Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake

I used to read these murder mysteries by Meg Cabot about the trials and travails of one Heather Wells, a college dorm administrator turned unofficial private detective who solves the murders of several of her snotty undergrads. According to the author, the series' fictional college was partly inspired by her own experience working at an NYU dorm for several years. One gets the impression it was hardly a dream job.

All of which is to say that it seems rather strange that my own house administrator at school (incidentally also named Heather) appears to quite like the hectic job of dealing with some four hundred undergrads. Not only does she seem quite happy that none of us have been pushed down elevator shafts or found beheaded in the kitchen, but she is somehow always incredibly warm and enthusiastic, despite the crazy hours she works. I've bumped into her on a Saturday afternoon pulling tray after tray of cupcakes out of the oven for an open house (in the sketchy dorm kitchen I always complain about, no less!)

We occasionally get emails from Heather with the subject line "You Snooze You Lose" and a picture of the homemade baked goods sitting in her office that are up for grabs. She had out lemon ricotta cookies one day, tangy and dense and good enough to almost make you think that spring was finally going come to Boston. 

She condescended to share some of her favorite ricotta recipes with me, and food blogger that I am, I did some experimentation with them. This pound cake recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis (I'm kind of sentimental about Giada--the pie plate I used for my first pie was from her) and is a twist on the classic pound cake, adding ricotta and citrus. I swapped the butter for vegetable oil, to make the cake slightly lighter and to let the flavor of ricotta shine through, and reduced the amount of baking powder by a lot. The original amount called for was way too much, and a lot of the recipe reviews complained that the cake either spilled over or sunk when it was taken out of the oven. (Oh, and I made it a one-bowl recipe, because that's how many mixing bowls I own in college).

It's always exciting to get recipe recommendations from people and see how they turn out; this cake is flavorful and dense, sweet and slightly tart. In addition to feeding hungry college students, it's perfect for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a casual dessert. It's a classic cake and a great lemon loaf recipe, a necessary addition in any baker's repertoire. (Thanks, Starbucks).

Enjoy!
Caroline

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Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake

Click here for the printer-friendly recipe
Yields: one 9-inch loaf cake, about 8 servings
Loosely Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
For the Cake
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups whole milk ricotta
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ cups cake flour

For the Lemon Glaze
½  cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest, plus more for sprinkling

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil. 

Beat together the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, and ricotta until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and salt.

Fold in the baking powder and cake flour. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. 
Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Make the glaze. Mix together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest. The glaze should be thick and fall into the bowl in ribbons. If too thin, add more powdered sugar; if too thick, add more lemon juice. 

Pour the glaze over the cooled pound cake. Sprinkle additional lemon zest if desired.

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Chilled Cucumber Soup

Hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? You might have wondered which wormhole in this universe I may have dropped into, but rest assured the events of my life from our last conversation on Buckeye Brownies till now have not been nearly so dramatic or revolutionary in the fourth dimensional time-space sense (I might have just watched Interstellar...plus, physics is cool).

Mostly, it's been a series of mini mid-college-life-existential crises, like who-am-I (when brainstorming for the med school personal statement) and what-am-I-doing-with-my-life (maybe I want to do a fellowship?!) and a whole boatload of other premed-y concerns, and then a few months later (as in, last week), I completed junior year aaaand *deep breath* — it's summer.

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I do have an exciting development to share — this past spring quarter, I joined Spoon Magazine at Northwestern University as a photographer and boy is it tons of fun. Basically, Spoon is a food magazine featuring simple and delectable recipes and food tips catered toward college students. It's totally hip and stellar and drool-worthy. You should see for yourself.

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This recipe, in fact, is one I photographed for Spoon and it appeared in the print issue! How it went down — Carl and I were paired up on this chilled cucumber soup assignment (his brilliant idea). He cooked—or rather, simply threw on the ingredients together in a blender—while I photographed and kept thinking to myself how incredible it was that cucumber soup can be so photogenic. It was so much fun.

So a couple weeks later, we did another dish together (hint: chicken crusted with...pretzel?!).

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This cucumber soup is good stuff — chilled and a perfect way to welcome the summer. Never mind that we might have added a bit too much lemon the time that we made it...The recipe below is adjusted for that.

Happy summer!
Monica

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^Remember this from our insta?

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CHILLED CUCUMBER SOUP

"As temperatures rise, we crave entrees that can cool us down. If you're bored with gazpacho but still want a refreshing spring dish, this chilled cucumber and dill soup is the perfect solution." --Carl Pieri

Difficulty level: Easy   |   Yields: 4 servings

What
5 medium cucumbers, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh dill
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 parsley
Salt & pepper, to taste

How
Place cucumbers, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, dill, olive oil, and parsley in blender and blend until smooth.

Leave in refrigerator until sufficiently chilled, around 30 - 45 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fancy olive olive swirls, extra cherry tomatoes, and parsley if so desired.

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Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake with a Coconut Macaroon Crust

It was cold, gray, and flurrying in Boston when I went downtown last Friday. The snow started falling thick and fast by late afternoon, still beautiful, even though we've already seen so much of it this year. 

