Strawberry Ice Cream Shortcakes with Cornmeal Drop Biscuits

During strawberry season, I always think of shortcakes. And while I had some of the very freshest, best milk and cream on hand, strawberry shortcakes with vanilla ice cream quickly became a fantastic idea. I volunteer with Slow Food Austin, and we recently hosted a tour at Richardson Farms where they’re operating a newly-opened dairy. This is a small, family-run farm that sits about an hour’s drive outside of Austin. To give you a sense of the scale of this dairy, the milking operation is set up for four cows at a time. 

We visited the pretty bovine gals as they waited their turn outside, and then we watched as they came in and the milking began. Richardson’s guarantees that all their cows are of the A2 genetic variety, and as they breed the next generation, they are also guaranteed to be A2. That designation refers to a type of beta-casein protein, and cows in the US can be A1 or A2. Larger farms could have some cows of both types and don’t typically check which is which. The A2 beta-casein is thought to be more easily-digestible and to lead to fewer adverse health issues than A1. It was fascinating to learn that the farm has taken the steps to ensure that all their milk is A2. During the tour, we also visited the hungry, little calves and fed them from bottles before touring the milk tank room and seeing the pasteurizing machine. Here in Texas, raw milk can only be purchased at a farm. It can’t be sold at farmers’ markets or in stores. So, while Richardson’s offers raw milk to customers who visit the farm, everything they sell elsewhere is low-heat pasteurized. While there, I was able to purchase raw milk that had just entered the tank from the cows I saw being milked, and I also brought home some raw cream. I couldn’t wait to put it to good use. 

I should mention, the farm also produces meat including beef, pork, and chicken. They sell eggs, and they mill their own whole wheat flour and cornmeal from non-GMO plants. When I read A New Way to Bake, the Cornmeal Drop Biscuits caught my eye, and I knew they’d be great platforms for strawberry shortcake. I made them with whole wheat pastry flour, Richardson’s cornmeal and raw milk, and some grass-fed butter. The batter was scooped onto baking sheets, and they baked until golden. For the ice cream, as usual I followed the recipe for Vanilla Gelato from Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts . I used more of that fabulous milk that was heated gently and added to egg yolks. The custard was then poured through a sieve into a measuring pitcher, and the beautiful raw cream was added with some salt. I chilled the base overnight before churning the ice cream. For the strawberries, I just stemmed and halved them, tossed them with a little sugar, and waited for the juices to run. 

After visiting the farm, seeing what they’re doing, and hearing the trouble they’ve gone to to make the best product they can, I wanted to tell everyone I know to go buy their milk. I hope they’re able to sell raw milk as an option at our farmers’ markets soon. And, I hope more people take an interest in this incredible milk made right here in central Texas. I can report the milk and cream were sublime in all the ways I used them: in a spring chowder, splashed into some cold-brew coffee, and in these biscuits and ice cream for strawberry shortcakes. 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program. 
Tweet

Kouign-Amann

When I look at recipes for cakes, I make mental notes like “this one would be great for a birthday,” or “this is the cake for a spring party,” or “I have to remember this one during the holidays.” But, with the new book from Gesine Bullock-Prado, I was making all those usual mental notes and also thinking “I want to bake this cake just to see if I can do it.” The new book is Bake It Like You Mean It, and I received a review copy. There are showpiece cakes with intricate layers and beautiful frosting; there are meringues layered with fillings or built into a torte; and there are cheesecakes, mousse cakes, and even simple pound cakes. The Banana Caramel Slices are layered with chocolate sponge cake and caramel cream and topped with a chocolate glaze and caramelized bananas. The Citrus Angel Food Cake combines lime, orange, and lemon batter baked in one pretty cake. And, there’s a Checkerboard Cake, a Puzzle Cake, and a big roulade turned on its side that looks like it’s made with vertical layers when sliced. I want to make all of these cakes. There are clear instructions and tips, a good bit of humor to keep the book feeling fun, and helpful photos show the process for some recipes. After reading through recipes and looking at photos, I had several aha moments of realizing these cakes look more complicated than they might actually be to make. In addition to all those stunning layer cakes, there’s also a chapter for yeast-risen goodies like Brioche, Tangerine Dream Tea Ring, and Kouign-Amann. Since I didn’t have a handy occasion for a big cake with several layers and Kouign-Amann is something I’ve wanted to try making for the longest time, I started with that. 

