Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce