Strawberry and almond ricotta cakes

Still on a slightly Spanish theme, these little cakes are a lovely way to end a drinks party or a meal. The recipe can be easily multiplied to make slightly larger cakes or just one cake for an easy make ahead dessert. Ricotta is a mild Italian cheese, not Spanish of course (it is made from the whey left behind from the making of Mozzarella and other cheeses). But the almond base and topping does feels rather Spanish. Really though the authenticity doesn’t matter that much, they are just a great little cake. I hope you will agree.

Ingredients

40g butter

45g caster sugar plus 1 tablespoon extra

1 egg

2 tsp cornflour

60g ground almonds

70g ricotta

1 tsp vanilla paste

Zest of one lemon

Pinch of salt

Handful of smallish strawberries, cut into slices

24 blanched almonds

Silicone mini muffin tray (24 muffin size)

Method

Heat oven to 190°c

Lightly grease the silicone muffin tray and place it on a baking sheet.

Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg yolk.

Then fold in the cornflour, ground almonds, vanilla, lemon zest, pinch of salt and ricotta.

In a separate bowl, whip the egg white until it forms soft peaks. Fold this into the mixture.

Put even spoonfuls of the cake mix into the muffin cases.

Top with 3 or 4 thin slices of strawberry, a blanched almond and sprinkle over the extra sugar. Bake for 20 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, ease the ricotta cakes out of the cases and allow to cool on a wire rack.

The cakes will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.