Raspberry Ricotta Buckle

Berry season is upon us once again.  Strawberries ripening in the nearby fields allow that once a year experience of enjoying fully ripened berries at their peak.

Raspberries aren’t quite ready yet but the non-local ones in the supermarket have been very tasty lately suggesting that raspberry season comes sooner and is being enjoyed elsewhere already.

 

Left over ricotta from last week's Ricotta Pancakes and a fantastic buy on raspberries this week inspired me to try out a recipe that was sitting at the top of my recipes to try out file.

 

Unlike the 30 year wait for the French Gourgere the recipe for Raspberry Buckle hardly waited a couple of weeks before moving to a more permanent recipe collection.

 

A buckle captures delicious fruit between the cake and streusel layers adding moisture and a fresh fruit texture and taste.  The tartness of raspberries along with the sweet layers of cake and streusel provide a balance that is truly enjoyable.

 

At the very least, the aroma filling the kitchen while this coffeecake is baking is something you really shouldn't miss!


Raspberry Ricotta Buckle
Cake

1 cup ricotta

¾ cup sugar

2 large eggs

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Streusel and Fruit

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 cups fresh or thawed, frozen raspberries

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 9x13 pan.
2. Wisk the ricotta, sugar, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, lemon zest and juice together.
3. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Add to ricotta mixture and stir just until blended and spread into prepared pan.

Streusel and Fruit

1. For the streusel, stir together the flour, sugar baking powder and cinnamon then stir in the melted butter until the mixture is evenly combined.
2. Layer the raspberries evenly over the batter. (If using thawed, frozen berries, drain excess juice and toss with 2 tablespoons flour.
3. Top the fruit with the streusel.
4. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean
5. Cool cake in the pan before serving.
6. The cake will keep wrapped and unrefrigerated for 3 days.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• Blueberries, blackberries or strawberries might be  berry good alternatives to raspberries.
• Cut and serve directly from pan.
• This recipe doesn't recommend refrigerating the coffee cake as refrigeration renders it stale much faster.  This is true for bread as well and I recently read it becomes stale six times faster if stored in the refrigerator. Too long on the counter however and you may end up with a great specimen for an interesting science experiment. To be safe, if you can't use it within a couple of days it's better off in the freezer.