You’ve heard of one-pot meals, but have you heard of one-cake desserts? That’s not a thing, but it should be. Here’s the idea: instead of an elaborate cake that you have to frost or decorate or slice in half, a one-cake dessert is one where a batter goes into a cake pan, the pan goes into the oven, and whatever comes out an hour later is what you serve for dessert (sprinkled, perhaps, with powdered sugar). In my years of dinner party-throwing, I’ve been a big champion of one-cake desserts: Al Di La’s pear and chocolate cake, for example. Or my favorite dinner party dessert of all time: Amanda Hesser’s almond cake. Now a new cake comes along to join the pantheon; this raspberry ricotta cake from last month’s Bon Appetit.
This cake meets all the criteria I have for a one-cake dessert: is there more going on than just cake? Yes. (Note: the almond cake doesn’t pass that test, but that cake has such pronounced almond flavor, it’s OK.) In this case, we’ve got raspberries creating little bursts of tartness throughout the cakey sweetness.
More importantly, is the cake moist? Oh yes, this cake is very moist because it has (a) ricotta; and (b) lots of melted butter. It’s almost like a cheesecake in that way.
Finally, does the cake look pretty when it comes out of the oven? Take a look:
Clearly, this cake is a winner and one you can assemble so easily before your next dinner party. So here’s the link (sorry, not typing this out!) and if you want some more one-cake desserts from the pantheon, here you go:
* David Lebovitz’s Ginger Cake
* The Village Bakery’s Berry Ricotta Cake (this one’s got cornmeal, so it’s different!) (But isn’t it weird that I didn’t remember I already posted about a berry ricotta cake? That’s how you know you’ve been food blogging too long….)
* Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
* Chocolate Chip Pecan Loaf Cake
* Caramelized Apple Skillet Cake
Happy caking.
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