Ricotta and Fruit Cake

A confession from a food blogger: not everything I make comes out as it should/I expect it to be.
Phew! Kind of strange period for baking sweets. Not only things don't come out as I imagined, I had to throw at least three things in a row. Some examples? Caramel Banana Cake...sounds great, even taste was fabulous, but the texture totally off. It seemed raw. One more? An Almond Apricot Tart...Looked like a new summer hit! Baked and cut it turned out wrong. The crust didn't bake at all under the (probably) heavy and moist, flourless almond filling. However, I had a slice when it was just baked, and taste matched the look. Apricots were bitter, and as a whole, the tart was tasteless. I thought maybe the taste would improve when it rested. And instead, after a couple hours, it tasted even worse...so off to the rubbish bin once more.
When new recipes take you in the wrong direction, the best thing to do is pull a brake, and go back to the old, tested and approved ones.
This is one of those.
Once more I have to thank my friend Zrinka, who not only shared this recipe, but also tries out my recipes almost daily.
I loved this recipe from the very first time I tried it. Even though I baked it as an upside-down cake and not as she suggested with fruit baked on top. Even though I turned it into gluten-free cake using rice semolina. I even managed to forget butter once and it was still edible ;)
It's a very particular cake. It's like a cheesecake in a way, but with no crust/base. And it's extremely moist, semolina gives it a very particular texture, and it tastes so light that you can't stop eating it.
I like to combine it with slightly tart fruit to contrast the sweetness.
My favourite combo until now has been with blueberries, served with some lemon curd on top.
Another big plus in favour of this cake is that all you need is one bowl and 15 seconds of your time to stir everything together. Then, sit and prepare a cup of coffee or a glass of fresh lemonade while waiting for the cake to bake.

note: the cake works fine with both rice and wheat semolina. If you use rice semolina it is gluten-free, otherwise, if using the wheat one, it is NOT gluten-free.

Ricotta and Fruit Cake

* 4 TBspoons rice semolina (or wheat semolina)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 120 g sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 500 g ricotta cheese
* 3 eggs
* 2 TBspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
* zest of 1 organic lemon
* 130 g butter, melted and cooled
* icing sugar
+
350-400g fresh fruit (peaches, plums, blueberries, etc.)

Put the eggs, ricotta, sugar, semolina, baking powder, lemon juice and zest, and the butter into a mixing bowl.
Mix well using a wisk or hand mixer, just until everything is combined (15 seconds, literally).
Grease a 26-cm round spring cake form with butter.
Now either pour the batter into the pan and arrange the fruit on top, or arrange the fruit on the bottom of the pan and pour the batter over the fruit.
Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 55 minutes.
If you baked the cake with fruit on top, just remove the ring and slide the cake on a plate once it's cooled down.
If you baked the cake with fruit on the bottom of the pan, place a plate on top of the pan and flip everything together so that the cake lands on the plate and the fruit is on top.
Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Torta ricotta e frutta

* 4 cucchiai di semolino di riso (o di grano)
* 1 cucchiaino di baking (lievito per dolci)
* 120 g di zucchero
* 1 cucchiaino di estratto di vaniglia
* 500 g di ricotta
* 3 uova
* 2 cucchiai di succo di limone
* scorza grattugiata di 1 limone non trattato
* 130 g di buro, fuso
* zucchero a velo, per spolverare il dolce
+
*350-400 g di frutta fresca (pesche, prugne, mirtilli, ecc.)

Mettete le uova, ricotta, zucchero, semolino, estratto di vaniglia, suco e scorza di limone, e infine il burro fuso (lasciato raffreddare) in una ciotola capiente e mescolate per 15 secondi usando una frusta a mano o uno sbattitore elettrico - mescolato giusto quanto serve per ottenere un composto omogeneo.
Pulite e tagliate in pezzi la frutta che avete scelto.
Potete procedere in due modi. Versare l'impasto in uno stampo a cerniera da 26 cm precedentemente  imburrato e poi distribuire la frutta sopra, premendola leggermente nell'impasto. Oppure sistemate la frutta sul fondo dello stampo imburrato e versate l'impasto sopra.
Cuocete la torta per 55 minuti circa nel forno riscaldato a 180°C.
Una volta colta, togliete l'anello, lasciatela raffreddare prima di trasferirla su un piatto da portata.
Nel caso l'avete cotta con la frutta sotto l'impasto (come ho sempre fatto io), posate il piatto sopra lo stampo e girate tutto insieme rovesciando la torta sul piatto.
Spolverate la torta con lo zucchero a velo prima di servirla.

n.b. la torta è senza glutine solo in caso usate il semolino di riso

Sirno voćni kolač
(originalni recept)

* 4 žlice griza od riže (ili pšeničnog)
* 1 žličice praška za pecivo
* 120 g šećera
* 1 žličica ekstrakta vanilije
* 500 g svježeg sira (kod mene ricotta)
* 3 jaja
* 2 žlice soka od limuna
* korica limuna
* 130 g otopljenog i ohlađenog maslaca
* šećer u prahu za posipanje
+
* 350-400 g svježeg sezonskog voća (breskve, šljive, borovnice, i sl.)

Stavite jaja, sir, šećer, griz, prašak za pecivo, sok i naribanu koricu limuna, i na kraju otopljeni maslac u zdjelu i promiješajte (pjenjačom ili ručnim mikserom) da se sastojci sjedine, 15-ak sekundi.
Očistite i narežite voće.
Dalje možete raditi na dva načina:
-istresite tijesto u namašten kalup s pomičnim obručem, promjera 26 cm a po tijestu rasporedite voće i lagano ga utisnite.
-ili rasporedite prvo voće u namašten kalup i sipajte tijesto preko voća.
Pecite zatim tortu oko 55 minuta u pećnici zagrijanoj na 180°C.
Ako ste pekli tortu s voćem gore, skinite obruč i kad se ohladi skliznite je na tanjur.
Ako ste je pekli s voćem ispod tijesta, stavite tanjur na kalup i sve skupa okrenite tako da tortu izručite na tanjur i da vam voće bude gore.
Pospite tortu šećerom u prahu i poslužite.

*torta je bez glutena samo u slučaju da koristite rižin griz.