Decadent Orange Ricotta Cake

I had quite a bit of oranges left from my Saucy Mama challenge last week and had a serious sweet tooth to boot. I remembered the ricotta cheese in my fridge and before I knew it, I was prepping my loaf pan for a variation of Mike's Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake. It's creamy. Oh so creamy! And for those who think the consistency of ricotta is grainy, you won't find that in this sweet little confection. It's a cake that almost reminds me of a flan. It's simple to put together and I think you'll enjoy making it and eating it- especially with the orange/sugar glaze that seeps into the cake and the strawberry/orange sauce that just puts it a little over the edge. Plus there's no waste when it comes to the oranges- you'll use the zest, flesh and juice. Enough talk, let's get cooking.

Orange Ricotta Cake
9 x 5 inch loaf pan

1-1/2 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cups unsalted butter at room temp
1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese (I used the lower fat)
1-1/2 cups sugar (I used Splenda no calorie)
3 large eggs at room temp
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dash of orange extract (optional)

Glaze
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Juice of orange that you used for the zest

Orange Strawberry Sauce
16 oz strawberries diced
Zest of 2 oranges
Supremed orange slices from the 2 oranges
Juice of both oranges
1/4 cup water
1 T sugar or Splenda

Prepare loaf pan with cooking spray and pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. In medium size bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix ingredients with whisk or fork and set aside.

In large bowl cream your softened butter. I do not have a stand mixer and find that my small hand mixer works fine. Add your sugar (or Splenda) in a few batches and beat until creamy and light. Now add the ricotta and combine to the mix. Add 1 egg at a time until all 3 have been incorporated. Now add the zest, and extracts.

When all the yummy wet ingredients are mixed well add the dry ingredients. I do this in two steps. And like most cakes, don't over beat. Combine until all ingredients are incorporated and there is no dry flour hanging around. Remember to scrape down the sides of your bowl a few times while mixing.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake 15 minutes. Lower oven heat to 325 degrees and turn loaf pan 180 degrees. Bake another 45 minutes and your cake should be ready. Use the toothpick trick- if a toothpick inserted into the cooked cake comes out clean, you're cake is done. And don't throw away that toothpick because we'll be poking some mini holes in the cake. But first, let cake cool on cooling rack.

Remove from pan and continue to cool on rack. While cake is cooling, make your glaze by whisking together the confectioner's sugar and juice of zested orange.

When the cake is easy to handle, transfer to plate and poke as many holes with your toothpick as you like. These holes are going to allow the sweet glaze to seep into the cake to make it even richer and creamier than you ever imagined.

With holes adequately poked, take a spoon and drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake. Let some of it sink in and repeat. And repeat and repeat until all the glaze is used up.

I let my cake sit overnight carefully wrapped in plastic wrap with toothpicks standing guard on all sides.

As soon as I got home from work tonight I added the final touch, the orange strawberry sauce. Now this is easy. Take your diced strawberries, supremed oranges, sugar (or Splenda), water, zest and orange juice and place in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer until mixture concentrates and begins to thicken, about 15-20 minutes. Stir this sauce occasionally as the sugar likes to try and stick to the pan.

Let the sauce cool and plate your dessert and sauce.

The addition of a dab of whipped cream would have been nice on top of the sauce, but darn it again, I didn't have any cream in the fridge. When I make this little bit of decadence again, you can be sure I will have some on hand.

World Food Championships 2013, Part 2

The above picture was taken after round one of the dessert competition. I really don't look too frazzled do I? Just happy to have completed my two recipes on time, and in the dark no less. So are you ready for recipe#2? It's a dark mocha truffle cookie (very sultry and not too sweet), and they will make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert buffet. Perfect timing I think.

Dark Mocha Truffle Cookies
makes about 32

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperatue
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp instant coffee powder
1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa (the dark cocoa really makes a difference)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Ground instant coffee for dusting

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl mix butter and sugar until well blended. Add vanilla, coffee, cocoa and salt and mix well.

Add flour and mix until dough is looking crumbly. Add the walnuts and incorporate.

I use my clean hands to mix the nuts and batter. A little messy I admit, but that's what I do. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes.

You can certainly refrigerate the dough longer, we were just under the gun, and I figured out before the competition that 15 minutes was the least amount of time the dough could be refrigerated and still make perfect little truffles. Working with half the dough, roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place balls on parchment lined baking sheets and bake 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes (ten if you're not in a cooking competition) and toss warm cookies in confectioner's sugar. Set cookies aside to cool and top with sieved ground coffee. Repeat with remainder of dough. Serve in mini cupcake liners. I was lucky enough to find some brown liners (no picture available, since we were scurrying around towards plating time and didn't even think of taking a photo) but they were very complimentary to the brown and white cookies.

I must give credit where credit is due...So a special thank you to Lori, my daughter and sous chef at the event who made these little darlings like a pro. And also, a big shout out to Diane Hopson Smith who tested this recipe for me and reassured me they were as good as I thought they were. Love you gals!