This is a Breton cake, or mini cake depending on how it’s made, and the name quite appropriately comes from the words for cake and butter. There are only a few ingredients here which means it's a celebration of butter and sugar. So, this is a time to splurge on really good butter, and I used vanilla sugar from a jar where vanilla pods get stuffed after scraping out seeds. Making the dough for the little cakes is a lot like making puff pastry. A simple yeast-risen dough was rolled out, a block of butter was placed on one side, the dough was folded over, and it was rolled and folded, chilled, and rolled and folded again. For these cakes, the dough is rolled in sugar rather than flour. So, you end up with layers and layers of butter, dough, and sugar that are cut and folded into squares that bake into sweet, little, tender cakes with crispy, sugary edges. 

I love finding out things aren’t as difficult to make as they look, and the Kouign-Amann was a perfect example of that. This will be the book to grab when special occasions demand an impressive dessert. And, it’s also the book to grab when you just want to try baking something new and fun. 

Kouign-Amann 
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from Bake It Like You Mean It.

If you’ve had the pleasure of spending time in Brittany, no doubt you have had a taste of a kouign-amann. If you’ve had the pleasure of spending time in Brittany and you didn’t eat kouign-amann, then you never really went to Brittany at all because you can’t fully appreciate the place and her people until you take a bite of that crispy, sweet, buttery, slightly-chewy-in-the-center-and-caramelized-on-top-and-on-the-edges pastry. 

2 1/4 cups (450 g) granulated sugar, divided 
2 teaspoons salt 
5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the work surface 
2 tablespoons instant yeast 
 1 pound (455 g) unsalted European butter, at room temperature 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, combine 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water, 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar, and the salt. Add the flour and yeast and mix until a smooth, shiny dough forms, about 10 minutes. If the air conditions are very humid, you may need to add a bit more flour. If dry, add a few tablespoons of water. The dough should be smooth and pull away from the sides of the bowl. 

Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it over a few times to coat thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area of your kitchen to allow to proof until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar. Mix until the two are well blended and the butter is smooth but not soft. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a rough 8-by-11-inch (20-by-28-cm) rectangle. Cover completely with plastic wrap and, using a rolling pin, gently even out the butter into an even block. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour as well. Roll the dough into a rough rectangle, approximately 12 by 18 inches (30.5 by 46 cm). Place the butter block on one side of the dough and fold the second half over the dough block. Press along the edges of the dough block to secure the butter inside the dough. 

Sprinkle the work surface evenly with 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar. Place the dough on the sugar and roll out into a rectangle approximately 12 by 18 inches (30.5 by 46 cm). Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar. Fold one short half toward the middle and fold the other half over on top of that, as if you were folding a business letter. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes. 

Again, sprinkle your work surface with 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar, and sprinkle 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar over the top of the dough in an even layer. Roll out the dough into a rectangle 12 by 18 inches (30.5 by 46 cm) and fold into a business letter again. Cover and refrigerate for 45 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. 

Sprinkle 1/2 cup (50 g) sugar onto the work surface and roll the dough into a rectangle 8 by 16 inches (20 by 40.5 cm). Using a very sharp pastry wheel, cut the dough into eight (4-inch / 10-cm) squares. Prepare each pastry by folding each corner of the square toward the center and pressing the corner to seal into place (you’ve just created a smaller square). Continue until you’ve finished folding all the squares. Sprinkle the squares with the remaining 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 20 minutes. 

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top is a deeply golden brown and caramelized. Eat while warm! 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.