The holiday lights are still up in the Boston Commons, wound around all the trees, the only foliage they have right now. It could have been Christmas, as I walked through the public gardens in the snow with a cup of hot chocolate from Burdicks, coming across these fabulous Elsa and Olaf snowmen in the park. Definitely Christmas rather than the first day of spring. 

I've been dreaming of fruit desserts for the past few weeks, ready for the color and bright flavors of spring baking. As much as I love chocolate and caramel and spice, I'm ready to come out of hibernation.  

So this cheesecake is a piece of wishful thinking, made the first weekend of spring as the wind blew and the skies dumped more snow on us. Raspberries are nowhere near in season, and the lemons must have traveled far and long to make it to Boston. But I found a mini citrus zester at a little local kitchen wares store when I was shopping on Newbury Street (who wants to buy clothes when you can buy mini microplane zesters?). So of course, I couldn't resist making some sort of bright lemon dessert. 

This cheesecake is certainly that, creamy and citrusy, its rich velvety smoothness dotted with spots of juicy raspberries. Instead of a traditional graham cracker crust, I made a coconut macaroon crust; its creamy, nutty flavor works perfectly with the fruit. (Plus let's be real, I was too lazy to crush up some graham crackers). 

Anyways, I hope your first day of spring was somewhat more seasonal than mine. Either way, you should make yourself a raspberry lemon cheesecake; we all need a little bit more sunshine in our lives.

Plus for those of us in Boston, bikini season is a longgggg way away. So let's dig in.

Caroline

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Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake with a Coconut Macaroon Crust

Click here for the printer-friendly recipe
Yields one 9-inch cake

Ingredients
4 eggs, at room temperature, divided
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
¼ teaspoon salt, divided
24 ounces cream cheese (three 8-ounce packs), at room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup lemon juice
zest of two medium lemons
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sour cream
1 cup fresh raspberries, plus extra to garnish 

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with foil. Grease the foil with butter or vegetable oil.

Make the crust. Place two egg whites in a mixing bowl. Reserve the egg yolks for later. Add the coconut and ⅛ teaspoon salt, and mix well.

Press the coconut mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.

Make the filling. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in ⅛ teaspoon salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.

Mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined. Do the same for the two egg yolks left over from making the crust. Don’t overmix at the point, or else your cheesecake might crack in the oven.

Fold in the sour cream, followed by the raspberries. Pour the batter into the springform pan, on top of the crust. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the center is just set, but still slightly jiggly. Turn off the oven, crack the door open, and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another 15 minutes before taking it out. Cool completely, then refrigerate overnight.

Slice and serve with additional raspberries.

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Related Posts

Whole Lemon Bars

Happy spring! Like, for real this time. In Boston temperature has finally risen to the point where I would actually consider it spring-like. Even better, they've gotten out the multi-colored lawn chairs here in Harvard Yard! They're so bright and happy.

And you know what else is bright and happy? Whole lemon bars. They're the perfect balance between tart and sweet; sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, and with a very bright citrus flavor. And yes, I used the whole lemon, peel, pith, and all in these.The skin of the lemons give a little bit of texture.

I followed David Lebovitz's Whole Lemon Bar recipe, and it turned out amazing. I had spent about 2 weeks hunting the web for the perfect lemon bar recipe before finally deciding on this one. (To check out my scavenger hunt, visit my Pinterest board.)

The crust of this wonderful bar is flaky, buttery, and sweet, perfectly balancing the tart filling. It's also super easy to make; there's no cutting in cold butter or anything.

David Lebovitz recommends using an organic or un-sprayed lemon, but I was too lazy to go to the store to get one, so I just washed a normal lemon very well before using. And hey, I'm still alive.

I highly recommend making these. Their sweet-yet-tart, bright lemony flavor is perfect for spring, and they're super easy to make. The filling is made in the food processor, and the crust can be made in one bowl. Enjoy, everyone!

-Caroline

P.S. For more lemon recipes, check out our delicious Chewy Lemon Cookies

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Whole Lemon bars

Click here for the printer-friendly recipe of Whole Lemon Bars.
Lightly adapted from David Lebovitz
Yields 16 Bars

Ingredients
Crust
1 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
1 medium lemon (organic is best)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 eggs, room temperature
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8x8-inch pan with foil, with the ends of the foil extending over the sides, and grease with vegetable oil or non-stick spray.

For the crust, mix together the butter, flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla, until just smooth.

Firmly press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden-brown.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Cut the lemon into wedges, removing any seeds.

Place wedges in the food processor along with sugar and lemon juice and blend well. Add eggs, cornstarch, salt, and butter, and blend until smooth. (It’s okay if there’s a few small pieces of pulp still there.)

After the crust is done, reduce oven temperature to 300.

Pour the filling over the crust and bake for about 25, or until the center is just set. Let cool completely.

Remove from the pan, and peel off the foil. With a sharp knife, cut 16 squares. Dust with powdered sugar and serve