Another month, another cake! This one is for my friend Nicole — the same one who conquered her fear of cooking clams just a few weeks ago! Her birthday was this past weekend, so of course I had to provide her (and the office) with a celebratory cake. Any time you survive another year, it’s just cause to have a fête, if you ask me.
Nicole has a soft spot for puddings and custards, so I figured for her birthday, I’d try to capture the moist, rich qualities of those things with this: a citrus-y, spongy cake with soft ricotta filling. I used a combination of this recipe from The Life Harvest and this one from Tart to Heart.
Both are a take on the Italian dessert Schiacciata alla Fiorentina, though it seems like traditional recipes include yeast, whereas this one does not. I’ll certainly try the yeasted variety soon enough.
The cake is pretty “wet,” so it’s also a bit on the fragile side. Take extra care in unmolding it from your cake pans and leveling it because it tends to want to tear apart. And as much as you may want to eat all the little bits and pieces that fall off, try to keep your cake intact and do not, I repeat, do not try to purposely sabotage your cake just so you have more lovely pieces to snack on.
*coughs*
I made a three-layer cake by doubling the recipe and splitting each cake in half for four layers (I used the fourth layer for something else called I just ate it, okay, stop looking at me like that) but you can easily make this a two-layer cake by not doubling the recipe below.
The frosting recipe makes enough frosting for a three-layer cake with plenty left over! I didn’t frost the outside of my cake, but I’m certain there is enough frosting to frost at least the entirety of a two-layer cake.
Orange Sponge Cake with Ricotta Whipped Cream
Combination of this recipe from The Life Harvest and this one from Tart to Heart
Yield: one two-layer 8″ cake
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: ~10 minutes, depending on pasta
Total Time: 12 minutes
For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour (225 g)
1 cup sugar (200 g)
1 tbs + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (25 g)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil (75 g)
1/2 cup milk (100 g)
2 large eggs
1 large orange, zested and juiced
For the filling:
1 pint heavy cream
12 oz ricotta
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
6 tsp powdered sugar
cocoa powder + powdered sugar for decorating
Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease and line an 8″ cake pan with parchment paper, and then grease that parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, milk, eggs, and orange juice and zest.
Mixing on low speed with a paddle attachment, slowly pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture. Mix until it looks nicely uniform and combined, but do not overmix.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool entirely in its pan on a rack.
Make the frosting:
Whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Add in the vanilla bean and ricotta and whip until soft peaks form again. Be careful not to overwhip!
Assemble the cake:
Remove the cake from the pan and slice it in into halves. Level the top of the cake if needed.
On the bottom layer of the cake, spread half of the ricotta filling, and then stack on the top layer of the cake. Spread the rest of the ricotta filling over the top. Dust liberally with cocoa powder, and then dust liberally with powdered sugar. Serve chilled.
