Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake

Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake is fragrant, juicy and a little decadent. It’s the perfect cake for snacking, especially if you’re looking for a little treat with some added clean ingredients like whole wheat flour, olive oil and coconut sugar.

Happy weekend!

If you’re anything like me, weekends are for baking. Long before I started blogging, I spent my weekends baking in the kitchen. I usually gave most of it away, or stored it in the freezer for special occasions, but the important thing for me was the stress relief it provided. People talk about carving out ‘me time’ or time for ‘self-care’. Well, baking is my ‘me time’ and my ‘self-care’. As long as I have my 80s music going, I could get lost in the kitchen for hours.

So that’s exactly how this Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake came to be a few weeks ago. I woke up one Saturday morning, and instead of diving into blog work, I thought I would go through some of my magazines and look for something that I could bake just for fun. And that’s when I came across a recipe for a Fresh Fig and Ricotta Cake in Food Network Magazine’s October 2018 edition. The cake is from Ina Garten’s new cookbook, Cook Like a Pro.

I didn’t have the fresh figs, since they’re usually difficult to find in Newfoundland, but I had some gorgeous plumcots (also called pluots, a cross between a plum and apricot), so I decided to give them a try. I subbed in whole wheat flour and coconut sugar, but otherwise, kept the recipe the same. It turned out beautifully! The ricotta created a spongy texture, and the plumcots added a sweet taste. You can check it out on Instagram, where I posted it a few weeks ago.

Since the cake was a success, I decided to make it again but with a few other variations. I used extra virgin olive oil instead of butter, and used black seedless grapes and fresh rosemary instead of the plumcots. The rosemary added a fragrant touch, and the grapes made for a sweet and juicy topping. But my favourite part was the extra virgin olive oil. It paired nicely with the ricotta, and added extra moisture and sponginess to the cake.

A few tips for making Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake

• While I’ve made versions of this cake with plumcots and black grapes, it would work well with so many different types of fruit. Other varieties of plums and grapes would work, as well as different types of berries and stone fruit.
• If you’re not a fan of rosemary, you can totally leave it out of the cake. It’s still flavourful without it, I just like the fragrance it adds.
• This cake can be stored in an airtight container on the counter, but because of the high moisture content, if you’re not going to eat it within a day, I would store it in the fridge.
• The recipe calls for sprinkling cane sugar on top of the cake before baking. You don’t need to do this, but it adds a nice, crispy layer on top when it bakes.
• It might be early, but dare I say this Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake would make a perfect holiday dessert? It comes together quickly, and has a festive vibe, especially if you go with toppings like cranberries and white chocolate!

If you make this Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake, or a version of it using different toppings, I would love to hear about it in the comments below. Be sure to take a pic and share it on Instagram by tagging @crumbtopbaking and using the hashtag #crumbtopbaking.

If you’re looking for other sweet treats, you could always check out the following recipes on Crumb Top Baking:

• Cranberry White Chocolate Breakfast Buns

• Flourless Ricotta Cupcakes

• Coconut Carrot Bundt Cake

Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 12 reviews

• Author: Leanne
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 8-10 slices
• Category: Dessert

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Description

Rosemary Grape Ricotta Cake is fragrant, juicy and a little decadent. It’s the perfect cake for snacking, especially if you’re looking for a little treat with some added clean ingredients like whole wheat flour, olive oil and coconut sugar.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 cup full fat ricotta (at room temperature)
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1–1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary
• 3 cups black seedless grapes
• 2 tsp cane sugar

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Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375F, and grease a 9-inch springform pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and oil and mix with an electric mixer until combined. The mixture will be gritty. On medium speed, add in one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in the ricotta, sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest, and mix on medium speed until well combined. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. The mixture will still look a bit gritty.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the wet mixture, and blend on low speed until just combined. Don’t over mix.
4. Stir in the fresh rosemary, and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the whole grapes in a single layer on top of the cake, and sprinkle on the cane sugar.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
6. Let cool on a wire rack before removing from the pan and cutting into slices.
7. Store cake in an airtight container on the counter for a day, or in the fridge for 3-4 days.

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Notes

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe for Fresh Fig and Ricotta Cake from her new cookbook, Cook Like a Pro and also found in Food Network Magazine’s October 2018 edition.

Keywords: cake, dessert, ricotta, grapes, rosemary