Maple Honey Cake with Pistachio + Ricotta Frosting
Maple syrup, though lovely on a high stack of pancakes or waffles, also does a surprisingly good job in cakes and cookies. After having the maple pound cake at Icing on the Cake, a bakery in Downtown Los Gatos, I knew I needed to recreate it at home and experiment with my own additions. By the way, if you ever get a chance to visit the quaint, suburban, peaceful neighborhood of Los Gatos, Icing on the Cake is an amazing bakery on Main Street to stop by. They have a wide selection of delicious cookies and cakes with super quirky flavors. They also sell a huge variety of cute kitchen tools and decor... which are honestly really hard to say no to.
I really don't care if you hate the word "moist"—I'm just gonna say it. There's no other way to describe a good cake. What makes this cake particularly moist is the mix of maple syrup, honey, and condensed milk.
In terms of the frosting, I tried to balance out the maple syrup, honey, and condensed milk (which all add a lot of sweetness) with a savory element: pistachios. I always find nuts helpful not only in adding texture to desserts, but also in balancing out the overwhelming sweetness of certain ingredients. Pistachios also have a super sophisticated flavor profile—one that's really hard to recreate artificially. Kudos to the Gelaterias in Italy that do Pistachio-flavored gelato so damn well by making it seem like I'm eating freshly-toasted pistachios right out of the shell. The gelato ice creams here in the US definitely do not compare.
Maple Honey Cake with Pistachio + Ricotta Frosting
Ingredients
Cake- ¾ cups Canola Or Vegetable Oil
- ½ cup Sugar
- ½ cup Honey
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Eggs
- ¼ cups Pure Maple Syrup
- 2-¾ cups All-purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
- ¼ cups Maple Syrup
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Ricotta Cheese
- ½ cups Shelled Pistachios
Takes , Makes 8 servings.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325° F (160° C). Line the bottom and sides of a circular pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray
- In large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients: oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs, maple syrup, sour cream, milk, and honey.
- Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and combine all of these dry ingredients in another bowl.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in multiple stages. Ensure that everything is mixed well by pausing the mixer to scrape down the sides. You'll know when you're done when the mixture is ribbon-like and has no clumps.
- Pour the mixture into a deep circular pan and bake for 55 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake rest for 15 minutes after taking it out of the oven.
- After resting the cake, poke small holes on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Pour the condensed milk onto the cake and let it sink into the holes of the cake created by the toothpick.
- For the frosting, combine the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extra until well-mixed.
- Toast the shelled pistachios by either putting them in a hot pan or in the oven for a few minutes. Frost the cake with the ricotta mixture, and top it off with toasted shelled pistachios.
It's clear that this recipe, unlike the other ones you've seen from me, is pretty time-consuming and requires a plethora of ingredients. But it's definitely great to try out if you're looking for something to bake and eat on a rainy night-in. The cake is so so worth it—and, so moist :^)
♥ Cindy