; bake for an additional hour for the Bundt pan, or 1.25 hours in the long loaf pan, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

12.  Cool cake in pan on a rack for 15 minutes.

13.  Prepare glaze:  Mix confectioner's sugar, lemon zest and enough of the lemon juice to achieve a drizzling consistency.

14.  Remove cake from pan and pour glaze over the top.  Wrap and store at room temperature.

Variations:
Use Orange zest and orange juice in place of the lemon zest/juice.
Use a combination of lemon and orange zest and juice.

Enjoy!

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