Italian Lemon-Ricotta Cake
Updated February 18, 2016
Grant Cornett for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Theo Vamvounakis.
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 quart whole milk
1 ¾ cups semolina flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 large or 2 small lemons
4 large eggs
1 pound (2 cups) fresh ricotta cheese, strained
Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
Raspberry sauce (see recipe)
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 325. Butter an 11-inch round cake pan.
- Step 2
Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering, then whisk in the semolina and salt. Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and stir in the sugar and butter until combined. Transfer the batter to a bowl to cool it down to warm, stirring frequently to prevent a skin from forming.
- Step 3
Zest the lemons, using only the yellow part, and stir into the batter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Beat in the ricotta.
- Step 4
Pour the batter into the pan, and bake until set and golden in places, about 1 hour. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool, and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar while still hot. Once the cake has cooled, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar once more, then serve.
Private Notes
Comments
Professional bakers might have an 11" cake pan. Not so much the rest of us. Elsewhere, it was noted that a 10" cake pan worked with a little bit more cooking. But a recipe developed for such a specific and odd piece of equipment simply doesn't make sense. The NYT should at least offer some instructions for using more commonly sized cake pans.
we serve migliaccio in our pizza shop. our recipe was inspired by a Naples version but we took months tweaking it until we got what i believe to be a masterpiece! fine semolina - not coarse. and always stir that mixture on the stove until it thickens. you should use a stand mixer and really beat it smooth. use 3 cups milk and 1 cup cream. use orange, vanilla and lemon. all 3. and strega if you can. use a few more eggs too. bake lower and longer. and now i've said too much!
This cake was a huge success at a dinner party! Everyone begged to take home extra slices. I used the zest of three lemons and used a 10" springform pan. It was flavorful without being overpowering and very tender and light. I have no idea why there are negative reviews. This one is a keeper!
This turned out great, so light and fluffy. Fresh lemon zest is a must, don't skip that. The one thing, though, is that there is no way technically to "boil" the batter after you add the semolina, it turns into a very thick batter that cannot be "boiled". I kept wondering if I missed an ingredient or measured wrong! I took it off the heat immediately and kept stirring (it's very difficult because the batter is thick and stiff) to try to loosen it a bit before adding the sugar and butter.
This recipe is delicious, albeit half-baked in terms of directions. Warm the milk, then slowly add the semolina while constantly mixing. Double the zest amount. I baked for 60 mins at 325, then 29 mins at 350, so it finally turned golden. I cooked it in the refrigerator and served it with strawberry rhubarb compote. Everyone at my party loved it.
yes, follow the recipe.