Ricotta Pie

My other dessert contribution to Easter dinner was on the more traditional side of things. My Mother in Law is Italian so Ricotta Pie was something that basically runs through her families veins. In an attempt to be an awesome daughter in law, I decided to try my hand at a ricotta pie.

After many Google searches, I combined a few recipes into one that included the traditional ricotta mixture but added semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, orange zest, lemon zest, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. The addition of the citrus zest certainly added some freshness while the chocolate chips aded another layer of decadent flavor. The result was a creamy, cool combo that even had my Italian in-laws raving about it. WINNING :)

Enjoy!

Ricotta Pie with Chocolate and Citrus



Crust
1 2/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup shortening
2 eggs, beaten

Filling
1 carton (15 ounce size) ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon orange peel
1 dash salt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder; cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles small crumbs. Add eggs; stir until moistened and mixture forms a ball. Cover and chill for one hour. On a lightly floured surface; roll out dough to a 10 inch circle.

Place in a 9 inch pie pan and flute edges. Refrigerate. For filling; beat the ricotta, sugar, and flour in a mixing bowl. Add peels and salt; beat until smooth. In another bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon colored; about 5 minutes. Slowly fold into ricotta mixture. Gently mix in remaining ingredients. Pour into the crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes or until pie tests done.

Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake

As long as I'm able to whip up something delicious, I love celebrating any holiday you throw my way :)

If you're anything like me, this time of year it's time to enjoy all things that remind us of good weather. For me, that includes lemon. I love anything flavored with lemon. So much so that I'm certain Mr. TL is already sick of my lemon chicken, lemon pasta, lemon muffins, lemon asparagus... I feel like Bubba Gump!

For Easter, I scoured the internet for the perfect desserts to bring to my Mother in Law's house. I came across a knock off recipe for the Starbucks Lemon Loaf (which is DELICIOUS!) and thought I'd have a winner. But - I made some adaptations and chose not to use any extracts - only fresh, good ingredients. The end result was a dense, rich, and buttery lemon pound cake with just the right balance of sweet (cake) to tart (glaze). The addition of sour cream to the batter gives you a moist cake with an added depth of flavor. To be honest, I was nervous once the batter was complete, as it was super runny but fear not, as long as it bakes for the allotted time, you'll be digging into a delicious pound cake soon enough :)

Enjoy!

Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake



Cake
4 small lemons
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, that is completely softened
3 cups sugar that you have pulsed in the food processor for 1 minute (this basically takes your grainy sugar and turns it into superfine sugar - a great way to ensure a smoother batter)
6 eggs, warmed for 10 minutes in hot tap water before using
1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature

Glaze
2 lemons
2 cups powdered-sugar

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 16-cup tube pan and dust with cake flour; tap out any excess.

Scrub the lemons with hot soapy water. Rinse really well and dry completely. Zest four of the lemons. Juice 4 of the lemons.

In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. Work the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter for 2 minutes at medium speed in the electric mixer. Add half the sugar and mix for 2 more minutes, then add the rest of the sugar and mix again for 4 minutes, stopping once to scrape down the bowl and the beater blade.

Remove the eggs from the warm water and dry them. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined after each addition (about 30 seconds). On the lowest setting, mix in the dry ingredients, then the sour cream. Lastly, gently fold in the lemon juice. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about an hour and a half. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Cut around the cake in the pan, turn out the cake. Carefully turn cake right side up on rack.

While the cake is cooling, juice the remaining 2 lemons. In a small bowl, slowly add the powdered sugar to the and stir until smooth. It should look thick, opaque, and should be thin enough to it should be pourable. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice. Poke small holes all over the top of the cake using a fork or toothpick. Carefully pour about 1/2 the glaze over the tops and the sizes of the cake. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours or overnight. Cover the remaining glaze and keep at room temperature. About a half hour before you're ready to serve, pour the remaining glaze over the cake.

Store in a covered container, either in the fridge or at room temperature.