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Italian
ricotta cheese is less runny than what we have in
America. In order to duplicate the Italian texture we
blended farmer’s cheese with ricotta cheese. To help
set the cake, we also added a couple of tablespoonfuls of
flour and an egg. I like the tang of the dried cherries,
but the cake works as well with golden raisins.
TO MAKE THE DOUGH:
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound unsalted butter, at room
temperature
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon or more ice water
Flour for rolling the dough
FOR THE FILLING:
1 carton (15 ounces) whole milk ricotta cheese
1 package (7.5 ounces) farmer’s cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup Romana Sambuca Liqueur
1/2 cup pine nuts, preferably toasted*
1/4 cup finely diced candied orange peel
 or other
dried fruit
1 cup dried cherries, cranberries
or golden
raisins
Egg wash: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1
tablespoon
of milk
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar for garnish
*To toast the pine nuts, set them in a 400° F. oven for
about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them; they turn from
golden to burned in seconds.
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- You’ll need a
round cake pan, preferably with a loose bottom, 9
inches in diameter and 11/2 inches deep.
- TO MAKE THE DOUGH: In
the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour,
sugar, salt and process until blended. Add the
butter and process until broken into the flour.
Add the eggs and ice water to the flour and
process, by pulsing several times, until the
dough comes together. If the dough seems dry, add
another teaspoon or so of ice water. Turn the
dough onto a board and gather it into a ball.
Flatten the dough slightly, wrap it in waxed
paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to
375° F.
- Flour a pastry board
and rolling pin. Remove 2/3’s of the dough and roll it into
a circle about 1/4-inch thick and 11 inches in
diameter. Line the cake pan with the dough,
pressing it into the bottom and up the sides of
the pan. If it breaks apart, don’t worry,
just press it back into shape. Roll the remaining
1/3 of dough into a circle about
3/8 -inch thick and 10 inches in
diameter. Divide this circle into 10 strips, each
about 1/2-inch wide; this will be for
the lattice top.
- FOR THE FILLING: In a
food processor, combine the ricotta and
farmer’s cheese, sugar, flour, egg and
Sambuca and process until smooth. Transfer the
filling to a mixing bowl and fold in the pine
nuts, candied orange peel and cherries, or golden
raisins and transfer this to the dough-lined cake
pan.
- Lay 5 strips of dough
across the ricotta filling and set the other 5
strips across them, at a 45° angle, to form a
lattice. With a pastry brush, paint the lattice
top and edges with the egg wash.
- Set the cake pan on a
baking pan and bake for 1 hour or until the
filling has set and the crust is golden. Remove
the cake and cool it thoroughly on a rack before
unmolding. Right before serving, shake the
confectioners’ sugar through a sieve to
completely coat the top.
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