Mark went for a walk and I ate vegetable leftovers for dinner, braises, I guess: Molly Wizenberg’s cabbage braised in cream and Splendid Table’s tumeric braised potatoes.
We talked about staying in and watching movies on DVD or streamed – with dessert. With thoughts of all the frozen fruit I’ve got downstairs – peaches, blueberries, cranberries – in my head, I also wanted to use up the ricotta in the fridge. I decided to make a kind of upside down ricotta cake, a giant one of these lemon-ricotta pancakes from Smitten Kitchen. Of course the current post on her blog is tarte tatin, so I was even more torn. I consoled myself by using the All-Clad braiser I bought because I thought it would work for tarte tatin.
It’s a little pale, but I think it will taste great with vanilla ice cream and a little drizzle of maple syrup on top. I’ll let you know.
Orange Ricotta Cake with Apples
For the sauteed apples:
4 small apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (I used pink lady)
3 tablespoons salted butter. divided
3 tablespoons sugar
grated zest of 1/2 an orange
For the batter:
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups ricotta
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
Melt two tablespoons of the butter in an oven proof skillet. Add the apples and toss, then add the sugar and orange zest and leave them to saute while you prepare the batter.
Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks with a fork to combine, then mix in the the sugar, ricotta and vanilla. Measure the flour into the yolk bowl, and let it wait there for you while you whip the whites to soft peaks. Fold the whipped whites into the yolk flour bowl, add the pinch of salt, and mix gently with a rubber spatula until you have a smooth batter. Preheat the oven to 375. Turn the heat up under the apples, and rub the sides of the skillet with the last tablespoon of butter, dropping any that’s left in the middle. Pour the batter into the skillet, and cook over high heat until it’s bubbling around the edges – just a few minutes – to set a crust. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake until firm and puffed – about 15 minutes. Cool for five minutes and then invert onto a plate, replacing any apples that fall off back onto the top of the cake. Eat warmish.
You can see all the pictures on Tumbler, too.
And, PS it was good with ice cream, but I think it’s better without – even cold the next morning. Or maybe that’s just because it photographs so much better in the daylight – a few more colors in there besides yellow.
