Yogurt and ricotta cake

We are back! Yes, it’s been a while. At first I was hoping to be able to finally add my own pictures to this blog, instead of shamelessly “borrowing” ingredient images from Freshdirect – which I will admit, is not very cool but, moreover, gets a little bit boring with time. Well, what can I say, we live on the second floor of a studio in a Manhattan street – there’s not much light in here. But hey, maybe in London?

I made this cake several times in the last weeks, after Estelle reminded me that I always wanted to try one of these recipes. It is incredibly quick and easy so be careful, making this cake can be addictive – I am serious, I made it 3 times in just over a week.

I tried several variations but my favorite definitely is whole ricotta cheese and plain yogurt. Feel free to experiment though as you can pretty much substitute anything that is white and creamy for it – vanilla yogurt, fruit yogurt, sour cream, etc.

Utterly simple and quick, this is also a great cake to make with children as there are very little ingredients and they are easy to mix.

Dress it up with a dollop of slightly runny whipped cream and decorate it with a little bit of lemon zest or confectioners’ sugar for an elegant look.

Be careful: as I said, it is extremely addictive and can be eaten for a light snack (light?! oh well) or even for breakfast.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.

Generously butter a 9 inches cake pan.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Combine yogurt, ricotta cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon peel, and vanilla in large bowl; whisk until well blended. Gradually whisk in dry ingredients. Fold in oil.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake until a fork inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake before unmolding.

Serves 8.