Tweet

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

The Austin Bakes group has a couple of big bake sale fundraisers under our belt, but because these bake sales were organized to help recovery efforts after terrible events, we all agreed we never wanted to host another one ever again. Sadly, following the tragic events of the explosion in West, Texas on April 17, we started planning the next event to bake for our fellow Texans. The bake sale is happening this Saturday, May 4 at eight different locations in Austin, and there is an online giving page for donations as well. There will be a huge variety of baked goods both sweet and savory from volunteer home bakers and professional bakeries in addition to jams, preserves, sauces, and pickles. We’re hoping for the biggest turnout yet. I’ve been looking through baking books and trying to make decisions about what to bring to the sale. I knew Kurt would be happy to taste test a scone trial run before this weekend, so from several options I wanted to try, I picked the Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones from the Bouchon Bakery book. They’re as easy to make as any other scone, but being from this book, the recipe of course included some attention to detail. Dried, tart cherries were soaked overnight in a sugar and vanilla syrup, and all that time in the syrup plumped the cherries and made them delightfully juicy once they were baked into the scones. Then, the drained syrup was used in making the luscious glaze to top the scones. This was definitely a successful test, and I’ll be baking another batch for Saturday. 

You do need to plan ahead to follow the instructions exactly. First, a simple syrup with scraped vanilla seeds is made, and dried tart cherries are added to it. The syrup is simmered for a moment and then allowed to cool. Once cool, the syrup with the cherries needs to be refrigerated overnight. Then, the dough for the scones can be made, but that needs some resting time in the refrigerator and the freezer before baking. The cherries should be removed from the syrup and drained, and the syrup is saved for use in the glaze. Meanwhile, flour, baking soda, and salt are combined in a stand mixer, and then cold, cubed butter is mixed into the flour. Once incorporated, cream is added and just mixed into the dough. The drained cherries and chocolate chips are then folded in, and the dough is covered and refrigerated for two hours. The recipe suggests making the scones by scooping the dough into mounds with an ice cream scoop. Instead, I patted the dough into a circle before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. Then, I cut the circle into wedges. Either way, once the dough is portioned and placed on a baking sheet, the sheet is then placed in the freezer for a couple of hours or overnight or up to a month. The scones were baked directly from freezer to oven for about 30 minutes. The glaze was made with confectioners’ sugar, some of the cherry vanilla syrup, and cream and was spooned onto the scones after they cooled a bit. 

I don’t always chill dough for scones so thoroughly before baking, and I wouldn’t have thought to soak the dried cherries for as long as suggested here, but the results clearly proved those steps were worth taking. If you’re in Austin, come on out on Saturday to taste these scones (and lots of other things) while supporting our neighbors in West. 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.

Tweet

Profiteroles with Cranberry Caramel Sauce and Maple Spiced Pecans

After holding tryouts for Thanksgiving dessert, I of course ended up going in a completely different direction than any of the contestants. Let me explain how this happened. Kurt claims to not have much of a sweet tooth, but there are three similar sweets that he really likes. Those are Boston cream pie, eclairs, and profiteroles. I’d made the first two at different times in the past, but I’d never made profiteroles even though we always order it when we see it on a restaurant dessert menu. I had various ideas about how to change up the classic components of a profiterole to make it a more seasonal, Thanksgiving kind of dessert, and Kurt voted down almost all of them. He insisted plain, vanilla ice cream and standard chocolate sauce was the only way to go. There would be no pumpkin or cinnamon ice cream or spiced pate a choux or nutmeg dusting on top or any such thing. But, there was a Cranberry Caramel Sauce that I absolutely had to try. It’s from the October/November issue of Garden and Gun, and it belongs with a Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe from Austin’s own Jodi Elliott of Foreign and Domestic. So long as the ice cream remained nothing but vanilla and the pastry puffs weren’t messed up with any spices, Kurt was willing to try a sauce other than chocolate. Then, I went ahead and made the Maple Spiced Nuts from the bread pudding recipe as well. One last, little change from the classic preparation wouldn't hurt.

