Ricotta Orange Pound Cake with Strawberries

Story:
I LOVE watching a number of shows on food network.... My favorites include Giada De Laurentiis, Boby Flay, Ellie Krieger, and many more. I am absolutely jealous of Guy Fieri and his role on the show Diners, drive-ins and dives.. I wish there were a similar show in India that explored the countless thelaas and the delicious food.. and I dream of being the host for that show.. anyway - in short I am a food network junkie.

I am more into spicy food than sweets.. but the audience - my hubby :) is majorly in love with anything sweeeeeeeeet.. According to Shank there is no such thing as 'too sweet'. So when it comes to making desserts - I usually look for recipes on food network or on other blogs.

This recipe is great because of the fresh fruity flavors. I modified it a little bit and made it into a two tier cake with fruit and syrup between the two layers.. Ricotta cheese makes the cake real moist and butter - well you can never have enough butter in a pound cake.

Welcome to 100% pure indulgence...

Source: Link to the original recipe from Giada

Time: 3-4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus more to grease the baking pan
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 orange, zested
• 2 tablespoons Amaretto - I used Rum instead..
  
• Powdered sugar, for dusting
• 1 pint strawberries/raspberries, hulled and quartered or 3 oranges, cut into supremes
  

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 inch round cake pans. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, orange zest, and Rum until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the two prepared pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the strawberries (or orange supremes) in a small bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit until the juices have pooled around the strawberries.

Once the cakes are out - Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Place the lower layer of the cake on a flat surface, with a mesh sieve, dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar. Add a layer of strawberries or orange supremes - spread it evenly on the cake. Place the top layer of the cake and add another layer or strawberries or orange supremes along with the syrup.