Pastiera Napoletana and Colomba (a dove shaped panettone) tend to be the sweet treats we associate with Italians at Easter time. Having some family that come for Naples, I tried to get my hands on an authentic Pastiera Napoletana recipe for my blog. I knew that my Uncles Mother made this cake every year. Italians being Italians, there wasn’t a recipe written down. Instead it was all in her head, memorised from the recipe being passed down through many generations. I was told the ingredients she used were from a local Italian delicatessen and quantities weren’t mentioned…A little of this, a bit of that. Without having enough time to do experiments and a huge craving for ricotta cake, I decided to make my own version, just incase I had a disaster in the kitchen!

Happy Easter. Buona Pasqua!

Ingredients

500g Ricotta

100g Caster Sugar

250g Plain Flour

4 Eggs

175 milk

5 tbsp Olive oil

1 Lemon (zested)

1 tbsp Baking powder

Method – Oven 180C

1. Preheat the oven 180C. Line a 10 inch round cake tin.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the ricotta, lemon zest, olive oil and milk, then mix to combine.
4. Sieve in the flour and fold through the mixture until well mixed.
5. Pour cake batter into lined tin, sprinkle with some light brown sugar, then bake for 40 minutes.