Recipes

Valentina says "The basis of this cake is a classic baked ricotta cake, with ripe, dark cherries mixed through it.  Don’t be surprised if the cherries tend to sink to the bottom, this is fine, and absolutely in keeping with the nature of this very soft textured cake."

Serves 6-8

    300g very fresh ricotta or cream cheese
    300g granulated or caster sugar
    3 eggs yolks, beaten with 4 tablespoons milk
    75g finest possible plain white flour, sifted twice
    Grated zest of 1 large lemon
    300g ripe cherries, stoned and halved
    3 level tsp baking powder
    3 egg whites, chilled
    1 walnut-sized piece butter for greasing
    4 tbsp icing sugar

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160C.

If you are using cream cheese instead of ricotta, whip it with a balloon whisk first to lighten it.  Then continue to beat the ricotta or whipped cream cheese lightly with an electric whisk for about 10 to 15 minutes, gradually adding the sugar, until the mixture appears light and fluffy. Continue to whisk, blending in the egg yolks and milk, then the flour, the lemon zest and the baking powder. Finally, gently fold the halved cherries though the mixture.

Whisk the chilled egg whites into stiff peaks and carefully fold them into the cake mixture. Line and butter a 20 cm. spring-loaded cake tin very generously. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and level it out smoothly with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to l hour or until a long, thin metal skewer pushed deep into the centre of the cake comes out perfectly clean. Do not worry if the middle of the cake sinks a little, this is quite normal, as this is a very soft cake that is much more like a firm pudding.

Remove from the oven, cool for about 10 minutes, and then slide the cake out on to a wire rack to cool completely. Sift the icing sugar all over the cake and serve warm, with cream, whipped mascarpone or ice cream.