This is a real family classic, one I've made countless times using the original recipe, but also experimenting with a few variations: adding cocoa powder to the pastry, folding sour cherries or chunks of chocolate into the filling, or decorating the top with hazelnuts.
It takes just ten minutes to prepare. The only essential piece of equipment is a potato ricer.
If you don't have and don't want to invest into one you can crumble the dough with your finger: the result may differ a little but the cake will be good anyway.
That's just how I am: the desserts that win me over are simple, homemade cakes, made with everyday ingredients and no complicated techniques.
I'm a bit of a champion when it comes to homemade cakes, biscuits and loaf cakes. I could certainly try my hand at more elaborate desserts, and I wouldn't lack the patience, but they simply don't give me the same pleasure when it comes to eating them!
Soon I'll be busy preparing my Christmas biscuit collection, and there will be plenty of new recipes and photographs to share. For now, enjoy this cake, which really is within everyone's reach. I'm publishing it just in time for you to get the ingredients and make it this weekend!
Italian Crumble Ricotta Cake
A simple, rustic cake made with a crumbly pastry shell, a creamy ricotta filling and dark chocolate pieces. The pastry is pushed through a potato ricer to create its distinctive crumbly texture.
Recipe
Yield: 8 servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Resting time: None specified
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Total time: Approximately 55 minutes, plus cooling
Ingredients
For the pastry:
300 g plain flour
100 g butter
150 g sugar
2 eggs
1 sachet baking powder
For the filling:
700 g cow's milk or sheep's milk ricotta
100 g sugar
For the topping:
100 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Combine all the pastry ingredients and knead until you have a dough. Divide it into two equal portions.
Butter a 24 cm round cake tin. Put one portion of the dough into a potato ricer and press it through, letting the pieces fall directly into the tin.
Try to distribute the pastry strands evenly, but don't worry about covering every little gap. The pastry will rise during baking and any openings should close up.
Mix the ricotta with the sugar and spread the filling over the first layer of pastry.
Press the remaining dough through the potato ricer, distributing it over the ricotta.
Scatter the chopped dark chocolate over the top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 45 minutes.
Leave the cake to cool until lukewarm, then dust with icing sugar. Serve only once completely cooled.
Notes
You can use either cow's milk or sheep's milk ricottam I prefer cow's because it tastes milder.
The cake can be stored in the refrigerator, but it's best not to make it too far in advance. The moisture in the ricotta will gradually make the pastry less crumbly.
For variations, you can add cocoa powder to the pastry, put sour cherries or chocolate chunks in the filling, or decorate the top with hazelnuts.
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