Petaled Ricotta Layer Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

When one of your best friends is turning 45, you celebrate with a party...and cake! And because she, I, and one of our other friends are permanent residents of Testosterone Land (we all have two boys plus husbands...that's a lot of testosterone), I decorated the cake with flowers. Lots of flowers.

Happy birthday, Jenn! Here's to over 3 decades of friendship and looking forward to 3 decades more.

Petaled Ricotta Layer Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

Please note that this is more dense, like a cheesecake. So you don't need very large slices when  you're serving. And I probably didn't need the three layers...

When I can't get petals from gardening friends, I like to get my organic flowers from Gourmet Sweet Botanicals. I went with pansies and marigolds for this cake.

Ingredients
Ricotta Cake makes three 8" rounds

• 1 C organic granulated sugar
• 2 C butter, softened
• 4 C whole milk ricotta
• 1 t orange blossom extract
• 1 t pure lemon extract
• 1 t vanilla paste
• 6 eggs
• 2 C flour
• 2 t baking powder

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 C softened butter
• 4 C organic powdered sugar
• 1 t vanilla paste
• 1 t pure lemon extract
• 2 T milk

Filling and Flowers

• 4 T lemon curd (recipe included in my post here) + more for serving
• 2 T rhubarb curd + more for serving
• organic pansies
• organic marigolds

Procedure
Ricotta Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of the baking pans with parchment paper and butter the sides.

Cream sugar and butter together until lightened and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating between each egg. Whisk in the ricotta and orange blossom extract, pure lemon extract, and vanilla paste. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder.

Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake for 60 minutes until the top if firm and golden. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cool completely before filling and frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream

Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat, on low, until nicely combined and creamy. Increase speed to medium and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla paste, lemon extract, and milk. Beat for another 1 to 2 minutes until you have a nice spreading consistency.

To Assemble

Place 1 cake layer on your serving platter. Spoon 2 T lemon curd and 1 T rhubarb curd into the center of the round and spread to within 1/2" of the edge. Place another cake layer on top and repeat. After you have the third cake layer on the top, frost the cake with the vanilla buttercream. Decorate with petals as you like. 

Serve the cake with more curd, if desired.