Deliciously dense rum and raisin ricotta cake

If you’re on the search for an exciting and new dessert option to impress your guests with, then this delicious cake is a winner all round.

With rum and coffee soaked raisins delicately folded through the thick ricotta mixture, it’s exploding with vibrant flavours that work perfectly together to make the dish incredibly tasty. Try a slice of the deliciously dense cake with a scoop of plain ice cream and serve your guests a flavoursome dessert treat.

Ingredients

• 145g (3/4 cup) raisins
• 60ml (1/4 cup) freshly brewed espresso
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 700g fresh ricotta
• 150g low-fat Greek yoghurt
• 120g rapadura sugar or panela sugar
• 35g (1/3 cup) dark cocoa powder, sifted, plus extra to dust
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free cornflour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 3 eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150C. Grease base and side of a 22cm (base) cake pan and line with baking paper.
2. Place raisins, espresso and rum in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer mixture for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
3. Once cooled, place mixture in processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add ricotta, yoghurt, sugar, cocoa, cornflour, cinnamon and vanilla. Process mixture until just smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, processing after each addition. Mix until just combined. Pour into pan.
4. Bake mixture for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until just set around edges but still a slight wobble in the centre. Turn off oven and leave pan inside with door ajar to cool for 30 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool in pan completely. Place in fridge for 3 hours to chill. Dust with cocoa powder. Serve with vanilla ice cream.