Zesty Ricotta Cake

Ingredients

250g raw almonds
1/2 cup plain flour
3 lemons, finely grated rind & juice
300g fresh ricotta, drained
225g soft unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups CSR Caster Sugar
6 eggs, separated

Method

Preheat oven to 180ºC conventional or 160ºC fan forced. Line the base of a 20cm round cake pan with baking paper and lightly grease the sides.
Place almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add ground almonds to flour, lemon rind, juice and ricotta and mix until combined.
Beat butter and CSR Caster Sugar until light and creamy. Add yolks one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add ricotta mixture and mix until evenly combined.
Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites through 1/3 at a time.
Spoon mixture into prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour or until golden brown on top. Allow to cool completely in pan. Turn out and decorate with toffee and enjoy with sliced fresh orange.

Toffee (to decorate)

Place 1/2 cup CSR Caster Sugar into a small saucepan and stir over a low heat until sugar dissolves and forms a golden liquid. Remove immediately from heat. Drizzle onto a baking paper-lined tray. Allow toffee to set and break into pieces.

Comments

The secret to this moist cake is wonderful creamy fresh ricotta. Always buy from the deli and ask to taste to ensure it is fresh.

Caster Sugar

Ingredients: cane sugar

Caster sugar dissolves easily so it is ideal for meringues, puddings, jellies and cake mixes. When used in baking, the smaller sugar crystals caramelise evenly so it produces a fine golden colour in the finished product.
Being a superfine white sugar it can be used as a dry topping, often sprinkled over fruits or baked goods as a light dusting finish.

Pure Icing Sugar

Ingredients: cane sugar

While no cake would be complete without it, icing sugar can also be used to make goodies such as shortbread, cream fillings, marshmallow, and fondant; anywhere a smooth, soft finished texture is required. CSR Pure Icing Sugar is the perfect icing sugar for all your traditional and decorative special icing needs. As CSR Pure Icing Sugar is 100% natural sugar this ensures the icing has a firm setting quality every time.