SIMPLE CELEBRATION CAKE
PANETTONE, RICOTTA & LEMON CURD RIPPLE, STRAWBERRIES
Here, I’m living and loving the flavours of the Amalfi coast through one of the best cheat cakes ever. It’s an absolute delight to build and eat, and makes a really special centrepiece, with minimal effort.
SERVES 8 TO 10 TOTAL 18 MINUTES
■ 1 x 750g panettone
■ 2 x 225g fresh strawberries
■ 500g ricotta cheese (cold)
■ 1tbsp runny honey
■ 3 heaped tbsp lemon curd
Unleash the panettone from its packaging and slice off 3 chunky rounds, roughly 2.5cm thick (save the rest of the panettone for lovely breakfasty things). Very finely grate 3 strawberries into a bowl and stir in 1tsp of extra-virgin olive oil, then spread this over one side of each of the 3 rounds and leave to soak in.
Whizz the ricotta in a food processor with the honey until silky-smooth, then divide between the rounds and ripple each with lemon curd (give the lemon curd a stir in the jar first, to loosen).
Hull and finely slice most of the remaining strawberries (leaving a few pretty ones aside for decorating later), then arrange over two of the layers. Stack up the layers, using a mixture of whole and sliced strawberries to decorate the top.
Chill in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
PS If you feel like you want to do something exciting, pour a quarter of a jar of honey into a pan and place over a medium heat. Leave to bubble away until you have a dark caramel (never touch it!). Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully dip in whole strawberries, holding each above the pan so the caramel drips down, to create wisps of spun sugar. Place upside down on greaseproof (so they don’t stick) to set, then use to decorate your cake. To clean the pan effortlessly, pour in 2.5cm of water, pop the lid on and simmer for 5 minutes.
ENERGY 464kcal FAT 18.6g SAT FAT 11.7g PROTEIN 13g CARBS 60.6g SUGARS 32.8g SALT 0.8g FIBRE 4.3g