Lime Ricotta Olive Oil Cake
A cake to model yourself after: It gets better with age
Want to go straight to the recipe and avoid my version of a woman scorned? Scroll down until you see a picture of a lush slice of cake.
I pondered whether to send you folks the really sad poem I wrote about feeling like an overlooked woman of a certain age. I never-ever write poetry and didn’t quite understand why people did. This week I understood. I was moved. But my friend Kristin warned me against sending it to you all in a kindly but “you’re gonna regret this” tone of voice. It’s good to have friends like Kristin.
So, thanks to Kristin, I’ve spared you.
Briefly: My little downward spiral this week was thanks to a small interaction that turned into a big deal for me emotionally.
I’m working on a cookbook proposal. It’s an idea I’m really excited about. I know it will have broad appeal and feel confident it can be a great success. I’ll save you the spiel, but TRUST me. I explained the cookbook idea to someone I know, who responded instantly with seeming evil glee. “Did I know someone else was coming out with a book just like mine? This fall!” And “Look!” says he, waggling his iPhone in front of my face, “She is so young and pretty!”
I’d like to tell you I laughed charmingly, understood that he said it all to be helpful and moved swiftly on to tightening up my marketing plan for the book. Instead:
It’s taken a few days of chewing over the injustice of age, how it’s easier for young, pretty people to succeed, plus some extra whoa-is-me I threw in for fun, but I’ve mostly put the conversation behind me. Um, except for telling you all about it. But as you’ll see, it inspired this week’s cake. Because instead of taking to my bed, I took to the kitchen: my place for happy, sad and all the feelings in between. A grilled cheese also helped. Grilled cheese always helps.
I baked and baked. I made a giant chocolate chip cookie in a cast iron pan. I packed it full of warm spices, added dried coconut milk powder — an ingredient new to me that I’m playing with— and it tasted like Christmas. I’ve also made a comforting pan full of soft lemon shortbread cookie bars, iced in an even more lemon-y frosting. I’ll post the recipe later this week. And fresh from my trip to Italy, I was inspired to bake a ricotta and olive oil cake. Instead of the more typical lemon, I went for full-on lime flavor and added a slew of blueberries. This is the recipe I’m sharing today because, yes, this cake gets better with age.
I didn’t enjoy my whinging and wallowing earlier this week. Writing to you folks about it is cathartic, but also, I know I’m not the only person out there whose ever felt that way and wonder what your perspective is about it all. Also, I hope you will all send me angry letters if I go on about it again. Please leave me your thoughts by clicking the “comments” button below.
Good, Nice Thing: Rachel Vindman and The Secret Life of Cookies
On a very positive note, Rachel Vindman was my guest on The Secret Life of Cookies podcast this week. Ohhhh we talked about it all, from De Santis' special brand of fascism to our new careers as high-end SCIF interior designers. Plus: How we can actually help save democracy (seriously).
Let’s talk cake now, shall we?
[entire Substack group breathes collective sigh of relief]
Things to know about this here cake:
Save your most expensive extra virgin olive oil for drizzling on bread or a delicate grilled fish. However, if you have something a step above Phillipo Berio or whatever supermarket brand you have—an oil with a more pronounced green (grassy, vegetal) flavor—use that. It won’t be a pronounced flavor in the cake, but it adds a special something.
Of course you can substitute lemon juice and zest instead. Same goes for fruits: Blackberries work wonderfully.
I dusted the top of my cake with granulated sugar for a little bit of texture when it was just out of the oven. There is no law that says you have to.
The cake is wonderful served on its own, but if you want to fancy it up for a dinner party, fresh fruit salad (that includes whatever berry you’ve put in the cake), macerated in a little rum if you are so inclined, would make for a stellar dessert.
Olive Oil Cake with Lime and Ricotta
makes 1 9”cake
What You’ll Need:
2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond brand)
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
2 generous tablespoons lime zest
3 large eggs
3/4 cup (160 grams) extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup (200 grams) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (115 grams) fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (249 grams) blueberries
What You’ll Do:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Grease a 9” springform pan. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment.
Using your clean and dried hands, rub the lime zest into the sugar. The idea is to get all that lush, aromatic citrus oil coating the sugar crystals. This is a great tip for whenever you are making something with zest. The longer you let it sit, the stronger the flavor will get.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and the eggs together until light in color and frothy.
Add the olive oil, ricotta, lime juice and vanilla extract and whisk gently until combined.
Use a silicone spatula (or equivalent) to fold in the flour mixture. When the last bit of flour disappears, fold in the blueberries. Don’t overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it to the edges. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Use the touch test as well: When you gently touch the center of the cake, it should bounce back and not leave an indentation.
Let cool for 10 minutes on a rack, then release the springform and leave the cake to cool completely. It’s very nice the first day, but like I suggested, gets better each day.
Okay, here’s an adorable new photo of Bosco for those of you who made it through today’s self-indulgent substack. And here’s that Comment button I was telling you about before.
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A friend and I (mid 60s and early 70s) were talking the other day about how weird/hard/surprising it is to be "old" and invisible and to be those people who we used to believe were so out of touch with the world. All the weirdness of it. We decided we needed t-shirts that said: weirdly old. I fluctuate between your hippo photo and twirling around in all my "I don't give a damn" weirdness...al.ost daily.
I'm a woman who is 71 years old and was never considered "pretty" at any age (although my daughter was looking through my high school yearbook a few years back and, spontaneously, told me I was pretty but probably not appreciated at the time). Luckily I'm on the autism spectrum and have never cared what anyone thought about my looks or my intelligence or my other talents. I would never purchase a cookbook because the author was young and pretty. "Young" tells me they lack real world experience and "pretty" is irrelevant. I'm not surprised that a man said this as they do tend to place way too much emphasis on both, but only when it comes to women, and they either enjoy the "teasing" insults or are oblivious with no filter. I have nothing against this unknown woman and wish her well, but I know that you're very experienced in the kitchen and very truthful about the cooking experience. I love the tips (rubbing the zest into the sugar - who knew) and the ingredient options. I'm also Irish through and through so no ricotta and olive oil cakes growing up but I will be adding this to my "to do" list because I trust you when you say it'll taste good.