This dessert was made up of four parts, so I started by making the vanilla ice cream in advance to have one part completed and ready. I used the vanilla ice cream recipe from Eggs by Michel Roux which is nicely rich with six egg yolks and perfumed with seeds from a vanilla pod. Next, I made the puffs according to Ina Garten’s recipe in Barefoot in Paris. I like that she suggests pulsing the eggs into the pastry dough in a food processor rather than stirring and stirring by hand. That recipe is also available online. The great thing about choux pastry puffs is that you can refrigerate them or even freeze them, and then just re-warm them for a few minutes in the oven before serving. The tops will re-crisp and the airy insides will be as puffy as when they first came out of the oven. The third part of the dessert was the cranberry caramel sauce which was a simple matter of cooking sugar, water, and corn syrup until amber and then adding cranberries and pure cranberry juice. The berries and juice were stirred into the caramel and the mixture was brought back to a boil until the cranberries had all popped. Off the heat, salt and vanilla were added. After letting the sauce cool a bit, it was pureed in a blender, and then I strained it before letting it completely cool. Last but not least, the pecans were tossed with maple syrup, corn syrup, sugar, salt, and a mix of cumin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cayenne. The nuts were baked until toasted through and allowed to cool before I chopped them.

The hint of spiciness and bit of salt in the nuts was perfect with the tart and sweet sauce. And, I think plain vanilla ice cream was the way to go here since it allowed the flavors in the toppings to shine. In the end, we were both completely happy with these changes to the traditional profiterole for Thanksgiving dessert, but I don’t think I’d get away with messing with the classic eclair.

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.

Tweet

Persimmon Martini

It couldn’t have been better coordinated. Just after reading about persimmons in the latest issue of Edible Austin, we received persimmons in our CSA. A persimmon bundt cake with Italian cream cheese frosting was mentioned along with a salad with toasted walnuts and a persimmon flan. Everything sounded delicious and I’m hanging on to that bundt cake recipe, but I immediately zeroed in on the persimmon martini with fresh ginger, lemon, and a vanilla bean. The cocktail recipe was written with a juicer in mind, and I don’t own one. I pureed the persimmon flesh with lemon juice and grated ginger rather than juicing them. However you do it, the flavors will be fantastic. This cocktail is perfectly suited to the fall season, and I’m already thinking of other ways to combine these well-matched ingredients.

I started by scooping the very ripe flesh from four persimmons and picking out the seeds. That went into a food processor with lemon juice, freshly grated ginger, seeds scraped from half a vanilla bean, and a little honey. It was processed until smooth, and then it was stirred with ice and vodka in a cocktail pitcher until well chilled. The ice was strained as the martinis were poured into glasses. If you use a juicer, your fruit mixture will be thinner and should work fine in a cocktail shaker. I learned the hard way that my puree didn’t pour well through the shaker’s strainer. Hence, I transferred it to a pitcher. Once in glasses, the martinis were garnished with half a vanilla bean.

The vanilla warms up the persimmon flavor, and the ginger and lemon add zing. As soon as I tasted this concoction, I imagined it would make a delicious sorbet or maybe a pudding. Or, I might simmer it until it’s thickened and pour it over ice cream. Maybe I should mix a few more martinis and see what other ideas come to mind.

Tweet

Strawberry-Rhubard Sorbet and Vanilla Ice Cream with Rhubarb-Red Wine Compote

It’s time for dessert. After tapas and paella, dessert was, well, not exactly Spanish. I wanted to make use of spring-time strawberries and rhubarb and turning them into something frozen seemed right. Since a frozen dessert would be made well in advance, that meant I could put together a few components and nothing would require last-minute attention. When I read The Perfect Scoop, I was inspired by the suggested pairings of sorbets or granitas with ice creams and sauces. I dreamt up a vision of fruity strawberry-rhubarb sorbet served next to a sinfully rich scoop of vanilla ice cream, and I found those recipes in that book. Following the strawberry-rhubarb sorbet recipe, there’s a note about serving it with a red wine-poached rhubarb compote which sounded perfect. Sorbet, ice cream, and compote was a good start, but I thought a nutty, crunchy item would make it complete. For that, I turned to Martha Stewart's Cookies and chose the lacy nut cookie. I had a plan, but I had no idea how to best present those items on a dessert plate. I should probably read a book on plating and presentation.

Each part of this dessert was very easy to prepare. For the sorbet, rhubarb was chopped and cooked with sugar and water until tender. That was pureed with strawberries, chilled, and churned into sorbet in my ice cream maker. The next day, I made the custard for ice cream with whole milk, sugar, cream, a vanilla bean, six egg yolks, and vanilla extract. I’ve tried a few different recipes for vanilla ice cream, and I can now gauge how delicious the result will be based on the number of egg yolks used. Six is a lovely number of egg yolks for vanilla ice cream, and it was very delicious. The compote was a simple mix of chopped rhubarb, red wine, sugar, honey, a cinnamon stick, and ground cloves. That combination was simmered until the rhubarb was cooked and the sauce reduced, and then I stored it in the refrigerator. Before serving, I brought the compote back to room temperature. The last item was the cookie. The dough was made from mostly butter but also confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, bread flour, and chopped pecans. Once mixed, it was rolled into a log, wrapped in parchment paper, and chilled. Pieces were sliced from the dough log and baked on silpat-lined sheet pans. I quickly learned that these cookies spread even more than you would think. The dough log I created was a little big, and I ended up cutting each slice in half before baking. The shape of the dough doesn’t matter so much because it spreads into a circle regardless while baking. The cookies baked into lacy and somewhat fragile wafers of buttery crunch.

I ended up with just what I wanted for flavors, textures, fruit, and nuts, but I had no idea how to make it look nice on a plate. Should I have put the compote on the bottom, drizzled it on top, or placed it to the side? What about the cookie? I couldn’t decide how to position it either. It could have been the platform on which everything else sat, or it could have rested on top like a lacy veil over the frozen scoops, or it could have sat in a more vertical pose. I played with the plating and snapped the photos seen here well before dinner time. Then, when it was time for dessert, my final plating decision was to set out a buffet of sorts and invite everyone to help themselves. Problem solved.

Tweet

Baked Vanilla Rice Peaches

I should probably begin by apologizing in advance for what will surely be several posts in a row from the same book. I just read another Donna Hay book, Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry, and as usual I was intrigued by every dish presented. The photos grabbed my attention immediately, and the recipes are so straightforward there’s no reason not to jump right in and get cooking. In this book, Hay suggests you consider your pantry staples as the “bones” of your cooking, and the recipes focus on those basic ingredients used in all sorts of ways. Each chapter is devoted to a type of staple such as pasta, rice, grains, and pastes. At the end of each chapter, there is a section called short order which presents very quick and simple dishes or just a sauce or crust or some element with multiple uses. After reading the book, I had a seriously difficult time deciding what to try first. There are about a hundred post-it notes sticking out of it, and just about everything I plan to make in the next week will be from this book.

One of the quick and simple short order items from the rice chapter is baked vanilla rice peaches. It occurred to me that I never make rice pudding, and Texas peaches are in season right now, so it was the right time to put the two together. This may be the easiest form of rice pudding ever prepared. For four large peaches or six small ones, you will need one half cup of cooked rice. I used jasmine rice. To the rice, add one quarter cup of cream, a tablespoon of sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla. Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits, and spoon some rice mixture into each piece. Place in a baking pan, sprinkle tops with demerara sugar, cover with foil, and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. That’s the entire recipe. When you remove the pan from the oven and lift the foil, you will be taken aback by the vanilla-peach loveliness emanating from within. Fresh peaches have a pretty fantastic aroma by themselves, but combined with vanilla, it's taken to another level.

The demerara sugar melted into a glossy syrup in the pan, and I spooned it back over the peaches. Also, I had some local, organic blueberries which I thought might look nice on the plate, and I dusted the tops of the peaches with a tiny bit of cinnamon. This was simplicity and comfort-food and fruit and dessert and possibly breakfast all in one very simple dish. When something is this easy and this good, it’s always a little surprising. But, the best part is realizing that I can whip this up anytime with very little effort.

Tweet

Saffron Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Marmellata

Last Tuesday, I was reading a post on Cooked Books when I had to stop everything. You see, Rebecca mentioned that there’s a recipe archive on Babbo’s web site. Well, that set off a flurry of clicks, and I couldn’t get my printer flicked on fast enough. Babbo’s recipes are right there, ordered alphabetically, free for all. I don’t know how often the archive is updated or how complete it is or isn’t, but I quickly found several recipes to stack on top of my to-cook pile. The first of those was this panna cotta with rhubarb from Gina DePalma.

