Finally home. I almost got drunk in the plane to overcome my new fear of flying and consequently grabbed someone else’s luggage to the passport control (some else carrying a red suitcase is a case of tough luck) but I made it safely. Naples is a rather warm and bright, its sky obliges me to wear sunglasses and an ocean of cars stuck everywhere forces me to stay home.
Back home, first thing me and my sister do is baking a cake known under the name of “Cream Cake Nua”. No one really knows what “Nua” means and who conceived the recipe first. In a sort a ripple affect, this hybrid of Sicilian cannoli and angel food cake, so moist and creamy on the inside, is the trendiest cake of the season in Italy.
According to our Southern Italian traditions we will have a big dinner later on and soon a moderate lunch consisting mostly of green veggies stuffed pizzas similar to this Kale Stuffed Pizza. Mum will try to defeat my vegetarianism with plenty of fish-based dishes but I am armed with patience and resolution… If the worst comes to the worst, I will find shelter in the softness and creaminess of my Nua cake :).
How are you going to spend your Christmas Eve?
Cream Cake Nua
Ingredients
- 300 gr flour
- 100 ml sunflower oil
- 100 ml milk
- 4 eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 150 gr caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
For the ricotta cream
- 400 gr fresh ricotta
- 2 eggs
- Grated zest of one lemon
- 150 gr caster sugar
- 1/3 chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Whisk 2 egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar and a pinch of salt using an electric hand whisk on a medium speed. Add ricotta, lemon zest, and keep whisking until you get a smooth cream. Add the chocolate chips (optional).
- In a large mixing bowl mix 4 eggs with sugar and oil then gradually add the flour and milk, whisk until the batter is smooth and without lumps. Add the baking powder, the vanilla extract and stir well.
- Transfer the batter to a 25 cm/10 in cake pan, pour on the surface the ricotta cream with a spoon (see my picture above), and bake at 160 degrees for 40 minutes.
- When the cake is cooked, leave to cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Well I’m a swede living in Canada. I’m always grateful when the metric system is used 🙂
I too have the problem with ricotta part of cake. I will try to drain it a next time.
Mrs. Google can help you with the conversions..
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I stumbled upon the link for this post via Pinterest and the picture looked so yummy that couldn’t resist checking it out. So glad I did!! I’ve already pinned it, and will not definitely be trying out your recipe in the next couple of weeks. Can’t wait!!
PS. – To those who can’t figure out how to convert the recipe’s measurements and don’t have a digital scale, Google is your friend! Just enter what you need in the search bar (ie. grams to cups, or cups to ounces, etcetera, etc.), and the conversion bar pops right up. It truly is a piece of cake! (Bad pun intended. #sorrynotsorry)
Most cook books have conversion table in back. Also app for phone or laptop where you put measurements in and then it converts it for you.
In the recipe you list 2 eggs, however in the instructions you say 4 eggs. How many eggs are needed for this? Thank you!
I’m confused – two eggs are listed under the ingredients for the ricotta cream. The method calls for 2 egg yolks. The photograph looks like egg whites were mixed into the ricotta cream, not egg yolks. Please clarify.
I would love to make this but dont know the correct amount in our measurements could you please help. Thanks Sandra I didn’t say this someone else did.
I would love to make this but dont know the correct amount in our measurements could you please help. Thanks Sandra
Could you please convert recipe for me. I would love to make it. BUt I am in USA and don’t know the conversion. Kathy
I’m not seeing a recipe!!!…What gives???
Sorry about that. It’s back in now.
For the Americans, castor sugar can be bought here under by C&h sugar.
As for conversion- you can google conversion
Or like in culinary school we are taught European baking by wt and volume.
You can buy a food scale at bed, bath and beyond that measures in lbs or grams.
Ricotta must be drained well. 🙂
The answer is as Linde stated….DRAIN your ricotta cheese first…this step is key to most recipes made with ricotta, esp. cannoli filling!
Just made this cake. When I flipped it after it cooled all the ricotta filling seeped out and made the cake collapse. I’m not sure what I did wrong since I used the exact same recipe and did not alter it at all. I did have a runny consistency to the ricotta filling as another commenter also said. I would probably half the ricotta filling and somehow thicken it up, maybe with sugar. Although the cake looks like a disaster, IT IS DELICIOUS! I’ll definitely be making this again and trying to figure out how to fix the filling.
thicken it up, maybe with flour**
Drain your ricotta, in a coffee filter or cheesecloth…removing excess liquid will help.
I have this in the oven right now…I have the opposite issue of one commenter. I followed the recipe but my ricotta mixture didn’t clump like this like-more liquid and is sitting at the top of the batter. If any insights as to why, love to hear. Fingers crossed it turns out well as I plan to bring to dinner party tonight and if a hit make for the holidays.
160 degrees Celsius converts to 320 degrees Fahrenheit, so I’m going to try baking at 325.
i was wondering about the baking temperature as well. 160 degrees seems extremely low to cook anything. Does anyone know if this is correct?
i am studying this recipe–it looks wonderful. My question is the temperature–160 degrees? Is that true ? Is there a conversion needed?
my cheese mixture sank to the bottom of the cake and did n stay in the middle like in your picture. What did I do wrong
Carol C.
how do you measure ingredients in cups and such? What is caster sugar. this looks really good and would love to try it. Thank you
Caster sugar is just a finer version of regular sugar. It can sometimes be expensive to buy depending where you live. You can get the same effect by grinding regular sugar in a coffee grinder or food processor. Hope that helps.
This cake looks divine! Angel food is one of my favorites and I can imagine it is amazing with the cannoli-like filling. I will have to keep this in mind for next year!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
This cake looks delicious Can’t wait to try it out! I actually have something very similar in the oven right now, it’s a cream cheese crumb cake.
I love anything with Ricotta ! Looks so good ! Thank you. I have to try this one !
I am looking forward to baking this delicious looking cake. Love Ricotta in my pastries, however I am illiterate when it comes to the measurements of flour and such. Grams is equivalent to what????
I’m in America and we use the standard measuring…. sucks, cuz I really like to try it.
Go on Amazon and invest in a digital scale for $15 or so. From another American, believe me, opens up a whole new world of baking. This recipe with the aid of a scale is ridiculously easy.