Orange ricotta torte

The Lemon Ricotta Torte recipe that I use all the time just couldn’t be any simpler.

But I may have just made it better. By switching to orange instead.

Finely chop 1/2 cup of candied orange rind.

In a large bowl mix together 3 pounds of ricotta, 3 extra large eggs, 1 cup of sugar, the orange rind, the zest of one orange, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan and fill it with the ricotta mixture.

Smooth the top as best you can, then place the pan in an oven that’s been preheated to 400 degrees F. In about an hour check to see if the top has browned a bit and that the torte has stiffened. If it’s still very jiggly and hasn’t browned yet keep checking for doneness every 10 minutes or so.

This torte took around 80 minutes to cook. Once it cooled thoroughly I let it sit in the fridge for three or four hours before taking it out and allowing it to come up to room temperature before serving.

And in about 20 minutes I watched eight people polish off the whole thing.

Patsy’s lemon ricotta torte

I remember exactly the time that I first made this torte. It was December 2011, when a few friends and I decided to celebrate Sinatra’s birthday by preparing a dinner consisting of many of his favorite foods. (In case you missed the dinner, here’s the link to it). The recipe for the torte, like all the other ones from that evening, is old school. They were based on recipes from the “Patsy’s Cookbook,” the reason for which is made abundantly clear in that birthday dinner link I just mentioned.

I have made this simple, old world torte a couple of times since then, largely because it’s so preposterously simple. This one was in the oven at 6:30 in the morning the other day — before I’d even finished brewing a pot of coffee.

In a large bowl, mix together 3 pounds of ricotta, 3 extra large eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, the zest from one lemon, and one cup of sugar (the Patsy’s recipe calls for 1 2/3 cups of sugar, but I think that’s too much).

Butter and flour a nine-inch spring form pan.

Pour the ricotta mixture into the pan and smooth the top evenly, then place into an oven that’s been preheated to 400 degrees F., for 55 minutes.

This torte took around 65 minutes to bake. At the 55-minute mark the top had not browned at all and the entire cake was jiggling pretty good. It was still loose when I took it out of the oven ten minutes later, but it firmed up nicely while cooling. Once cooled, I covered the torte while it was still in the pan and refrigerated it for a few hours, then took it out of the fridge, removed it from the pan, and let the torte come to room temperature again.

All that’s left now is to sprinkle with some confectioners sugar and serve.

I said it was easy, didn’t I. Pretty delicious too.

I can see why Frank liked it so much.