Part two of this story is that I had never before in my life cooked rhubarb. I have no excuse either, so it is clearly my Mom’s fault. She never cooked rhubarb that I remember, so I had no history with it at home. I’ve eaten it but never cooked it or had it at home. I had no idea what I was missing. It’s so easy, and it just makes a nice, thick sauce all by itself. And, now there’s sure to be rhubarb in my kitchen each time it’s in season. For this marmellata, it was chopped in one-quarter inch thick slices and cooked until soft with sugar and the scrapings of a vanilla bean. That was allowed to cool. For the panna cotta, gelatin sheets were softened while cream, sugar, lemon zest, and saffron threads were brought to a boil in a saucepan. That was left to steep for 10 minutes before the gelatin sheets were squeezed and added. Once the gelatin dissolved, the mixture was poured through a sieve, milk was added, and this was poured into ramekins. The ramekins were chilled until set.

To serve, the panna cotta was gracefully turned out of the ramekins, and the rhubarb marmellata was spooned on top. In reality, as I plopped the first serving out of its ramekin, it of course fell apart and broke into blobs on the plate. I had to try two more times before getting a photogenic one. All of this meant that we ended up with three desserts on plates for two people, and we didn’t mind that at all. I was feeling very full after dessert but happily so. I really love the unique flavor of saffron and with the lemon zest, the panna cotta was divine. The rhubarb topping which was thickened just enough all on its own, with its sweet and tart character and underlying vanilla, was a perfect match.

Tweet

Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake

A warm oven, vanilla scented sugar, and bright juicy cranberries joined the start of our Christmas morning. This cranberry vanilla coffeecake appeared in the December issue of Gourmet. While the flavors were perfect, I couldn’t resist making a couple of changes to the preparation. I really like cranberries, so I chose to leave them whole instead of chopping them in a food processor. Since I passed on the use of a food processor for that step, I didn’t pulse the vanilla with the sugar either. I just stirred the seeds into the sugar and broke apart clumps with my fingertips. I tossed some vanilla sugar with the whole cranberries, and I used a bit less sugar than recommended.

The next change to the recipe was accidental. Maybe I still had sugar plum fairies dancing in my head because I misread the ingredient list and used a whole vanilla bean rather than half. No worries, though, the extra seeds did no damage. One last adjustment was the use of a tube pan in place of a round cake pan. The coffeecake was more festive baked in the tube pan shape. Batter was layered in the bottom, followed by the cranberries, then more batter was added before the vanilla sugar crumb topping.

The vanilla, of course, smelled fantastic as the cake baked. The cranberries were tart and juicy and made a pretty filling. The crunchy, crumbly top with the tender center made this coffeecake a winner. I have a feeling the leftovers won’t last long enough.

Tweet

Ricotta Pound Cake

The other day, I read a post on Food Gal’s site that sent me straight to the kitchen. She mentioned how we can’t waste food these days, and so she found a couple of excellent uses for left-over ricotta. Wasting food is not just economically ill-advised, it’s an environmental misstep as well. I’m usually pretty anal about planning meals and using everything before it spoils, but once in a while I end up with a bit of something that has no defined purpose. As I hungrily looked at those lovely lemon ricotta muffins, I remembered that I too had some left-over ricotta in the refrigerator. When I started rummaging through the pantry, I found I was lacking lemon and almonds and the frugality of this endeavor would be a bit diminished by a trip to the grocery store. I could have just left them out, but Kurt was in need of a dessert item, a snack cake seemed like a good solution, and so I turned to another recipe which I found online.

Here’s the twist in this story: this is from a book that I don’t own. When Dolce Italiano appeared last year, I read mixed reviews and never acquired a copy. If anyone out there has this book, I’d love to hear what you think of it.

This simple pound cake made good use of my remaining ricotta. It smelled so good when it came out of the oven, we couldn’t resist cutting into it before it had completely cooled. The crunchy, crusty edges were sweet enough as they were without a confectioner’s sugar dusting, and the interior was unbelievably tender. I may cook some apples or pears or cranberries to spoon over pieces of it tonight. The recipe states that the flavor is best the next day, so I can’t wait to find out if it’s even better than it was yesterday.

Tweet