Creamy, Dreamy Banana Cake

This is indeed a creamy, dreamy recipe. I wanted  to make an easy fruit cake so I perused many of my banana bread recipes, as well as fruit cake favorites and came up with this simple, one-layer cake, topped with an out-of-this-world, decadent cream cheese frosting. It took me a few tries to get it right, and I believe the secret to this cake's yumminess is the 4 very ripe bananas I used and that creamy half  cup of sour cream.

One Layer Banana Cake

2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 T unsalted butter softened to room temperature
2 T canola oil
3/4 cups Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated sugar works fine too)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 very ripe bananas- the browner the better
1/2 cup light sour cream

Frosting
4 oz Neufchatel cheese (low fat cream cheese) softened to room temperature
4 T unsalted butter softened to room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees and spray an 8" x 8" pan with cooking spray. I like to buy the disposable aluminum pans that come in packages of three and go on sale quite often. They're easy to transport and you never have to ask friends for your cake pan back.

In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In small bowl, mash bananas and combine with sour cream. Set aside.

Using an electric hand mixer, beat butter, oil and Splenda until incorporated (2 or 3 minutes). Add eggs, egg white and vanilla. Add half the dry ingredients into the butter/egg mixture and combine. Now add the banana/sour cream mash into the batter and mix until incorporated. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Try not to overmix.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool on wire rack and prepare the frosting.

In separate bowl, with hand mixer or a sturdy spoon, combine Neufchatel, butter and vanilla extract. When incorporated, add the confectioners' sugar and mix until frosting is smooth. When cake is cooled, frost that little darling and slice yourself a little goodness. I like to cut 9 slices per cake. Twelve seems a bit chincy, and six is a bit over the top.

The re-mix: #1-Sprinkle crushed nuts to the frosting. #2-I can't wait to try this recipe with strawberries and bananas. I think it might work. Plus strawberries have been on sale lately and that is always a plus. #3-And then I had the carrot cake thought. Might experiment a little with that. I'll keep you posted. 

Melt in your Mouth

One of my favorite cookies ever, and especially during the holiday season is the delight I've been calling Mexican Wedding Cookies. They're buttery, and crumbly and dusted (or doused) with confectioners sugar. You may also know them as Biscochetas, Polvorones, Rohlichky, Schweddy Balls (thanks Erika) or as MaryAnne's mom calls them- Holiday Nuggets. Anyway, I made dozens of these balls of heaven this past weekend to share with my friends and think it's the perfect time to share the recipes with you.

The first recipe is based on a recipe from the Joy of Baking. The second is a mocha re-mix of the first. And then I took the whole shebang a step further and made a coconut version. All are easy, have no eggs and are melt in your mouth delicious. I used my Trinity Flour Mix (4 parts AP flour, 2 parts ground oatmeal, 1 part whole wheat flour) but the recipe originally called for AP flour. So both work fine. Also, all three versions each make about 3 dozen.

Sno Balls

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups flour

2/3 cups ground walnuts-don't grind to a paste; you just want to avoid big chunks

1 cup confectioners sugar for dusting

IN LARGE BOWL mix butter and 1/4 cup of sugar until well blended. Add vanilla and salt and mix again. Beat in flour, then ground nuts and mix. Divide dough in half forming each into a ball. Wrap separately in plastic and chill about 30 minutes.

PRE-HEAT OVEN to 350. Working with half the dough, roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place balls on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes and toss warm cookies in confectioners sugar. Repeat with second ball of refrigerated dough. Cool cookies completely and store in air-tight containers in your fridge.

Mocha Sno Balls

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

2 tsp instant coffee powder (I used de-caf)

1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup ground walnuts

1 cup confectioners sugar for dusting


IN LARGE BOWL mix butter and sugar until well blended. Add vanilla, coffee powder, cocoa and salt and mix well. Add flour and mix until dough is looking crumbly. Add the ground nuts and incorporate. Divide dough in half forming each into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes.

PRE-HEAT OVEN to 350. Working with half the dough, roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place balls on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes and toss warm cookies in confectioners sugar. Repeat with second ball of refrigerated dough. Cool cookies completely and store in air-tight containers in your fridge.

Coconut Sno Balls

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp coconut extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut ground in food processor or spice mill

2 cups flour

1 cup confectioners sugar for dusting

IN LARGE BOWL mix butter and 1/4 cup of sugar until well blended. Add vanilla and salt and mix again. Beat in flour, then ground coconut. Divide dough in half forming each into a ball. Wrap separately in plastic and chill about 30 minutes.

PRE-HEAT OVEN to 350. Working with half the dough, roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place balls on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for about 5 minutes and toss warm cookies in confectioners sugar. Repeat with second ball of refrigerated dough. Cool cookies completely and store in air-tight containers in your fridge.


I have a few more ideas for this cookie, but I don't know if I'll have the stamina to get to them before the holidays. Lemon Sno Balls are at the top of my list. And what about Almond Sno Balls? This kind of recipe gives me Obsessive Compulsive Recipe Disorder. Yeah, I can live with that. As a start, try these and have a ball.