ricotta cheese

Peach Blueberry Ricotta Tart

I have made this filling many times. I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust as I can’t roll pie crust right now. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. I added peaches and made it in a larger 11 inch round tart pan. Success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used fresh peaches and blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or other fruits.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. I used a little of the rind and juice of a lemon. I suggest that you let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them, always good advice with gf baking.

Peach Blueberry Ricotta Tart

Cookie crust:

1 1/4 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 rounded tsp. xanthan gum

heaping ¼ cup sugar

6.5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but part skim will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 heaping cup fresh or frozen blueberries

4 peaches, peeled and sliced (not too thick or too thin!)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put the oven rack as low as possible. Heat a wide pot of water to boiling; gently lower peaches into hot water. Leave in 3 minutes. Remove with a spider ladle. Let cool a few minutes and slip peels off. Slice into 8-10 slices per peach; not thick and definitely not thin!

Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the peaches and blueberries. Lay the fruit in the crust. Scatter or arrange as you desire. Carefully pour into the tart crust.

Bake tart 40 – 45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  My crust was a little pale at 40 minutes; next one will be 45 minutes in the oven. Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try everything I bake that I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

King Arthur Basic GF flour blend: GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Blueberry Ricotta Tart 2.2

I have made this tart many times. This time I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. In the past I always had leftover filling that I baked in a separate pan. This version endeavors to end that practice; I reduced the volume to make just enough to fill the tart pan, success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or a mixture of the two.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. These were definitely end of season blueberries but tasty none the less. I used a little of the rind and juice of a lemon but even better is the Meyer lemon which has a delicate flavor compared to regular lemons. Do let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them, always good advice with gf baking.

Ricotta Blueberry Tart

Cookie crust:

1 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 tsp. xanthan gum

¼ cup sugar

5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but any will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 heaping cup fresh or frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees/ Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the blueberries.  Carefully pour into the tart crust. Top with the berries.

Bake tart 40-45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try it I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Blueberry Tart 2.2

I have made this tart many times. This time I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. In the past I always had leftover filling that I baked in a separate pan. This version endeavors to end that practice; I reduced the volume to make just enough to fill the tart pan, success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or a mixture of the two.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. These were definitely end of season blueberries but tasty none the less. I used a little of the rind and juice of a lemon but even better is the Meyer lemon which has a delicate flavor compared to regular lemons. Do let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them, always good advice with gf baking.

Ricotta Blueberry Tart

Cookie crust:

1 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 tsp. xanthan gum

¼ cup sugar

5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but any will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees/ Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the blueberries.  Carefully pour into the tart crust. Top with the berries.

Bake tart 40-45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try it I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Fig and Ricotta Cake, GF and Fabulous!

Figs, figs, figs! Enough to enjoy, not enough for making big batches of fig jam. I did make some sweet pickled figs in October and last week we enjoyed a lovely fig and sweet cheese galette. This time I went back to the best bake I ever have made with figs; the fig and ricotta cake. It is just so delish, I now call it THE Fig Cake. When I told my sister Karen I was making a fig cake she knew exactly which one; she and her hubby who is of Italian heritage loved it when I made it in September 2020 while visiting them and our mom for her big 100th birthday celebration. I made it about 3 weeks ago but last night I felt another ricotta cake was just the right way to use some of my last ripe figs from this season.

This recipe is a big favorite of Ina Garten; you can find it on her barefoot contessa website. I reworked it a tiny bit to make it gluten free. It has a lovely crumb and a delicate flavor that is delightful. I think this cake is definitely one I would like to try and make with other fresh fruit, cherries? Apricots? Plums? All seem like great possibilities.

You can use small figs like I did or get larger yellow ones. Which tastes better is definitely a personal decision! Dried ones will not work. I think orange zest might be a delicious substitution for lemon zest. I think you can use any cup for cup gf flour as long as it is meant for direct substitution in recipes.

