Wheatless Lemon Ricotta Cake
This cake is a delicious rich one which has a wonderful lemony zesty twang to it. And this recipe is entirely gluten free which makes it a suitable treat for all those wheat and gluten sensitive people.
It is a version of the Lemon Ricotta Cake which comes from Sardinia in Italy.
Here are the ingredients which you will need:
1/2 cup of besan flour, or chick pea flour
1/2 cup of arrowroot flour
1/2 cup of fine yellow cornmeal
1 and a 1/2 teaspoons of Baking Powder
6 tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
3 organic free range eggs – Separated
Grated rind of one nice lemon
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
Method: Line the bottom of your baking dish with greased paper, or the butter wrapping which your butter comes in. Use a 9 inch round cake tin, or alternatively, a similar sized pyrex dish, which is an oven-proof type of glass.
Sprinkle a little arrowroot flour over the greased paper.
Cream together your butter and sugar. Then add the ricotta cheese. Mix well, then add the egg yolks one at a time.
Now put the 1/2 cup of besan flour into your mixture with the lemon juice and zest of lemon. Beat this very well until all the lumps in the flour have disappeared. In another bowl, stir in the baking powder to the arrowroot and cornmeal flours and add this to your cake mixture also.
In another clean bowl beat up your egg whites until they form soft peaks. You can add a pinch of salt to help them firm up. It also helps if your eggs are at room temperature rather than taken straight out of the fridge.
Add your beaten egg whites to your lemon cake mix. Fold them in gently. Pour the whole into your prepared greased dish or tin.
Bake at 350 F for around 3/4 of an hour, or until the cake is firm when tested with a skewer. Let the cake sit for 10 minutes to cool before you turn it out of the tin.
The cake can be iced, or simply dusted with icing sugar.