Monday, June 9, 2014

Butter-Free Apple Cake with Ricotta Cheese

Wholesome, moist, soft and delicious apple cake with ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of almonds!

I can't imagine a morning at the beach without a nutritious, healthy and delicious snack for the kids.
That's why on Thursday night I prepared this apple cake with ricotta for Friday morning. It was the first day of vacation for my kids, and I organized a little gathering with some of our friends at the near by beach. I was so much fun! The perfect way to kick off the summer.
My only mistake: I should have made at least two of these butter-free, moist and yummy apple cakes! About a third of it was gone on Thursday night, right after dinner... well, maybe this was another mistake! But my kids, and I :-) really wanted a taste. It's so hard to say no to a just baked, still warm and incredibly fragrant dessert! And I had to make sure it was actually as delicious as it looked, right?!?
Anyways, the rest of the cake disappeared on Friday in less than 60 seconds. I guess I should have figured that out: playing in the water and running around the sand can sure make you hungry. Now I learned my lesson, and I will be better equipped next time!
As I promised my friends, here is the recipe.

Ingredients: to make one doughnut shape cake, 10 inch in diameter
  • 3 apples, I used pink lady, about 1.25 lb total
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 7.5 oz of whole milk ricotta cheese (half of my package)
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (I used olive oil, because I didn't have any other oil available!)
  • 1 tablespoon (16 gr) of baking powder :-)
  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sliced almond, unsalted dry toasted
  • powder sugar to decorate
Preparation time: about 20 minutes to prepare, plus 60 minutes to bake

Directions:

Step 1: Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and thinly slice the apples. Place in a bowl with lemon juice (half lemon juice should be plenty).

Step 2: In a large bowl, mix well the eggs with the sugar.

Step 3: Add the ricotta cheese, and mix well again.

Step 4: Stir in the oil ... pretty simple, right?

Step 5: Add the lemon zest, the baking powder and the flour. Mix some more until nice and smooth.

Step 6: Last, add the apples and mix with a spoon.


Step 7:  Grease the bottom of your baking pan if necessary, and sprinkle the bottom of your mold or pan (which will be the top of my cake) with the sliced almonds.
                                              

Step 8: Pour the batter, and place in the middle of the oven.
Step 9: Cook for about 1 hours. Check with a toothpick if the cake is ready. The toothpick should come out clean, no streaks of batter.
 Let the cake cool down a bit, flip it over, and sprinkle with powder sugar. Yummy!!


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