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Whipped ricotta lemon muffin cakes

Whipped ricotta lemon muffin cakes with strawberries are a simple but impressive dessert. Easily made ahead, great for a crowd.
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Moist muffins cakes packed with lemon and loaded with whipped ricotta, that create a simple yet impressive dessert! Can be made ahead.

Ingredients

Scale

Muffin cakes with glaze

  • 200g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 240g (1 cup) plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 210g (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs (or 3 extra large)
  • freshly grated zest of 3 organic lemons
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
  • 120ml (1/2 cup) sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)
  • 30ml (2 TBSPs) fresh lemon juice
  • 160g (1 cup) powdered sugar

Whipped ricotta and strawberries

  • 500g (2 cups | 1 pound) ricotta cheese
  • 100g (2/3 cup) powdered sugar
  • vanilla beans from 1 vanilla pod
  • freshly grated zest of 1 organic lemon
  • 160ml (2/3 cup) whipping cream
  • about 400g (14 oz) fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 2 TBSPs granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. First make the muffins: Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a 12-cup muffin tray with paper liners. Set aside.
    Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, set aside. In another bowl, whisk yogurt and sugar until smooth. Next beat in eggs one by one. Stir in zest and vanilla. Take the dry ingredients and slowly whisk them in until no lumps of flour remain. Lastly, fold in oil with a spatula. Keep folding until the mixture in unified.
  2. Divide batter between the muffin cups. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the tops are light-brown and a skewer inserted in the center of each muffin comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and let cool completely (if cooling overnight, cover them with plastic wrap or foil).
  3. When completely cool, you can glaze the muffins. Stir together lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Take muffins out of their liners and place them on a cooling rack. Cover each muffin-top with a spoonful of the glaze. Leave out to dry completely.
  4. Prepare ricotta and berries a few hours before serving time:
    Combine ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla beans and lemon zest in a large bowl. Cream ingredients together with a spatula. Next, place whipping cream in a bowl (or bowl of your mixer) and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Fold cream into ricotta, then keep beating for about 60 seconds until the mixture is smooth and forms firm peaks. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for one or more hours.
  5. To prepare berries, combine strawberries and granulated sugar in a bowl. Keep like this, covered, until serving time. Stir before serving.
  6. Assembly:
    Take a muffin and cut off the top of the muffin. Place the bottom piece on a plate, cover with a dollop of whipped ricotta, then add strawberries and some of their juice. Take the muffin top and lean it against the cake. Serve.

Notes

This recipe makes a bit more of whipped ricotta than you’ll need for these muffins. You can use it up by dipping fruit in it, serving extra with the muffins or you can use it as a topping for pancakes. It will hold well in the refrigerator for about 2 days, as long as it’s covered.

You can use other berries instead of strawberries, but don’t slice them.

Find it online: https://www.sugarsalted.com/whipped-ricotta-lemon-muffin-cakes/