The apple and ricotta cake with raisins and pine nuts is a soft, moist and rich dessert perfect to start the day full of energy. If you like slightly moist fluffy cakes this recipe is for you: ricotta makes batters very tender and keeps that quality for a long time. I also use it in pancakes, in muffins and in many cakes like the decadent cake with apples, ricotta and almonds.
The recipe I propose today is very simple: you don’t need electric beaters, just a large bowl to mix the ingredients one after the other. In a short time you’ll make a dense, creamy batter to flavor as you like. I added vanilla, lemon and a tablespoon of rum, but feel free to customize it to your taste.
Don’t like raisins or can’t eat pine nuts? No problem: if you don’t like raisins you can omit them or replace them with other dried fruit, and pine nuts can be substituted with other nuts such as slivered almonds.
In my apple and ricotta cake I used peanut oil; if you prefer you can use butter instead — I leave quantities in the ingredient list.
Try these other apple recipes:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Conventional oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta (firm and compact)
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp rum
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 2 Golden Delicious apples (large, about 14 oz (400 g) net of waste)
- 1/2 cup raisins ((about 80 g))
- 1/3 cup peanut oil (or 6 tbsp (about 3 oz / 85 g) very soft butter)
- 2 tsp butter (for greasing (about 10 g))
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour (for dusting (about 10 g))
- 1/3 cup pine nuts (about 1.4 oz (40 g))
- to taste vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Bowl large
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Scale
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Grater
- 1 Springform pan 9 1/2-inch diameter
Method
Wash the raisins very well, then place them in a small bowl covered with warm water until they become soft.
Wash the lemon thoroughly under running water, zest it with a grater and set the zest aside.
Wash the apples, peel them and slice them about 5 mm (about 3/16 in) thick, set aside (I put them in the fridge to prevent browning).
Butter and flour the 9 1/2-inch pan.
Put the ricotta in a large bowl with the sugar and mix very well; add the eggs one at a time, then the oil, the milk, the vanilla, the rum and the lemon zest (or other flavorings to taste).
Sift the flour with the baking powder, add them to the wet ingredients and whisk vigorously to obtain a homogeneous batter.
Drain the water that covers the raisins and squeeze them well; place them between two sheets of paper towel to remove any trace of moisture.
Dust the raisins with a little flour, fold them into the batter and incorporate.Transfer the batter to the buttered and floured pan. Arrange the apple slices on top of the batter and garnish with the pine nuts.
Bake the cake in a preheated conventional oven (no fan) at 356°F for about 50 minutes.
Do the toothpick test to check for doneness; if necessary extend the baking time by a few minutes, taking care not to overbake or the cake will become dry.If the surface of the cake tends to darken too much, cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.
The apple and ricotta cake with raisins and pine nuts is ready: let it cool slightly before unmolding. Place it on a plate and let it cool completely.
Sift vanilla powdered sugar over it and serve.
Tips
Storage
The apple and ricotta cake with raisins and pine nuts keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days; personally I prefer to store fruit cakes in the refrigerator and leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving, or heat the portion I need in the microwave.
You can also store it at room temperature but no more than 2 days because the fruit will tend to become acidic and change flavor.
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