Apple Ricotta Cake – Swedish Apple Pie

Is there anything more intoxicating than the smell of apples and cinnamon baking in the oven? For me …no.This is the time of year I long for. Cooler weather sends me into a frenzy looking for different ways to bake apples and cinnamon. I’ll sit in the kitchen and linger over the aroma coming from the oven, simple little pleasures coming from my kitchen.

Every time I bake with ricotta cheese I am amazed at the results. The Ricotta Pound Cake with Blueberry Sauce and the Lemon Glazed Ricotta Cake were moist and delicious, The Apple Ricotta Cake followed suit and will be my go to coffee cake recipe. The possibilities are endless with this recipe, switching out the apples for your favorite fruit is the first change that comes to mind. You can get very creative with this recipe, I’m so looking forward to experimenting with it!.

I started this recipe by buttering and flouring a 9 inch springform pan. I peeled, cored and diced 2 large apples, I used Yellow Delicious because that’s what I had. I sprinkled a tablespoon of lemon juice over the apples to keep them from turning brown while making the rest of the recipe. I made the cake portion of the cake. The batter is very thick, not pourable….but spreadable. I made the streusel/ filling in my food processor, it was easy and fast to put together. I did add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the filling instead of the 1/2 tsp, I’m a cinnamon apple kinda girl and 1/2 tsp just didn’t seem like enough.

Spread half of the cake batter into the greased and floured 9 inch springform pan. Top the cake batter with half of the streusel/filling. Then repeat the layers again with the remaining cake batter and streusel/filling. I baked the coffee cake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.

OH my goodness this was so good!!! It was so soft and moist, absolutely worth the effort!

Wanna print just the recipe, click here!

Apple/Ricotta Coffee Cake

Cake
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c butter — at room temperature
1 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 ea eggs
1 c ricotta cheese
Streusel/Filling
2 ea cooking apples — peeled, cored, and diced
2/3 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsps butter — cut into small pieces
2 tbsps shortening — cut into small pieces
1/2 c pecan pieces
Heat oven to 350F. Grease a 9″ springform pan with butter and dust with flour.
Streusel/Filling
Peel and dice apples (about 1/2″ dice) and toss with lemon juice. Set aside.
Place remaining streusel ingredients (except pecans) in a food processor. Add butter and shortening. Pulse about 10 times then process for 5 to 10 seconds until there are no visible lumps of fat.
Cake
Mix together 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl.
Using an electric hand mixer or the paddle attachment on a stand mixer beat 1/2 cup butter for about 30 seconds, then beat in granulated sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and ricotta cheese to batter. Mix on low speed after each addition until combined. Note: this batter will be rather thick and stiff.
Spread 1/2 of the batter into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the filling mixture and then the diced apples. Spoon remaining batter over apples. It will not spread smoothly so be gentle and use dollops of batter. Sprinkle with remaining topping and nuts.
Bake 45-50 minutes more or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at least 1 hour on a wire rack.

Easy and delicious apple pie, your gonna love this one! Serve with vanilla ice cream just like apple pie.

Wanna print just the recipe, click here!

SWEDISH APPLE PIE
(Source: Robin (Carol’s daughter)…recipe from her Nana Bev)

Fill pie plate 3/4 full with sliced apples. Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

In small bowl combine:
3/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 egg (unbeaten)

Pour over apples and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Nana Bev’s comments: “This recipe was given to me by a friend several years ago and one that I had forgotten about. I came across it the other day and made it for dessert for supper. It is so easy and so yummy. It is great served warm with vanilla ice cream and it smells so good near the end of the baking time.”