Day 192: Vatican City and Torta alla Ricotta

Buonasera, Raffies!

We are going to the smallest country in the world, the Vatican and we are going to have our last dessert in this challenge..but fear not! There will be more desserts coming your way after the challenge is over ;)

I know the Vatican does not exactly have a different cuisine from the rest of Italy, however the cuisine of Rome and Lazio, the region in which Rome is, have a quite peculiar cuisine. Maybe spaghetti alla carbonara ring a bell ;) They are typical for Lazio and Rome to be precise. The cuisine there is quite heavy - we'll be having more dishes coming soon!

Anyway, today's cake is typical for Southern Italy. It seems that versions of this cake already existed in Roman times, although this could be just a legend. The actual place of birth of this cake is not entirely certain, either Lucania, Irpinia or Sannio - which is the one we are going for today. There are a lot of different versions of this cake too. Sometimes you can find it as a dry cake, sometimes like a pie or something resembling the American cheesecake.

We are going to make a very simple, yet delicious cake that strangely enough I did not enjoy as a kid. We are making Torta alla Ricotta. It is a simple cake with ricotta and chocolate drops. I prefer the creamy version of it compared to the dry cake..
The trick to getting a creamy cake is cooking it at the right temperature and for a short period of time, to prevent the cake from drying out.

So, here it goes:

250 g ricotta
250 g flour
3 eggs
180 g sugar
50 ml milk
1 package backing powder
1 package vanilla sugar
30 g chocolate drops

To get the best result, make sure to keep the ricotta, milk and eggs out of the fridge for about an hour, before starting.
In a bowl, mix the ricotta with the sugar, until is it creamy. Add the eggs one by one and keep on stirring. Now it is time to add the flour, vanilla sugar and backing powder. Mix well and add the milk.
Before adding the chocolate drops, dip them into some flour. This will prevent them from falling to the bottom of the cake and will keep their shape intact.
Stir everything and pour the dough into a baking form.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180° C for 30 minutes. Check it the cake is done with a toothpick. The inside should be cooked but still creamy. Serve and enjoy!

What do you think of this cake? Would you like a slice?


Love, Raffi