This cake is improbably delicious. At first glance -- well, at first glance it looked good enough that I wanted to dive into the magazine page and take a bite. At second glance -- and upon reading the recipe -- I was confused about the texture. It has over a cup of ricotta cheese and 3 eggs, so is it a cheesecake? But it has over a cup of flour and butter, like a regular yellow cake.
The answer is a little of both. If a cheesecake and a yellow butter cake had a baby, it would be this raspberry cake. It combines the best characteristics of both: light and fluffy but also creamy and moist and a tiny bit dense in the center.
You can use any fruit you like, but raspberries look pretty. Frozen or fresh are both fine, too. So basically there is no excuse for you to not make this year round. It's a very good dinner party cake because it holds up well over a day or two (so you can bake it in advance), and it's striking enough that people will be impressed with your kitchen prowess. Keep it mind that it will seem a little under-baked, but that's because of the ricotta. Like a cheesecake, it should be a bit more jiggly in the center compared to what you expect of a regular cake. Take it out of the oven when it browns on the edges and pulls away from the edges of the pan.
Raspberry Ricotta Cake
Adapted from Bon Appetit
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups ricotta
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup raspberries (fresh)
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment and butter and flour it.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and ricotta. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, then gently stir in the melted butter. Fold in the raspberries carefully (you don't want to crush them fully but a few streaks are nice).
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. The cake is much more moist than a regular yellow cake, so don't worry if it doesn't feel as dry or firm as you'd expect. Let cool for 20 minutes before taking it out of the pan.