lemon ricotta cake

this is another breezy spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. completely unpretentious. sometimes i just get, and i'm sure this never happens to any of you, the sloth state. it's very annoying when the sloth couples with cravings. you don't want to bake, but the bakery where they have the good stuff is a half-hour drive away. not to mention you can't drive there in your pajamas. sigh.

it's lemony sweet and very light. i used to make this with mascarpone, but my grocer must've confused it with golden talking puppies when he priced it. so i got ricotta al latte instead. typically i'd make a mousse, but i was out of gelatin. so i just mixed it with whipped cream and lemon curd and it was surprisingly smooth and creamy and delicious.

for the cake: 6 eggs, 6 tb sugar, 12 tb water, 14 tb cake flour, 1 ts vanilla extract.

preheat the oven to 350F. separate the eggs. beat the whites stiff and set aside. beat the yolks with the sugar and water and when pale and creamy start adding flour, slowly. add vanilla. fold in the egg whites, gently. pour into buttered pan and bake in the middle of the oven for about 20-22 minutes.

in the meanwhile, whip the 8 oz ricotta with a tb milk. ricotta al latte is moist and creamy, but there's still a grainy texture to it. whip until very smooth. pour 1 cup heavy cream directly over it and continue whipping until good and stiff. now fold in lemon curd, between 6 to 10 oz, according to taste. lemon curd is very sweet, so taste before you add more. trader joe's has a good one for cheap. find it by jams. or if you're not lazy you can make it, like this. anyhoo, mix it in and refrigerate. when the cake is cool cut it in half, sprinkle with some simple syrup and fill it.