Name: Almond Ricotta Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Europe, Italian
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened; 1 cup sugar; 2 large eggs, room temperature; 1-1/4 teaspoons almond extract; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 carton (15 ounces) whole-milk ricotta cheese; 3/4 cup sliced almonds; Confectioners' sugar, optional

Everybody loves the fluffiness and moistness of a ricotta almond cake! The best news is that this recipe requires only 20 minutes of prep time.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1-1/4 teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 carton (15 ounces) whole-milk ricotta cheese

3/4 cup sliced almonds

Confectioners' sugar, optional

Instructions

1 Cream the wet ingredients together

2 Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. This will take between five and seven minutes by hand, or between two and three minutes using a mixer. Next, add the eggs one at a time and then the almond and vanilla extracts. Beat the batter until these ingredients are well combined. Editor’s Tip: If it stresses you out to know when creaming butter and sugar is “done," we’ve got these super tips for you. Hint: look for the tiny peaks to form.

3 Sift the dry ingredients and combine

4 Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together until there are no lumps. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture you made earlier, mixing alternately with ricotta.

5 Bake the cake and serve

6 Spread the batter into a greased 9-inch springform pan and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. This will take 45 to 50 minutes. Before serving, cool the cake on a wire rack for 15 minutes and use a butter knife to remove the rim from the pan. Allow the cake to completely cool before serving and dust the top with confectioners’ sugar just before slicing.