A slice of life.

Ricotta cheese and chocolate cake

This weekend we celebrated Nick’s birthday. Even though the actual day was Thursday ,he has decided one day is not enough . So , every year he expects birthday privileges for at least 3 day’s ( he has suggested that maybe this should be increased to a week ).

So , on Sunday , the last day of celebration, I made a Birthday cake . Not a traditional Birthday cake ,but a type that in Italy we would eat in the morning.

As I have said I’m not very strong on cakes , but this one seemed to come out the oven looking perfect. The smell was intoxicating. We decided to cut a slice and photograph it right away .

After the photo session ,obviously we decided to try it …. Delicious ! the birthday boy was happy!

Throughout  the day a little slice of cake was tested again and again and again . By the end of the evening only one slice remained. Nick thought that perhaps this slice should be put aside for the morning. With the celebrations over he would need something to cheer him up !!!!!!!!

Ingredients for 6 persons:
250 grams ricotta cheese
200 grams flour
150 grams sugar
50 grams soft butter
50 grams ground hazelnuts
50 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70%)
2 eggs
16 grams baking powder
1 pinch of salt
Chocolate cream for the top:
150 grams dark chocolate (70% minimum)
100 grams of milk
20 grams butter

How it works: Chop the chocolate and set aside. Whisk together eggs, sugar, butter. Then add the ricotta and a pinch of salt. continue to mix. Then add slowly the flour  and finally the yeast. Whipping for a couple of minutes until a homogeneous consistency. Pour the chocolate and almonds in and use a spatula to combine the mixture. Pour into a mold of 23cm diameter. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 10 minutes  and at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
For  the chocolate top: put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl slowly melt it over a pan of gently boiling water (the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl), then add butter and milk. Continue cooking for 5 minutes. Serve hot on the cake