We “re-discovered” this recipe by Dan Lepard in our files recently and after giving it a try can report that this is in fact a lovely, moist, just-the-right-kind-of-sweetness-with-a-hint-of-coffee cake. Perfect for this weekend!
Coffee & Ricotta Marble Cake
Ingredients:
- 125g unsalted butter, softened
- 200g caster sugar + a few tbsp extra for the coffee “drizzle” (or more for icing)
- 200g plain flour
- 150g ricotta
- 2 large eggs
- 2.5 tsp baking powder
- 30ml strong brewed coffee (or use 2 tbsp of ground coffee in 30ml boiling water instead) + about 1/3 cup extra for coffee “drizzle” or icing
- 25ml Marsala, dark rum or whiskey
- 1tbsp cocoa powder (will give it darker colour and works well with coffee)
Method:
- Grease the base and sides of a 17cm long loaf tin or similar or line with non-stick baking paper.
- Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan-assisted)/ 350F/gas mark 4.
- Brew the coffee using your preferred method. Alternatively, put ground coffee in a cup, stir in 25ml of boiling water and leave to infuse for 10 minutes, then strain.
- Beat the butter and sugar until soft and light.
- Measure the flour into a small bowl, spoon about a quarter in with the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
- Beat in the ricotta, then the eggs, one at a time.
- Sift in the baking powder and the remaining flour, and beat lightly.
- Divide the mixture in half. Beat the coffee and cocoa powder through one half, and the Marsala through the other.
- Spoon the mixture in alternate blobs into the tin, tap the tin firmly on the worktop to knock out any air bubbles, swirl the batter gently with a skewer and bake for 50-60 minutes.
- Dissolve a few tablespoons of sugar in about 1/3 cup of brewed coffee to make very sweet liquid. Drizzle it over the cake just to moisten the surface and give it a bit extra coffee flavour. Let it rest so it soaks in the liquid and cools. Alternatively, if you are a big icing fan, drizzle the cake with a simple coffee water icing to finish (see instructions here).
We tweaked the recipe a little bit (see the original recipe for comparison or if you would like to see a picture of the cake). Give it a try and enjoy it with a cup of coffee.
