Today I offer you the cocoa and ricotta crumble, a delicious recipe made by the very kind Barbara Lamperti of the site “Buonapappa.net” (as soon as available, I will also add the link to the original recipe), which focuses on recipes for little ones. The cake I chose has a cocoa crumb shortcrust base and a delicious ricotta filling. It is designed for children but, I assure you, adults will appreciate it very much too. I made a few changes compared to the original recipe according to my tastes. It’s a very easy dessert and will be a big hit at your parties or as a Sunday treat. I recommend preparing the cocoa and ricotta crumble the day before both because it becomes even better and because it needs to cool completely before it can be cut.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 15
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Autumn, Winter and Spring
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 large whole egg
- 1/2 cup soft butter
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
- to taste grated orange zest
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract (or a pinch of ground cinnamon)
- 1 2/3 cups sheep ricotta (or cow ricotta)
- 3/4 cup vanilla powdered sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 egg whites
- 1 oz candied orange peel or mixed candied fruit
- 1 pinch fine salt
Tools
- 1 Pan
- 1 Grater
Steps
For this cake we can use either a 8-inch or a 9.5-inch springform pan. The difference only concerns the appearance, because with the smaller pan the layers of the cake will be higher and better defined.
Let’s start by preparing the cocoa shortcrust dough. In a bowl or in a food processor, mix the flour, powdered sugar, cocoa, baking powder, grated zest, and salt; then add the soft butter cut into pieces and the whole egg. Knead until you obtain a nice dough which you’ll shape into a small cylinder (photos 1 and 2).
Since flours do not always absorb liquids in the same amount and eggs can vary, if you notice that the dough does not come together — in the sense that the flour is not fully absorbed — you can remedy this by adding one or two teaspoons (at most) of cold milk and kneading until you obtain a well-bound, smooth dough.
Divide the resulting “cylinder” into 2 equal parts, wrap them separately in cling film and place them in the freezer for 60 minutes, because they must be very firm to be grated. Also put the grater in the freezer if it has no electric parts.
Meanwhile, prepare the ricotta filling.
In a bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with a pinch of fine salt (photo 3).
Chop the candied fruit very, very finely.
Sieve the ricotta into another bowl and drain any excess whey; add the two yolks, the vanilla, the lemon zest, the powdered sugar and mix all the ingredients well with a whisk or a fork (photo 4).
Finally, add the egg whites, stirring slowly and gently, from the bottom upwards, until you obtain a creamy and airy mixture (photo 5).
Line the pan perfectly with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 356°F.
Prepare the base of our crumble. Take only one of the shortcrust dough logs from the freezer and grate it on the largest holes of the grater (photos 6 and 7), reducing it into small flakes.
Completely cover the bottom of the pan with the “crumbs” (photo 8), tapping the pan gently on the table if necessary.
Add the ricotta cream (photo 9) and spread it evenly over the base (in this case too, tapping the bottom of the pan lightly by hand is enough to help the cream distribute evenly).
At this point take the other dough log from the freezer as well, grate it, completely cover the cream (photo 10) and bake immediately for about 40 minutes at middle height. Remove the cocoa and ricotta crumble from the oven and let it cool completely without touching it for at least 2 hours or, even better, overnight.
As soon as the cake has cooled to room temperature, transfer it to the refrigerator, stored in a cake carrier, to prevent the ricotta from souring.
