This light, delicious cake gets a moist boost of flavor from ricotta cheese, with lemon and almond being the boldest flavors. Recipe modified from the original on the Kerrygold website. [If you can only get salted Kerrygold butter, reduce the added salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.]
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: irish
Keyword: almond, cake, cheese, citrus
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
9-inch square pan
aluminum foil
uneven spatula
Ingredients
Cake
1 1/2cupsall-purpose flour
2teaspoonsbaking powder
3/4teaspoonkosher salt
8TablespoonsKerrygold unsalted butter (1 stick) 1/2 cup, room temperature
1cupwhite sugar
1lemon zested and juiced
2large eggs room temperature
1teaspoonpure almond extract
1 1/2cupswhole milk ricotta cheese
3/4cupsliced almonds
Glaze
3/4cupconfectioners' sugar
3teaspoonsfresh lemon juice
Instructions
Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line 9-inch pan with foil extended up all four sides. Apply nonstick spray.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs and almond extract.
To the mixing bowl, alternatively add the flour mixture and the ricotta. Batter will be thick.
Pour it into the prepared pan. Level off with an uneven spatula. Sprinkle sliced almonds to cover the top.
Bake for 33 to 38 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test.
Cool in pan for at least 45 minutes, then use foil to lift it onto a rack to completely cool at room temperature.
Make glaze and drizzle across the top. Let set for 30 minutes before cutting. Cake will keep at least two days at room temperature, or pieces can be individually wrapped and frozen for later.