Don’t forget to let the eggs and all dairy items come to close to room temp; cold from the fridge is not good for gf baking. DO not underbake the cake; the center needs to look firm not squishy. Better to bake 5 more minutes than have a soggy center.

I think this cake tastes great warm but once it is cool it is still delish; you can warm slices briefly in the microwave before serving; I did this once and loved it.

brown turkey figs just picked

Fig and Ricotta Cake

Mixing up a storm of yumminess!
ready for figs!

Ingredients:

10 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 extra large eggs; I just picked the three largest in my dozen large eggs

1 cup whole milk ricotta; also at room temp.

2 Tbsp. sour cream; room temp.

1 Tsp. vanilla extract

½-1 Tsp. fresh grated lemon zest

1 ¼ cups Bob’s Red Mill One for One Gluten Free flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 Tsp. kosher salt

8 large or 12 medium figs, stems removed! Quarter if large, halve if smaller

1 Tbsp. coarse sugar or finishing sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a 8 inch removable bottom round cake pan. Tap out excess flour.

Beat butter and sugar in stand mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes, scrape down as needed. Until it is fluffy. Then add eggs one at a time, beating well between eggs.  Add ricotta, sour cream, vanilla, zest and mix until smooth. Mix dry ingredients in small bowl and add in thirds, mixing well between additions. Pour into prepared cake pan. Place figs, cut side up in pan; I started with a ring around the outside and worked my way inside pressing them in a bit. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake 40-48 minutes until a cake tester in center comes out clean. I did 46 minutes. The top should be browned but not really dark.  Cool on a rack for 15-20 minutes before removing side panel. Serve warm with whipped cream, crème fraiche or ice cream. I actually like it best plain so I can focus on the amazing flavors and texture. Enjoy!

This is a re-blogging of the recipe first published by my blog in Sept, 2020. Minor text changes and some new photos. Recipe unchanged.

Blueberry Tart 2.2

I have made this tart many times. This time I used a simple, sweet, press in, gf pie crust. It adds a bit of sweetness and is super easy; no rolling out the pie dough. In the past I always had leftover filling that I baked in a separate pan. This recipe revision endeavored to end that practice; I reduced the volume to make just enough to fill the tart pan, success!

Notes; you can leave out the lemon ingredients if you don’t want that flavor. I use King Arthur’s basic gf flour blend when I make a homemade crust, the one that is just flours, no xanthan in it. I used blueberries but I am sure you could make this with raspberries or a mixture of the two.

The ricotta adds a delicate texture and crumb. These were definitely off season blueberries but tasty none the less. I used a little of the rind and juice of a Meyer lemon which has a delicate flavor compared to regular lemons. Do let the ricotta cheese and eggs warm up to room temp before using them; always good advice with gf baking.

Ricotta Blueberry Tart

Cookie crust:

1 cup brown rice blend; King Arthur Basic GF Blend

1 tsp. xanthan gum

¼ cup sugar

5 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 10 pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in stand mixer bowl.  Add the butter, mix until fine like sand.  Add extract. Blend briefly.  Spray pan with cooking spray.  Sprinkle in the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press lightly in with your hands. DO not press too hard or it becomes way too firm.

Or, roll out that premade pie crust and fit into your pan; trim off extra crust. Fill.

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese, whole milk is best but any will do.

2 lg eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. lemon extract

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon rind grated

1 Tbsp. plus 1 Tsp. tapioca starch or corn starch

Pinch sea salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees/ Mix ricotta with eggs in the mixer bowl you just made the crust in and then add the rest of ingredients except the blueberries.  Carefully pour into the tart crust. Top with the berries.

Bake tart 40-45 min at 350 degrees. It should be fairly firm in the center.  Let cool before slicing.  You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar if desired. I am always so eager to try it I totally forget to do this! Enjoy.

GF Flour blend (if you want to make it yourself)

2 cups brown rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch