sbs food safari ricotta cake

Italian Ricotta Cheesecake (a replica version of Pasticceria Papa's Famous Cheesecake)

When I was young, cakes and biscuits were a scarcity. So much so that I thought that when we were given them it seemed only on birthdays and special occasions that I would receive them. I would grab a small bag and place some sweeties in it and keep my stash for later. Strange hoarding behaviour I do admit. Monte Carlos were the bees knees. Not only were they from __Monte Carlo and that is where they have princes and princesses (no they weren't of course, but to a hungry child's mind they were) but they had pink and white icing sandwiching them together and ripples on the cookie bit which seemed so...so...ritzy (don't you just love that word?).

When I was  little older but not much, I came across a recipe for the Monte Carlo cookies and proceeded to make them. They weren't too bad actually probably owing to the fact that I used butter in them and not shortening or whatever they tend to use nowadays. The smooshing together of both halves was less successful though and I have visions of a particularly messy looking jumble of cookies. Putting six aside for us we thought that we'd give the remainder to someone else. No-one else was home but my sister and I and so we knocked on our favourite neighbour's door. She wasn't home.

So we knocked on our other neighbour's door, the one we didn't like very much, and handed her a plate of the cookies. She looked at me, a flour smeared child with sticky jam coated fingers and quite frankly some atrocious looking cookies and took the plate hesitatingly and closed the door. I'd like to say that we became friends after that but we didn't. She was just one of those neighbours that wasn't very friendly and being given some strange looking home baked cookies clearly wasn't going to melt her heart. Nor was it meant to. Perhaps she heard that she was a second choice recipient ;)

In any case, I needed to bring a cake to a friend's house and I immediately thought of the recipe that I saw on Adrasteia's blog for the Italian Ricotta Cheesecake. The recipe and video is originally from Maeve O'Meara's fantastic Italian Food Safari show. The cake was said to be very close to the famous Pasticceria Papa ricotta cheesecake . While I was baking it I was tasting it and it seemed quite accurate. And if you do attempt it do watch the video as I misunderstood the pastry directions at first. You are to cut out the base (which is really a shortbread given the ingredients) and you bake that first. Then you re-roll the sweet buttery pastry and cut out sides and then smoosh the raw pastry together joining it with the cooked pastry base and then fill it with a smooth ricotta filling.

I omitted the orange peel as I don't particularly like that but kept the sultanas. I also used my favourite ricotta, the gloriously smooth Paesanella ricotta . I then sat back and prayed that it would work. Would it be like the famous Pasticceria Papa cheesecake ? Only time would tell and I dutifully placed it in the fridge to firm up overnight. I sliced it the next day and was impressed. The biscuit base was slightly more golden cooked that the Pasticceria Papa one but that could be easily fixed by baking it for less time. The filling was beautifully smooth and I think the key was the excellent ricotta and the fact that it was beaten until very smooth. It wasn't too sweet just like the Pasticceria Papa one too and tasted like a pretty good imitation of it.

I'm pleased to say that it got a better reception than my Monte Carlo cookies.

So tell me Dear Reader, what can you remember cooking when you were little?

And rather excitingly, I was named one of the Top 50 Bloggers by Kidspot ! I know I don't have any kids but I'm guessing that being a child at heart helped! :)

![Italian Ricotta Cheesecake (https://images.notquitenigella.com/images/italian-ricotta-cheesecake-a-version-of-pasticceria-papas-famous-cheesecake/top-50-bloggers-kidspot.jpg)

Italian Ricotta Cheesecake

Recipe from Italian Food Safari

Ingredients

1 x 26 cm disc of shortcrust pastry-baked (see below)

Extra shortcrust pastry to line the pastry ring (see below)

350 g cream cheese, at room temperature

650 g ricotta cheese

80 ml cream (35 % fat)

80 g blanched almond meal

80 g diced orange peel- candied or citron

100 g sultanas, soaked in rum or brandy

Icing sugar and cinnamon to dust

**Sweet Shortcrust Dough **

Makes 650 g pastry

1 egg (55g) (The pastry can be made without egg)

100g castor sugar

200g unsalted butter

300g plain flour

Preparation for pastry

Step 1 -  To make the pastry, cream the butter and sugar until light and pale. Add the egg, and continue creaming until absorbed._

Mixing dough until just combined

Step 2 - Stop mixer and add the flour, mix only until combined. The dough will be very sticky, wrap in plastic and chill prior to use. Knead the chilled dough lightly first to soften (between two sheets of cling wrap makes it a bit easier), roll out with a small amount of dusting flour.

Step 3 - Take a round 26cm springform tin (you don't need to butter the tin). Place the round base over the rolled out pastry and trace a circle of pastry and place it on the base and bake at 200C/400F for 15-20 minutes until golden (I'd even suggest baking it for less time to make it more like the Pasticceria Papa one. Roll out the extra pastry and press the dough onto the wall of the ring forming the sides for the cheesecake . Smear the pastry onto the edge of the base to seal the join. Trim off any excess dough with a paring knife. Put aside for filling.

Preparation for filling

Step 4 - Whisk the eggs and sugar, (60 g) until thick. Set aside. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, then add the ricotta and beat until smooth. Add the cream, then gradually add the whisked eggs. Mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Step 5 - Fold in the almond meal, glacé fruit and sultanas. Transfer into the prepared base.

Step 6 - Bake at 180 ° C for one hour. Cool with the oven door ajar. When cool, dust with icing sugar and cinnamon

Serve at room temperature and store uneaten cheese cake in the refrigerator.

Read these next: » Shattered Black Forest Cheesecake » Czech Honey Cake (Medovnik) » Elvis Presley's Strawberry Layer Cake! » Cheese Plate Cheesecakes: Camembert & Blue Cheese Cheesecake - Daring Bakers April 2009 challenge » Gleaming Maple Cheesecake » Japanese Soft Cotton Blueberry Rare Cheese Cheesecake » Lemon Myrtle No Bake Cheesecake Slice » Triple Decker Neapolitan Chiffon Cake! » Luscious Vanilla Vegan Cake With Mango & Passionfruit (Egg & Dairy Free)! » Sprinkle Cake & A Book Update!

Published on 2010-08-17 by Lorraine Elliott .

Reader Comments

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An empty stomach is the best cook

Hunger is the best sauce in the world - Cervantes

Monday 28 June 2010

Italian ricotta cheesecake.

7 comments:

That looks absolutely wonderful! I'm going to give that a go soon! Thanks for sharing the recipe and it looks just like the Pasticerria Papa one! :)

Thanks NQN! It was divine and I'd love to see how yours would turn out.

I love cheesecake! I'm not so much of a cook, but I can dare say that I can bake pretty well, especially cheesecake! I simply love it! This particular recipe of yours looks really good, I will definitely try it. It turns out that even if I've tried so many cheesecake recipes already, I still stumble into a few really good ones. Thanks for sharing this, I can't wait to try it, :)

that looks amazing. I'm dying to try it, I just need to figure out how well equipped the kitchen is in our new house. Can you suggest an easier pastry recipe? I have very few flat surfaces here for rolling out! Love, E

Oh Em, you know pastry and I don't like each other. The easiest (and most common) pastry recipe I know is the bought stuff so I don't have to roll!!

Oh My God. I finally made this on the weekend, and it was divine. I'm not actually a cheesecake fan, but I could have eaten the whole thing (excpet Adrian and his brother, who was visiting, cleaned up all the leftovers for breakfast...!!). You are such a kitchen inspiration!! xx E

It's the cheesecake that all cheesecakes should aspire to! It's incredible.

www.sbs.com.au/food

Ricotta and orange olive oil cake

Ricotta and extra-virgin olive oil marry in this very simple cake where the ricotta provides fluffiness and the olive oil adds richness and a very moist crumb. this is one of those back-pocket recipes that can be whipped up at a moment's notice, with no special equipment necessary..

Ricotta and orange olive oil cake Credit: Kitti Gould

preparation

Stream free On Demand

Cook Book Favourites

Watch The Full Episode Here

Ingredients.

• 250 g caster sugar
• zest of 2 oranges
• 100 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• 150 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 250 g (1 cup) fresh full-fat ricotta (see Note)
• 250 g (1 ⅔ cups) self-raising flour
• pure icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 23 cm round cake tin. Place the sugar and orange zest in a large bowl. Rub the orange zest into the sugar until it is damp and fragrant. Whisk in the eggs until combined. Add the orange juice and pour in the olive oil. Mash the ricotta with a fork and add to the mix. Whisk it all together, then gently mix in the flour until just combined.
• Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack. Once cool, dust with icing sugar if desired, then serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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• December 24, 2008

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• February 4, 2009

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S04E01 Italian: Episode 1

• March 18, 2010

Italian Food Safari opens with a celebration of the wood-fired oven, which many Italians constructed in their backyards when they arrived in Australia. Maeve visits the inspiring Ricupero family who settled in Jarrahdale outside Perth where they grow vegetables on a large scale and bake 140 loaves of bread every 2 weeks in the huge oven they built themselves – the crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside pane di casa so adored by Italians. Guy then shows a recipe for delicious bruschetta, using day-old bread. Guy joins olive oil producer Joe Grilli from Primo Estate in McLaren Vale at harvest time and learns about mixing oils for the perfect blend. Vongole harvester Tony Petruzzelli takes us to work as he rakes waist-deep in water off Adelaide’s Outer Harbour then Sydney chef Eugenio Maiale cooks up the classic spaghetti alla vongole, the one dish that he always keeps on his menu at his popular inner city restaurant A Tavola. For sweets, the crunchy fried biscuit cannoli filled with fresh ricotta is close to heaven, especially when its made by second generation Sicilian sweets master Achille Mellini from Grossi Florentino. .

S04E02 Italian: Episode 2

• March 25, 2010

Italian Food Safari goes to Fremantle to join the last sardine fisherman on the Western Australia coast, the charming Jim Mendolia who supplies the fresh fish market. Melbourne cook Rosa Mitchell from the Journal Canteen, better known as Rosa’s Kitchen, shows Guy the secrets of her delicious classic recipe for stuffed sardines. Italian cuisine wouldn’t exist without pasta and Maeve visits the Baldino family at L’Abruzzese Pasta in Adelaide to learn how all the various shapes of extruded pasta are made including the “little ears” or orecchiette which Guy cooks in his restaurant kitchen with cime di rapa, a favourite dish from Puglia, where Guy’s family is from. He then ventures into the Victorian Alpine country to visit Simone’s, a beautiful country restaurant run by Umbrian chef Patrizia Simone who shares her recipe for roast duck stuffed with local chestnuts, the centre-piece of an al fresco feast set out by a mountain stream.

S04E03 Italian: Episode 3

• April 1, 2010

Italian Food Safari focuses on the glorious tomato, with presenter Guy Grossi joining tomato grower John Monigatti on Echuca’s black soil plains during harvest. Maeve then shares tomato day with a large Calabrese clan – the Cipri family in suburban Sydney who have made fresh tomato sauce every year since the patriarch Severio arrived in Australia 45 years ago. The woman who introduced much of South Australia to Italian food, cooking teacher Rosa Matto, makes a marvelous eggplant parmigiana. Sardinian chefs Giovanni Pilu from Sydney’s Pilu at Freshwater who’s from the north of Sardinia and Pietro Porcu from Melbourne’s Da Noi and The Tea Rooms at Yarck and who’s from the south, get together to show presenter Guy Grossi beautiful rustic dishes from their respective regions. Melbourne chef Graziella Alessi shows how to make the luscious all-time favourite dessert - tiramisu.

S04E04 Italian: Episode 4

• April 8, 2010

Presenter Guy Grossi visits dedicated Melbourne artisan baker Daniel Chirico and tastes bread straight from the oven drizzled with olive oil and learns why loaves with soul take a little longer to make…and to prove that nothing in the Italian realm goes to waste, Guy then demonstrates a delicious bread-based salad called panzanella. Maeve learns about the Italian passion for veal and joins Western Australian butcher Vince Garreffa on the farm south of Perth where his veal is raised. Celebrated Sydney chef Nino Zoccali from restaurant Pendolino explains the joys of using secondary cuts of meat and shows how easy it is to make a beautiful osso buco, rich and full of flavour. Guy takes us to the beautiful pine forests of Mount Macedon with chef Aron Michielli to forage for pine forest mushrooms and slippery jacks. Aron takes Guy to his Melbourne restaurant Biricchino to whip up magnificent pappardelle pasta with wild mushrooms.

S04E05 Italian: Episode 5

• April 15, 2010

Italian Food Safari goes to the far western end of Australia to visit the crayfishermen of the stunning Abrolhos Islands off Geraldton and Maeve spends time with Justin Pirrottina to learn how his father and other Italian fishermen came to fish the area and tastes how good a ‘cray on the barbie” can be. Guy pops in on Melbourne chef Maurizio Esposito to learn the secrets of his delicious crayfish gnocchi recipe. Maeve seeks out the best pizza and visits Melbourne pizzaiolo Alessandro D’Auria of Pizze e Fichi who has made thousands of pizzas in his years perfecting the art of pizza. Artichokes are loved throughout Italy and were brought to Australia by growers like the Faranda family in Werribee South on the flat plains outside Melbourne. Joe Faranda shows Guy what to look for to get the best and Guy then makes delicious stuffed artichokes using a recipe passed on to him by his father. Italian gelato has colonized the world’s taste-buds and Sicilian gelato-making brothers Ciccio and Salvatore La Rosa from Gelatomassi in Sydney explain why it’s so good.

S04E06 Italian: Episode 6

• April 22, 2010

Italian Food Safari presenter Guy Grossi meets passionate gardeners Lina and Antonio Siciliano who have created a huge vegetable and herb garden in Melbourne’s suburbs that provides them with most of their meals and even the wine to drink with it. Maeve visits her friends the Marino family in Adelaide who show how they cure prosciutto on a large scale at San Marino Smallgoods. Legendary chef Armando Percuoco from Buon Ricordo restaurant invites Maeve to his country estate and cooks up the simplest dish of pasta with beans, demonstrating how exceptional ‘cucina povera’ can be. In Melbourne, cheese-maker Giorgio Linguanti takes Guy back to his childhood with the delicious fresh cheeses he makes including luscious burrata, mozzarella and ricotta. Loretta Sartori who once ran her own sweets palace in Melbourne but now spends her time educating troubled youth, cooks a spectacular ricotta cake.

S04E07 Italian: Episode 7

• April 29, 2010

Italian Food Safari joins professional rock fisherman Alex Bellissimo from Rock and Beach Charters at dawn to learn why so many Italians are drawn to the sea to fish for dinner. Respected Melbourne chef Robert Castellani from Donovans Restaurant shows Guy an ingenious way of baking snapper and explains why Sicilians put a coin in the mouth of the fish. Luciana Sampogna who started her own Sydney-based Italian cooking school Cucina Italiana demonstrates the lovely little pretzel-like snacks called taralli that are popular right throughout the south of Italy. Guy meets the Pizzini family who come from Italy’s alpine regions and settled in Victoria’s King Valley, growing tobacco and later some exceptional Italian grape varieties. Fred Pizzini shares his standout recipe for duck ragu which the whole family enjoys alfresco with some of their wines and Nonna’s delicious apple strudel.

S04E08 Italian: Episode 8

• May 6, 2010

Italian Food safari visits Mario Mammone and his family who own large citrus orchards in the fruit bowl of Australia outside Mildura – they came to pick oranges and now own the farm, growing some varieties adored by Italians, including blood oranges. Presenter Guy Grossi visits the fennel growing Mason family on the fertile plains outside Melbourne and Amedeo Mason explains just how versatile the winter vegetable can be. Mildura chef Stefano Di Pieri from Stefano’s restaurant, who helped to put the area on the culinary map, then shows Guy how he uses the best blood oranges and fennel in season to make a kingfish carpaccio with shaved fennel, a dish that sings with freshness and flavour. In Adelaide, one of the Central Market’s favourite characters, butcher Tony Marino invites us to join his family to cook up an exceptional Abruzzese banquet including the classic porchetta on a spit and the most unusual way of serving polenta - spread on a laminex table and served with a rich ragu. Young pastry chef Alexandra Rispoli from Buon Ricordo restaurant then shows how to mix and cook fragrant pistachio biscotti.

S04E09 Italian: Episode 9

• May 13, 2010

This episode of Italian Food Safari celebrates the tradition of preserving the best in season. Maeve meets the effervescent Italian Australian GP Pietro Demaio whose self-published book “Preserving the Italian Way” has been a bestseller and inspired thousands – after a taste of home cured tuna, Maeve is a convert. On the outskirts of Adelaide, Pat D’Onofrio and Lina Verrilli grow and cure their own olives to sell in local markets and Maeve is introduced to the women’s olive cracking tradition. Guy spends a few cold winter days with the Momesso family making their own salami, as many Italian families do during winter. Melbourne chef Riccardo Momesso explains why its so important to keep the old traditions going – and how delicious the results are. Maeve joins Sydney restaurateur Lucio Galletto at home as his picks basil from his garden to make a regional favourite from his home region of Liguria – a classic pesto. In Adelaide, one of the “Cibo boys”, Claudio Ferraro who is a partner in the city’s Italian café chain Cibo, shows how intricate and delicious the pastry sfogliatelle are to make – they’re shaped like a lobster tail with fine layers of pastry and filled with creamy lemony ricotta.

S04E10 Italian: Episode 10

• May 20, 2010

Italian Food Safari discovers an Italian breed of cattle called Chianina now being reared in Australia by Daniela Mollica, who brought the Slow Food movement to Melbourne. Chianina are large, white and long legged and their meat is prized for the classic dish Bistecca alla Fiorentina, which calls for high quality aged meat cut thick. In a beautiful house in the Adelaide Hills, Adelaide chef Salvatore Pepe, a partner in the Cibo café chain, cooks perfect bistecca served with white beans. Presenter Guy Grossi shares his recipe for fresh pasta and Andrew Cibej from Sydney restaurant Vini makes a wonderful spinach, ricotta and potato-filled ravioli. Maeve is surrounded by almond blossom in South Australia, visiting Munno Parra Downs and grower Phillip Costa. Guy then joins Melbourne sweets queen Marianna Di Bartolo from Dolcetti as she folds fresh almonds into her luscious soft nougat

S04E11 Italian: Episode 11

• May 27, 2010

Presenter Guy Grossi goes hunting with his chef friend Daniel Airo-Farula in the wintry hills of Bulla, later cooking up a marvelous Sicilian style sweet and rabbit dish called coniglio in agrodolce which they cook in a wood-fired oven. In Sydney, well known chef Danny Russo from the Beresford Hotel shows off a delicious family recipe from Calabria for quail involtini. Maeve visits her friend Stefano Manfredi from Bells at Killcare on the NSW Central Coast where he has planted a vegetable garden full of Italian produce which he uses to make a classic minestrone from his home region of Lombardy. In Melbourne Adelina Pulford from Enoteca Vino Bar adds her special touch to silky creamy pannacotta by adding the light bubbly Italian wine prosecco. Coffee punctuates Italian life from morning until evening – Italian expatriate Aldo Cozzi from Di Lorenzo and his coffee roaster George Sabados explain why coffee is so important and the rules of enjoying good Italian coffee.

S04E12 Italian: Episode 12

• June 3, 2010

Italian Food Safari savours the seafood introduced to us by Italians – the squid that was once used as bait and is now a delicacy. Maeve joins Claude Basile whose grandfather was one of the pioneers of the Italian fishing fleets off the western Australian coast and he shares the recipe for his adored black ink pasta using ink sacs. Pioneering Sydney restaurateur Beppi Polese has been responsible for introducing many Australians to new flavours in his East Sydney institution Beppi’s – he shows Maeve how his famous baccala mantecato is made using the salted dried cod called baccala. Melbourne specialist butcher Roger Ongarato from Largo butchery explains what makes pork and fennel sausages such a favourite in Italian households. The rice growing area of Italy’s north is where its said the best risotto comes from and Brescian-born chef Alessandro Pavoni from Ormeggio restaurant in Sydney demonstrates the techniques and tips to make the perfect risotto. Rising star Vanessa Martin from Sydney’s Il Piave shows Maeve how easy and delicious crostoli are to make – they’re the deceptively light fragrant pastries that are fried and dusted with icing sugar.

S04E13 Italian: Episode 13

• June 10, 2010

In this final episode, Italian Food Safari visits the Vanella Cheese Factory in Far North Queensland and presenter Guy Grossi learns how buffalo mozzarella is made and the secret of its great taste and texture. He then shares his recipe for a simple but exquisite classic Caprese salad with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. Suckling lamb is a dish of celebration in Italy and Robert Marchetti, executive chef of Sydney’s Icebergs Dining Room invites us into his home to share his recipe for this tender flavoursome dish. The episode builds to a cresendo with a huge Calabrese lunch hosted by Perth butcher Vince Garreffa from Mondo Di Carne butchery, a man who never does anything by halves, firing up his wood-fired oven, cooking up a delicious veal shoulder on the spit, served with homemade pasta. Vince and his wife Anne also show the secrets of delicious cotoletta with a capsicum and tomato sauce. We finish at the home of presenter Guy Grossi who keeps Sundays sacred for the event of the day – lunch - the epitome of the Italian philosophy of “La Dolce Vita” – life is sweet! Ciao!

S05E01 French: Episode 1

• June 23, 2011

French Food Safari opens with a tour of the world’s largest wholesale produce market, Rungis, on the outskirts of Paris. It’s as big as a suburb and sells every food you can imagine, from Icelandic sea urchins to French forest mushrooms. It’s a food lover’s dream, and Guillaume and Maeve are in heaven, tasting as they go.

S05E02 French: Episode 2

• June 30, 2011

French Food Safari journeys under the ground in Paris to the secret bakery of one of the great Parisian bakers – the rock star of bread Jean-Luc Poujaran, who supplies all the top restaurants in the city. A perfect loaf of his naturally leavened bread takes three days to prove and the results are golden crusted and fragrant.

S05E03 French: Episode 3

• July 7, 2011

In this episode, we explore the delicious, relaxed, inexpensive style of eating at the bistro – a tradition that's been popular for hundreds of years. We spend time in the kitchen of St Germain chef Yves Camdeborde, who trained in the top restaurants but believed he would have more fun in a bistro. The diners love it, too – his bistro Le Comptoir is now booked six months in advance.

S05E04 French: Episode 4

• July 14, 2011

Maeve and Guillaume travel to the mountainous Ardeche region of France to meet artisan goat cheese maker Jérôme Herphelin and his happy herd of goats. Then it’s back into the cellars below the Parisian streets to see how beautiful cheeses like Jerome’s are carefully tended to be at their delicious best for customers. This is the work of a craftsman called an affineur. Plus, we meet Laurent Dubois, whose work with cheese has been so appreciated he was awarded a medal of honour from the President.

S05E05 French: Episode 5

• July 21, 2011

In this episode, we travel to Lyon and get swept up in the fun of eating in the local bouchons – relaxed eating houses which have existed for hundreds of years, starting as canteens for the local silk factory workers.

S05E06 French: Episode 6

• July 28, 2011

French Food Safari spends a delightful day in a small French village in the Ardeche with top selling cookbook author Stephane Reynaud. This is a celebration of the butcher and the baker, the closeness to the land and the slow calm of village life, followed by a demonstration of warm French hospitality – from the groaning cheese platter with 16 different choices to the huge pot au feu and local delicacies of pork mince cooked over the open fire.

S05E07 French: Episode 7

• August 4, 2011

French Food Safari experiences the thrill of the hunt amongst the oak trees of Perigord. Trained dog Alfonse leads Guillaume, Maeve and truffle king Pierre-Jean Pebeyre to find the edible underground fungus referred to as the “black diamond”.

S05E08 French: Episode 8

• August 11, 2011

French Food Safari gets the lowdown on how a top-class kitchen works by joining Guillaume Brahimi for a busy night at his restaurant. We witness how hundreds of exquisite meals are created and served.

S05E09 French: Episode 9

• August 18, 2011

French Food Safari is taken on a tour of one of the top Parisienne kitchens with three Michelin-starred chef Guy Savoy, who cooks up some of his signature dishes for Maeve and Guillaume.

S06E01 Darwin

• February 14, 2013

SBSs highly acclaimed and hugely popular food series, Food Safari, returns with an enticing mix of some of the latest cuisines to be making their impact in Australia. With flavours and recipes from around the world that have now become a part of Australia's culinary landscape, this new series begins by exploring the many cuisines of Darwin, including recipes from the city's large Greek population, the numerous Asian fares represented in the area as well as classics from local Indigenous cooks. Maeve OMeara and the team then travel the country meeting chefs and home cooks. These rising stars of the new Australian food scene feature in episodes highlighting the cuisines of Peru, Cyprus, the Philippines, South Africa, Laos, Poland, Afghanistan, Denmark and finishing with the unique creole food scene of Broome. In the first episode, Maeve explores the diverse culinary influences of Australia's Top End - from Chinese inspired fresh mud crab steamed with Chinese rice wine, to barramundi cooked in bush alfoil (paperbark) on a perfect beach, and from a Greek Sunday lunch to a Thai feast. (Commissioned by SBS) (Food Series) *Series Return* G CC

S06E02 Peruvian

• February 21, 2013

In the second episode of Food Safari, Maeve O'Meara explores the country considered the gourmet destination of South America - Peru - and its infiltration into Australian culture. Maeve meets Alejandro Saravia from Morena restaurant in Surry Hills, who shows her some of the key ingredients in Peruvian cuisine including chillies, corn, potato and the high protein grain of the Andes - quinoa. Maeve then joins a group of Peruvian women making humitas, known as the 'bread of the Incas'. Chef Jorge Chacon shows how to make the world's best chips using cassava, which cooks up to a very crunchy outside and smooth creamy inside, served with a mellow chilli-based huancaina sauce, while Luis Almenara shows how to make the famous cocktail of Peru - the pisco sour - using plenty of freshly squeezed lime juice and finishing with a touch of Angostura bitters. Chef Danny Parreno shows off the Japanese influence in Peru with a marinated raw scallop and kingfish dish with a chilli dressing called tiradito. Then it's back to the high mountains to learn about some of the popular meats of Peru. Finally, Maeve joins an Andean outdoor feast known as a pacha manca or ground oven feast that is dedicated to the Earth Mother, hosted by Carlos Barriga and family. (Commissioned by SBS) (Food Series) G CC

S06E03 Cypriot

• February 28, 2013

Maeve O'Meara explores some of the simple dishes of Cypriot food, full of goodness and fresh flavour, based on a handful of key ingredients. In Adelaide, Maeve joins Miroula Kastrappi, who has made haloumi cheese for her family and friends for decades, and then meets a family preparing for Greek Easter. Melbourne chef Ismail Tosun demonstrates how to make bulgur kofta, which are zeppelin-shaped parcels made of cracked wheat made into a dough and stuffed with spiced minced meat. (Commissioned by SBS) (Food Series) G CC

S06E04 Filipino

• March 7, 2013

This week Food Safari explores the exciting mix of ingredients and flavours that make up Filipino food. Maeve meets the Adelaide Hilton's executive chef, Dennis Leslie, who describes the melting pot of influences he grew up with in the Philippines, and introduces her to one of his favourite noodle dishes: pancit palabok, a mixed seafood dressed with crunchy pork crackling. Banker Trissa Lopez hosts a morning breakfast for her family and friends to highlight Filipino food, an extension of her work hosting a Filipino food blog with devotees around the world, while chef Joel Ignacio specialises in the wicked but very tasty twice cooked pork hock called crispy pata. Sydney cafe owner Ricky Ocampo shares his grandmother's recipe for a soy sauce and vinegar chicken dish called adobo, the national dish of the Philippines, which cooks to a lovely sweet and sour flavour with the chicken moist and tender. Restaurant owner Raquel San Juan invites Maeve home to share the recipe for one of her most popular dishes - kare kare - a curry of oxtail and tripe in a thick peanut sauce, while food and travel writer Yasmin Newman makes her recipe for a cre�x0300me caramel like dessert called leche flan. (Commissioned by SBS) (Food Series) G CC

S06E05 South African

• March 14, 2013

This week Food Safari explores the many cuisines that are part of South Africa's culinary landscape. Cape Town-born chef Graeme Shapiro introduces Maeve to indigenous staples like mealie meal and the sweet-sour Cape Malay dishes that were a legacy of the spice traders - and comfort classics inherited from the Dutch, German and British settlers. Another favourite comes from Philile Zwane who grew up in Kwa Zulu Natal where a samp (white corn) and beans dish known as umngqusho is a staple. One of Perth's finest biltong producers Johann du Plooy shows Maeve the secrets to perfect air-dried meat. The South African barbeque - or braai is a national past time and restaurant owner Lance Rosen demonstrates how to grill perfect boerewors, marinated chicken and the adored marinated lamb skewers known as sosaties. Maeve also learns the secrets to the South African one-pot-wonder, the potjiekos, and finishes her journey with the comfort and sweetness of a malva pudding. (Commissioned by SBS) (Food Series) G CC

S06E06 Laotian

• March 21, 2013

This week Food Safari explores the many fresh herbs and vegetables used in Lao cuisine and looks at the special techniques and utensils employed in its preparation. Lao-born chef Tony Inthavong introduces Maeve to the fragrant flavours of his Southeast Asian birth place. Mountains of fresh herbs, lime, chilli and fermented fish sauce combine to produce fresh salads and soups - all served with the ubiquitous sticky rice. Tony also shows how to cook barbequed ox tongue and the delicious noodle soup, khao pun. It's a family affair for the Inthavongs - Tony's father makes batches of Laos sausage packed with lemongrass and his sister Ketty reveals how to make the adored parcel of sweet sticky rice, khao tom. Maeve then meets Sourina Simmalavong who makes a legendary tam mak hoong (green papaya salad). Freshness is key to this salad and Sourina gives Maeve a lesson in how to cut a papaya like a professional. Keng nor mai is a bamboo soup popular in Northern Laos - it's a favourite of Keo Vanthanavong's and he prepares it especially for Maeve. (Commissioned by SBS) (Food Series) G CC

S06E07 Polish

• March 28, 2013

Food Safari explores the delicious world of Polish food, finding pine forest mushrooms, baking sensational duck, indulging in a huge variety of smoked sausages, crunching on pickled gherkins, enjoying bigos, pierogi and an unbeatable cheesecake.

S06E08 Afghan

• April 4, 2013

Maeve O'Meara explores the fascinating food of Afghanistan where the guest is always seen as king and beautiful feasts are prepared using age-old recipes.

S06E09 Danish

• April 11, 2013

Maeve O'Meara explores the world of Danish food, a cuisine crafted for the cold - some dishes date back to the days of the Vikings, others like the sandwich smorrebrod are modern.

S06E10 Broome

• April 18, 2013

Maeve O'Meara explores the fascinating creole cuisine of Broome, with dishes as varied as chilli mudcrab, satay, pearl meat ceviche and a simple raw fish dish called susame.

S07E01 Fire: Cooking with Fire

• January 7, 2016

Food Safari returns in a blaze of glory introducing all you need to know about fire, wood, charcoal, types of meat, smoking, grilling, roasting and a cheat’s spit. In this flame-cooking master class, host Maeve O’Meara meets an impressive line-up of chefs and food purveyors from across Australia.

S07E02 Fire: Street Food

• January 14, 2016

Maeve explores the best chargrilled street food from around the world, including Greek pork souvlaki, Abruzzese arrosticini, Malaysian satay, Vietnamese beef in betel leaves and Mexican fish tacos. This episode is a celebration of street vendors' passion for charcoal, wood and fire. As Maeve can attest: “There’s nothing as enticing as food cooked in the open air where the spices and marinades come to meet you halfway down the street, drawing you in like a magnet, preparing your taste buds for heaven”.

S07E03 Fire: The Wood-Fired Oven

• January 21, 2016

From a healthy, six-minute ‘stand-up’ fish to Neapolitan pizza, slow-cooked goat, sourdough bread and sensational Greek pie, Maeve explores the versatility and uniqueness of cooking with a wood-fired oven. Dating back to Ancient Egypt and early Mediterranean civilisations, wood-fired ovens begun as both heat source and cooking device. Today, they are a symbol of ‘the good life’. In this episode, Maeve chats to a baker, a universally acclaimed pizza maker, and several chefs with a fiery passion for this style of cooking.

S07E04 Fire: Grilling Passionate

• January 28, 2016

Maeve explores how fire and coals create some of the world’s most beloved recipes, including traditional Turkish kebabs, Portuguese sardines, meltingly tender marinated Chilean pork belly and a spicy masterpiece known as South African braais.

S07E05 Fire: The Tandoor

• February 4, 2016

Over the past 5,000 years, the basic design of the tandoor oven has not changed, making it one of the oldest cooking devices on earth. In this episode, Maeve seeks out recipes from the subcontinent and Armenia cooked with this ancient oven, including tandoori chicken and prawns, naan, lamb kebabs and an elaborate roast pumpkin. Don't be surprised if you end wanting a tandoor in your own backyard!

S07E06 Fire: Spit-Roasting

• February 11, 2016

The ancient tradition of roasting a whole animal over a fire has always been visually spectacular and incredibly delicious. In this episode, Maeve explores the Argentinian style of a la cruz cooking, and learns the secrets to Brazilian churrasco, Sardinian suckling pig, Portuguese piri piri chicken and a crowd-pleasing Greek Easter lamb.

S07E07 Fire: Pots and Pans

• February 18, 2016

As the cuisines of the world developed different techniques to cook with flame, they also developed a unique range of pots and pans. In this episode, Maeve discovers the secrets to Spanish perol, Croatian peka, Chinese claypot, Moroccan tajine and Lebanese saj — and why they taste so good!

S07E08 Fire: Asian Barbecue

• February 25, 2016

This high-energy episode celebrates classic Asian recipes cooked over coals. From the Vietnamese lunch staple bun cha (marinated pork), to Chinese cumin lamb, Thai grilled chicken, Korean barbecue and the popular Japanese cooking technique, kushiyaki, Maeve enjoys a sensuous feast of Asian flavours.

S07E09 Fire: Smoking

• March 3, 2016

Maeve explores the ancient art of smoking, a cooking technique that was originally used as a preservative, but is now applauded for its ability to impart flavour and texture. Meeting smoking masters from across Australia, Maeve tastes hot-smoked salmon and kingfish, the West African condiment shito, flavoursome smoked lamb, Irish cold-smoked green bacon and Kansas City-style ribs.

S07E10 Fire: Barbecue Safari

• March 10, 2016

In this series finale, Maeve celebrates the ingenuity of the homemade barbecues and learns just how adaptable a 44-gallon drum can be! She meets a former pearl diver who uses the vessel to smoke barramundi, and a Jamaican chef who prefers to harness its cooking capabilities for jerk chicken and pork. Catching up with other barbecue devotees, Maeve discovesr there are many ordinary objects, including fridge parts, wheelie bins and lawnmowers can be welded into cooking devices. There’s even a car boot barbecue, a homemade Cypriot kleftiko oven and a Samoan umu feast.

S08E01 Earth: The New Green

• October 12, 2017

Maeve talks herbs and vegetables with Sydney chef Peter Gilmore in his extensive garden before delving deep into eggplant territory with Thai chef and restaurant owner Amy Chanta and her daughter Palisa Anderson at Boon Luck Farm in the NSW Northern Rivers. Melbourne’s Middle Eastern chef Joseph Abboud, re-imagines the golden smoky delight of eggplant in a dish he calls ‘the whole baba’ – like the famous baba ganoush before it's blended. Then Maeve gets a rare insight into the science-meets-food-art kitchen of Sepia's owner and Executive Chef Martin Benn.

S08E02 Earth: Staples

• October 19, 2017

This week, Maeve seeks out the deeply satisfying carbohydrates at the heart of many of the great dishes of the world. Indian chef, Ajoy Joshi shares his recipe for the textural delight that is gossamer, thin Indian dosa with spicy potato, sambhar and dhal. While down in Melbourne, she then visits pasta genius Alberto Fava who shows us how to transform durum wheat into silky sheets before shaping them into little ‘hats’ called cappellacci, before meeting Ethiopian bakers Karim Degal and his mother Meftuha Osmen who give Maeve a hands-on lesson in injera bread-making.

S08E03 Earth: Spring

• October 26, 2017

Spring is the season that chefs around the world look forward to most and Italian food legend, Stefano Manfredi harvests the freshest produce of the season for a Roman vignarola. Chef Chase Kojima reveals the secrets to a perfect tempura batter as Ibrahim Kasif is inspired by a Turkish spring and shares his dish of slow- braised broad beans. Maeve then visits the garden of Zimbabwean-born home cook Dorothy Johnson as she prepares muboora une dovi – a recipe of pumpkin shoots and delicate flowers served with a rich peanut sauce.

S08E04 Earth: Legumes

• November 2, 2017

Protein-rich beans have always been the heavy lifters of the vegetable world. In this episode, Maeve discovers the secrets of a classic falafel with Al Alseel's chef and restaurateur Faysal El-Abd. Culinary teacher Daisy Rajan shares her delicious recipe for Keralan green beans with coconut and Maeve also discovers how soy beans are transformed into silky tofu with the Kim family. And to finish, pastry chef Joao Cadete showcases his Portuguese tart using white beans known as queijadas de feijao.

S08E05 Earth: Herbs & Spices

• November 9, 2017

This week, Maeve explores the wild thyme known as za’atar and finds out how it is grown, dried before using it in a home-baked flatbread. Young Persian chef Sanam Janghorban creates a spectacular flavoursome fresh herb omelette kuku sabzi before Bangladeshi-born chef Tapos Singha showcases the whole spice blend known as panch phoron in a Bengali vegetarian dish called shukto. After this spicy bash, Maeve is then rewarded with a luscious Sri Lankan love cake baked by Debbie Solomon.

S08E06 Earth: Summer

• November 16, 2017

Tomato Day is the most special of day on the Italian food calendar and Maeve joins three generations of the Baggio family in suburban Melbourne as they preserve the goodness of summer with a homemade passata. Italian food legend, Guy Grossi celebrates the seductive power of the vegetables known as nightshades (eggplant and tomatoes) with a delicious pasta dish, garganella alla norma. With an abundance of fresh fruit over the summer, third generation gelato-maker Marco Enea of the Melbourne gelateria il Melograno whips up fragrant fresh strawberry gelato, Sicilian-style!

S08E07 Earth: Flowers

• November 23, 2017

A touch of saffron as Maeve cooks up a saffron risotto with Italian-born chef Alessandro Pavoni. From Tassie, Maeve travels up north to Darwin to meet food legend Jimmy Shu who unlocks the butterfly pea for a Nyonya-style dumpling. And as the world of flowers are explored, Maeve goes behind-the-counters and into the kitchen of sweets palace Abla’s to see how those delicate essences are used before taking some of those notes and layering them in a baklava recipe by Armenian home cook Arpy Iskikian.

S08E08 Earth: Stuffed, Rolled & Wrapped

• November 30, 2017

From the Mexican favourite of mild fresh poblano chillies stuffed with a melting cheese, fried and added to a delicious tomato-based sauce, Maeve begins to explore the amazing versatility cuisines take in stuffing your vegetables. This week, she explores the intricate and complex world of classic Chinese dumplings with Shanghai-born chef Chris Yan who shares his recipe for their best-selling silverbeet and spinach dumplings. Then it's an afternoon of showstopping yemista – a range of vegetables stuffed with delicious herbed rice then baked before getting on a roll with easy silverbeet and fig leaf mezze sensations.

S08E09 Earth: Tropic & Exotic

• December 7, 2017

Exploring Australia’s enduring love for Asian flavours, Maeve visists the respected master of Thai cuisine, David Thompson who shares his recipe for the most delicious, all-vegetarian pad see ew. Then, it’s the fresh crispness and astringent power of unripe, or green fruits, as chef O Tama Carey demonstrates her Sri Lankan family recipe for green mango curry. Colombian-born chef, Oscar Espinosa showcases the power of the plantain and then Maeve discovers how to extract real coconut cream before delving into a Goan treat of coconut and jaggery, known as patoleo.

S08E10 Earth: Autumn

• December 14, 2017

It’s the season of mellow fruitfulness and this week, Maeve hits the road and joins her friend Franca Norris and her father, Angelo Bonacci on a mushroom hunt before discovering the secrets of perfect gnocchi with mushroom sauce. Autumn’s olive harvest is one of the highlights of the food world as Pietro Demaio demonstrates how easy it is to bottle your own olives. Then modern Greek chef Peter Conistis makes magnificent olive and tomato keftedes with a green olive sauce, before joining home cook Judy Saba to discover how to make the Lebanese Lenten staple, pumpkin kibbeh.

S08E11 Earth: Sweet & Sour

• December 21, 2017

Explore the sweet power of onions with Spanish chef, Pablo Tordesillas Garcia and discovers the delights of a Catalonian favourite of char-grilled baby leeks with romesco sauce. Sicilian-Australian chef, Rosa Mitchell shares her version of caponata - a sweet-sour vegetable dish and Maeve visits Israeli born chef, Michael Rantissi who shows us how to make pomegranate molasses from scratch which then goes into a vibrant fresh cauliflower and pomegranate salad.

S08E12 Earth: Preserving & Fermenting

• December 28, 2017

In this week's episode, Maeve meets preserving supremo Pietro Demaio who shows her the ropes to a fiery Calabrese ‘Explosive Mix’ – a magnificent blend of chopped preserved vegetables perfect for bruschetta. From there she visits Korean food ambassador Heather Jeong who demonstrates how to make a vegan radish kimchi before chef, Somer Sivrioglu shares his secrets for making the red pepper paste in every Turkish pantry known as biber salçasi.

S08E13 Earth: Winter

• January 4, 2018

Root vegetables come into their own during winter and Food Safari Earth explores a spicy Singaporean ‘white carrot’ cake made from daikon radish known as chai tow kway which is a hawker stall favourite and an easy recipe shared by Maeve’s friend, home cook Helina Lee. Cabbage is another winter favourite and Maeve meets Danish chef Bente Grysbaek who shares her recipe for spidskål using sugarloaf cabbage, horseradish, salted lemon and burnt butter. The comfort of warming puddings and desserts never goes unnoticed and home cook Ulku Gani makes a deliciously healthy touch–your-heart Turkish sweet that’s often referred to as “Noah’s pudding” called asure with dried fruits, barley, spices and nuts.

S09E01 Water: From the Water

• August 1, 2018

Maeve journeys into the Top End of Australia to seek out wild barramundi with local fisherman Billy Boustead and his chef friend, legendary Darwin and Alice Springs restaurateur Jimmy Shu (Hanuman). Next stop is the Sydney Fish Market with De Costi’s chief buyer Carmelo Lombardo, and renowned seafood chef Steve Hodges shares some of the secrets of cooking fish perfectly. Alberto Fava (Tipo 00) makes his inspired signature dish of squid ink tagliolini and calamari with salmon roe and bottarga. Maeve discovers how sea salt is produced in the Spencer Gulf South Australia by Olsson’s, and sea salt and rock salt are then used in a classic Sicilian recipe for whole baked snapper in a salt crust by chef Lino Sauro.

S09E02 Water: Sea Treasures

• August 8, 2018

iver James Palanowski works in the eight-degree water off Tasmania’s east coast to harvest abalone, which is then used by acclaimed Chinese chef Frank Shek (China Doll) who teaches a home sous-vide method to achieve a spectacular spiced seafood omelette. Forager Peter Hardwick shares his favourite place on the NSW North Coast to find sea vegetables including samphire, seablite and pig face. In Tasmania James Ashmore (Ashmore Foods Tasmania) demonstrates how he preserves wakame and Tasmania’s favourite Japanese chef Masaaki Koyama (Masaaki’s Sushi) uses wakame to create a salad with octopus finished with a dressing using dashi. The salmon roe harvest in the Yarra Valley is spectacular as the fish laden with eggs are anaesthetised in a bath of clove oil-induced water and their jewel-like orange roe ‘milked’. Caviar is the crowning glory of pioneering Greek chef Peter Conistis’ (Alpha Restaurant) signature dish moussaka of eggplant, seared scallops and taramasalata.

S09E03 Water: Whole Fish

• August 15, 2018

Food Safari Water joins the pumping kitchen at the popular Golden Century which specialises in live fish and seafood and Eric Wong explains the cultural significance and meaning of eating a whole fish. Thai chef and restaurateur Amy Chanta (Chat Thai) deep-fries snapper and serves it with a fresh green mango salad with lots of herbs. Chef Tan (Malacca Straits) cooks a fish head curry with a creamy coconut curry base and Simon Lee (Masak Ku) teaches the secrets to the rich curry sauce. Self-described ‘fish nerd” chef Josh Niland (Saint Peter) shows how to break down a 15 kilo wild kingfish and develops recipes for an “eye chip”; smoked heart, pan-fried liver, seared milt (sperm sac) and deep-fried scales to add extra salty goodness to dishes. Last stop, assured master of the French kitchen chef Jacques Reymond (Bistro Gitan, L’Otel Gitan) shows how to prepare rouget (red mullet) roasted ‘en papillote’.

S09E04 Water: Raw

• August 22, 2018

The pure clean taste of the ocean is celebrated in this episode which explores the natural briny flavour of the three main types of oysters with Clyde River ‘oyster affineur’ Steve Feletti (Moonlight Flat Oysters) and Lee and Suzanne Macefield (Get Shucked) on Bruny Island. Japanese sashimi and sushi chef Chase Kojima (Sokyo, Gojima) shows the knives and precision needed to create the most exquisite mouthfuls using the best raw fish for sashimi and sushi. Chef Louis Tikaram (EP&LP, West Hollywood) shares his recipe for making “white gold” Kokoda. Australia’s most acclaimed chef Tetsuya Wakuda (Tetsuya’s, Waku Ghin Singapore) celebrates the less popular species of fish which he says are actually more delicious, especially blue or slimy mackerel which he uses raw and cures with slices of dried kelp to create an inventive salad with shaved fennel. Italian chef Gabriele Taddeucci (Balla) slices beautiful red emperor for a classic crudo, dressed with blood orange and olive oil. Celebrated international Lebanese chef Greg Malouf uses the same techniques used for Lebanon’s national dish kibbe nayeh with raw salmon, adding spices and serving it with the lightest mountain bread.

S09E05 Water: Fish Bites

• September 19, 2018

Exquisite snacks based on seafood star in many cuisines around the world. Chef Frank Camorra (Movida Aqui) shares his recipe for luscious salty buñuelos de bacalao. Larger than life Greek chef Thomas Deliopoulos (Mykonos Restaurant, Kalimera Souvlaki) shows how to create two perfect dishes using a mighty five-kilo octopus – preserved in oil and cooked over charcoal. In the Thai world, the perfect seafood mouthfuls come from Northern Thailand in the form of miang kham - a multi-textured wake up for the taste buds from chef Pacharin ‘Air’ Jantrakool (Chon Thai). Louisiana style seafood sandwiches in the form of po’ boys using battered fried oysters and marinated prawns are prepared by chef Chris Weysham (Po’ Boy Quarter and East of Everything). Chef Danny Russo (Candelori’s, Russolini Group) uses neonata mixed with fermented chilli to create a Calabrese speciality known as “poor man’s caviar”, while Kiwi expatriate home cook Kate Kennedy whips up New Zealand’s beloved white bait fritters which are served with buttered square white bread.

S09E06 Water: Fish On Fire

• September 26, 2018

Cooking fish over fire is an instant call to the tastebuds. Chef Lennox Hastie (Firedoor) takes his grill to a NSW south coast beach to cook a perfect whole flathead over coals, served with an ingenious pil-pil sauce. In Sydney’s Western suburbs, Vietnamese man of fire chef Ben Nguyen (Hai Au) cooks periwinkles and cockles while former Hanoi-born restaurateur Liên Yeomans shares her recipe for Chả cá lã vọng. Andrew McConnell (Cumulus Inc, Cutler and Co, Supernormal etc) forages for coastal vegetables on the Mornington Peninsula and cooks calamari over charcoal, making his own oyster sauce from scratch. Croatian chef of 40 years Ranko Despot (Balkan Seafood Restaurant) shows the traditional Gardella grill and cooks up a number of different fish, sharing tips and techniques on cooking perfect fish.

S09E07 Water: Shellfish

• October 3, 2018

Shark-defying scallop diver Paulie Polacco harvests some of the world’s most prized queen scallops off Kangaroo Island. Adelaide-based Calabrese chef Salvatore Pepe (Pepe’s Cucina) uses queen scallops to create a delicious mouthful called capesante gratinate. Mussel farmer Lance Wiffen harvests his ‘black gold” at Port Arlington on Port Philip Bay, Victoria explaining how sustainable and delicious these shellfish are. Turkish chef Somer Sivrioglu (Anason, Efendy) shares his recipe for midye dolma and how to eat them Istanbul style, using the shell as a scoop. Italian dynamo Paola Toppi (Bar Machiavelli), loves the delicate sweetness of blue swimmer crab and uses it to star in her three-minute masterpiece, cooked with fresh pappardelle pasta. Continuing the Italian love of shellfish, chef Danny Russo (Candelori’s, Russolini Group) reckons scampi is the best gift of the ocean and cooks the delicate shellfish in a wood-fired oven.

S09E08 Water: One Pot

• October 10, 2018

The simplicity of cooking and serving seafood in one pot is a hallmark of cuisines around the world. Chef Angie Hong shares the secrets of Vietnamese claypot and Cajun chef Chris Weysham (Po’ Boy Quarter, East of Everything) cooks his version of a crawfish boil with a spicy base and a mountain of prawns and crabs. Belgian chef David Coumont (Moxhe) cooks up a pot of mussels using eschallots and a splash of wine. Peruvian chef and teacher Jorge Chacon cooks the renowned hangover cure parihuela. Thai-Australian cafe owner and farmer Palisa Anderson (Boon Café) makes jungle curry using butterflied whiting while Spanish chef Gerardo Iglesias makes fideua in a paella pan on the jetty at Geelong, Victoria.

S09E09 Water: Preserved

• October 17, 2018

Food Safari water captures the sheer adventure of one of the world’s great marine migrations – following the mullet run up Australia’s east coast, harvesting the roe to make the age-old preserved product bottarga, used as “the parmesan of the sea” by Sardinian chef Giovanni Pilu (Pilu at Freshwater) in a simple but fabulous spaghetti alla bottarga. BJ Plummer (Woodbridge Smokehouse, Tasmania) explains hot and cold smoking of salmon and ocean trout and the care taken to hand slice the rosy fish. Also in Tasmania, Japanese chef Masaaki Koyama (Masaaki’s Sushi, Geeveston) introduces how dashi is made and uses leftover bonito flakes to make a calcium rich sprinkle for rice called furikake. Malaysian Chinese chef Victor Liong (Lee Ho Fook) shares his version of the Chinese tradition of making XO sauce while chef Frank Camorra (Movida) shows a simple Spanish recipe for pickling sardines with an escabeche sauce.

S09E10 Water: Surf & Turf

• October 24, 2018

Pairing the proteins of ocean and earth leads to an intriguing episode with some diverse and inspired flavour combinations. Vietnamese chef Dai Duong (Uncle, Uncle Collins) makes the classic Chao Tom, grilled to golden perfection. In the pre-dawn hours we join legendary brothers Meng and William Woon (Malay Chinese Takeaway) in making their rich prawn and pork stock, sharing their secret recipe that’s the basis of their iconic har mee soup. At the mouth of the Murray River, pipis are harvested by Alistair Scott-Young (Goolwa Pipi Company); Diogo Ferreira (Village on Cloey) and his mother Lucia use pipis combined with pork for a classic carne de porco a Alentejana. The elegant pairing of veal and tuna make vitello tonnato, shared by Pugliese chef Giuseppe Fuzio (Chiosco). Chef Martin Benn (Sepia) creates food as art as a tiger prawn morphs into a silky single sheet served with umami-rich broth made with the world’s most expensive jamon iberico.

S09E11 Water: Freshwater

• October 31, 2018

Tasmanian-based chef Masaaki Koyama (Masaaki’s Sushi Geeveston) heads out in the misty mornings on the Huon River to haul up eel nets set the night before, grilling his catch and brushing with a delicious soy glaze. Founder of the acclaimed Tasmanian cooking school The Agrarian Kitchen chef Rodney Dunn (The Agrarian Eatery) prepares local eels in a brine and cold smoke them on his farm. On a pristine mountain stream in Victoria’s High Country, chef Anthony Simone (Baby Café & Pizzeria) takes us to his favourite trout fishing spot from childhood and shares his simple recipe for smoking trout using a wok, hickory chips and eucalyptus leaves. Dynamic Vietnamese chef Jerry Mai (Annam Restaurant and Bar) cooks a spectacular grilled Murray cod with herbs, including a wicked dipping sauce. Revered chef Peter Gilmore (Quay, Bennelong) shares his signature Australian dish of red claw yabbies and buckwheat pikelets.

S09E12 Water: Feel Good Fish

• November 7, 2018

A cheese and leek topped pie made with perfect white fish, smoked fish, salmon and plump prawns is chef Nelly’s Robinson’s (Nel Restaurant) favourite dish from childhood. Refugee and fisherman Nigethan Sithirasegaram (Tamil Feasts), makes a classic Sri Lankan crab curry. Talented home cooks Aurora Charabati demonstrates a fish and chips variation from Lebanon using the whole garfish. The fish that launched a thousand ships – salted dried cod – is a delicious comfort food treat for chef Jose Silva (Bibo Wine Bar) – his Bacalhau à Brás recipe sees cod soaked and cooked in a rich sauce with slowly cooked onions, eggs and shoestring potatoes.

S09E13 Water: Festive Fish

• November 14, 2018

Every year Singaporean chef Alex Lee (Alex Lee Kitchen) makes Yusheng to celebrate the new year. The cold clear waters off Bruny island Tasmania are where lobster fisherman Clive Perryman harvests Southern Rock Lobster, a delicacy close to the heart of chef and wok master Chris Jin (China Doll), who grew up in Shanghai and always associated the lobster with a lucky dragon. Jin demonstrates how to cook the lobster with ginger and shallots, flamed with cognac for a truly show-stopping dish. In Senegal, the national dish of fish and rice is called thieboudienne, served on a huge communal platter. Aissatou Ba (Tastes of Senegal) shows how thieboudienne is made. In Brazil, seafood is very popular and the Bahia region in the north is home to a much-loved dish called bobó de camarão which is made with prawns, cassava and dende oil, a favourite of chef Luiza Yu Gomes (1821, Civic Hotels, Universal Hotels Catering) who serves it with the beloved staple farofa made with cassava flour. One of the best seafood dishes of celebration comes from Lebanon – sayadieh, the pinnacle of many banquets and cooked by wholefoods chef and writer Fouad Kassab (Quirky Cooking's Life-Changing Food).

Italian Chocolate Ricotta Cake

With rich flavor and a moist texture, this Italian chocolate ricotta cake recipe is both decadent and delicious! It’s easy to make and perfect to have on hand for any occasion from a snack to dessert.

Simple, delicious and with a fudgy dense texture Italian chocolate ricotta cake is the best Italian inspired dessert recipe! It’s easy to make and requires only simple ingredients.

Adding ricotta cheese to your baked goods creates moist and flavorful cakes that just melt in your mouth. I use ricotta in both my lemon ricotta cake and chocolate chip ricotta cake with mini chocolate chips for the same delicious results.

This ricotta chocolate cake is not overly sweet and is great to have on hand for any holiday, celebration or even just a midday snack! It’s simple yet elegant and even perfect for your next dinner party. You will fall in love with this chocolate cake, it is the best!

Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love this Italian Chocolate Cake Recipe

• Ricotta: Ricotta cheese adds moisture.
• Rich chocolate taste: Using a good quality dark chocolate instead of cocoa powder adds a more decadent taste.
• Easy to make: This ricotta chocolate cake is only a one layer cake making it easy to prepare whenever the chocolate craving strikes. 
• Scrumptious: It might remind you of a pound cake, a chocolate cake and a cheesecake all in one and after one bite of this baked chocolate and ricotta cake you will fall in love with it! 

Ingredients Needed

Chocolate ricotta cake is prepared easily with only a few simple ingredients, a round cake pan or a small bundt cake pan.

• Ricotta cheese: You will need one cup of ricotta cheese. I recommended full fat or whole milk ricotta.
• Dark chocolate: A good quality dark chocolate will provide the best decadent taste. 
• Eggs : You will need three large eggs plus one egg yolk brought to room temperature. Eggs add binding and additional moisture. 
• Granulated sugar: The perfect amount for a light sweet taste.
• Butter: Salted butter or unsalted butter works. 
• Cake flour: Or pastry flour is best as it is lower in protein and will result in a lighter cake texture. 
• Baking powder: A leavening agent for rise.
• Vanilla extract : Pure vanilla extract for best taste.
• Salt: If you have used salted butter add just a pinch of salt. Unsalted butter then add ¼ teaspoon of salt.

• Chocolate glaze: Use the glaze from my chocolate glazed marble cake for a simple yet decadent topping.
• Layer cake: Double the recipe and frost the layers for a chocolate ricotta layer cake. Use the icing from this chocolate cake with mocha frosting or make a simple buttercream frosting.
• Almond extract: Add almond extract along with vanilla extract for a delicious chocolate almond taste that pairs so well together!
• Espresso powder: Just a small amount adds a depth to the chocolate flavor.
• Cinnamon: Add up to a ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, it really adds a special layer of flavor and marries so well with the chocolate. 
• Marbled: Reserve some plain batter and swirl the batters together for a lovely marbled cake like I do in Italian marble cake .

How to Make Chocolate Ricotta Cake

To start, melt the butter and dark chocolate in either a bain marie or use a microwave and melt in increments.

When the chocolate mixture has cooled down, pour it into the mixing bowl then add the granulated sugar and beat until combined. Add the eggs one at a time and then egg yolk, mixing after each addition.

Add your ricotta cheese, vanilla and salt then continue beating until light and airy.

Sift in your dry ingredients then beat for 2 minutes until smooth.

Transfer the batter into prepared cake pan and bake until done.

Test for doneness with a toothpick and if it comes out clean your cake is ready. 

Cool for 20 minutes in the pan then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!

Expert Tips

• Using room temperature eggs allows them to mix better with the batter and leads to a better cake rise.
• To make your own homemade cake flour for every cup of all purpose flour remove 2 tablespoons and substitute it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift it all together to combine and remove any lumps.
• If your ricotta is very moist, drain it first so your cake does not have too much added moisture. 
• Cool your chocolate to room temperature after melting it with the butter so your egg doesn’t start to cook when combining the cake batter. 

Chocolate Ricotta cake recipe FAQs

The great thing about this snack cake is that you can have a slice at breakfast or for dessert! It’s both great with a cup of coffee or a scoop of ice cream. 

As long as your house is not humid or overly hot, you can store your cake covered for up to 2-3 days on the countertop. You can also store it covered for up to a week in the refrigerator. 

You may hear this Italian ricotta chocolate cake called torta di ricotta al cioccolato in Italian. It’s the perfect cross between a chocolate cake and cheesecake. 

Can I freeze leftover cake? 

Yes. I recommend cutting it into slices and storing it in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw and enjoy. 

Chocolate ricotta cake is a delicious dessert that combines the rich flavors of chocolate with the creamy texture of ricotta cheese. This cake is a perfect treat for any occasion. I hope you enjoy it!

More Ricotta Recipes

• Italian ricotta cheesecake
• Italian orange ricotta cookies
• Chocolate chip ricotta crumb cake
• Ricotta cherry crumb pie
• Ricotta castagnole

When you are looking for an Italian Chocolate Cake then I hope you try this Italian Chocolate Ricotta Cake and be sure to let me know how you like it. Enjoy!

Ingredients   US Customary Metric   1x 2x 3x

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 6 ounces dark chocolate good quality ( I use one with 52% cocoa) 170 grams
• 3 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
• ¾ cup + 2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar (180 grams total)
• ½ cup + ½ tablespoon butter (softened) (120 grams total)
• 1 cup pastry/cake flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt*

*If you use unsalted butter then add ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Instructions  .

• Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C. Spray or grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch / 20-23 cm round cake pan or 7 inch / 18 cm bundt pan.
• In a bowl melt the butter and chocolate either bain marie or microwave, let cool, then pour into the mixing bowl add the sugar and beat, add the eggs and yolk one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the ricotta, vanilla and salt beat to combine, sift in the flour and baking powder beat until smooth 2 minutes.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for approximately 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Let cool 20 minutes in the pan then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!

31 Comments

Hi Hannah, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care!

Hi TG, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Take care and have a great weekend!

I’m used to adding dry ingredients to wet and folding the batter just until combined. Is this batter really beat for 2 minutes. Thanks for your help

Hi Dian, yes this is an Italian cake and the instructions are correct. 🙂

Yes, I put it in an 8 inch pan like you said and it overflowed all over the place. You need a 9″ instead

Hi Stephanie, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Yes you could, just make sure that it is baked through. Take care!

Hi Patricia, thanks so much, actually you can increase the temperature to 350F. Take care!

7” Bundt pan is definitely the wrong size…way too small. Third of my batter wended up in the bottom of the oven. Use an 11” Bundt. The cake is delicious!

Hi Anita, I don’t see anywhere in the post that I wrote to use a 7 inch bundt pan. The instructions say a 9 inch round cake pan or a 9 1/2 inch bundt pan. Let me know. Glad you enjoyed the cake though! Take care.

Hi Anita, sorry I was looking at another recipe when I answered your question, I need a holiday lol, but I did make it in a small bundt pan, it could have been higher than normal, but anyway glad it worked for you. Take care and have a great weekend!

STEP 1. Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C. Spray or grease and flour an 8 inch round cake pan or 7 inch bundt pan.

Hi Rose, yes you’re right I was on another bundt recipe from another comment. Nevermind. 🙂 thanks.

Making this tomorrow and confused by this thread. Which size pan do you use? Can someone please clarify? Thanks.

Hi Cathi, you can use an 8 inch round cake pan or a 7 inch bundt pan. Hope that helps. Take care!

Can you use powdered cacao instead?

Hi Dera, yes you canf or 1 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate substitute with 2 1/2 – 3 tablespoons cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or melted shortening. Let me know, Take care!

Can you make cupcakes with the batter?

Hi Joann, I think you could, be sure to bake for less time, approximately 15-20 minutes. This is a denser cake so the cupcakes will be denser also. Hope that helps. Take care!

I haven’t tried yet. Wanted to say I appreciate your Notes. Very informative and helpful. Thanks

Hi Lark, thanks so much, I hope you enjoy it. Take care!

I went exactly by recipe. It was beautiful when it came out oven. Ten minutes later it was flat like a bad tire. The picture on your site where it’s cooked in a bundle pan…is that a single recipe or a double.

Hi Kathy, this is a single recipe, baked in a 7 inch bundt pan. Flattening can happen because the oven is opened too soon while baking, the temperature of the oven could be off. Try using an 8 inch bundt pan, it will be thinner but that help. Let me know.

It was delicious!

Hi Leslie, you could probably raise it to 350F and it would bake fine. Glad you enjoyed it. Take care!

Looks delicious! I really want to try making it this weekend, but I just want a double check that 320° oven is not a mistake. Thanks!

Hi Stephanie, glad you asked I upped it to 350F. I hope you enjoy it. Take care!

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Easy Ricotta Cake Recipe with Fresh Berries

• June 25, 2024

This moist and tender Ricotta Cake recipe features fresh blueberries and raspberries, complemented by vibrant citrus zest. This simple cake offers incredible depth and flavor, making it perfect for any summer gathering or occasion. Dress it up or keep it simple – the choice is yours!

What Makes This Recipe Great

Ricotta cake is a simple cake that incorporates ricotta cheese into its batter, giving it a rich, moist texture and a slightly tangy flavor. Today we’re making this simple recipe with added citrus zest and fresh berries for bright, sweet, and slightly tangy summer flavors. All you need are a handful of ingredients– and a tub of full fat ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese if you choose). 

This cake does not have a light, spongy, and fluffy texture. It’s a little weightier but not dense. It has the most tender, moist crumb and the richness of the ricotta really shines through. I cut the sugar back, but I think you can take it back even further if you like. Just check on the cake a little earlier since sugar adds moisture. 

Check out the notes at the bottom of the recipe for ways you can dress this up. I like the technique of folding most of the fruit into the batter and pressing some on the top for a prettier presentation. You can use that technique with other cakes and even cookies (think chocolate chips.) Enjoy!

Ingredient Notes

You’ll need basic ingredients for this simple recipe and it’s easy to make substitutions according to your dietary needs and preferences. See the recipe tips for even more ways to make this cake you own. 

• granulated cane sugar or maple sugar
• orange zest, grapefruit, lime, or fresh lemon zest: Any citrus zest will work. Take your pick!  
• all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour blend
• aluminum-free baking powder
• large eggs: At room temperature or ¾ cup aquafaba whipped or your favorite egg substitute
• whole milk ricotta cheese or blended cottage cheese : Blend cottage cheese until smooth or use plant-based yogurt with some fat, like coconut yogurt or Kite Hill almond milk ricotta.
• pure vanilla extract 
• unsalted butter or plant butter
• fresh raspberries and blueberries

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray a 9” springform pan with cooking spray (olive oil or another neutral oil). Or line a 9” cake pan with unbleached parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray.
• Add the sugar to a medium bowl and zest the citrus on top.  Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until aromatic.  Whisk in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, and vanilla until smooth. Add the dry ingredients (flour mixture) and mix until barely combined. Fold in the melted butter, then 1 cup of the berries, gently. Pour cake batter into the prepared pan and scatter the remaining ½ cup berries on top. 
• Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack and serve as is or add a light dusting of powdered sugar.  It should be kept well at room temperature for 2 days, and then it needs to be refrigerated. The cake can be frozen successfully.  Defrost in the fridge and then allow it to come to room temperature.

Recipe Tips

• You can add white chocolate chips for a red, white, and blue cake. 
• You can also sprinkle raw sugar on the top of the cake before baking it for a crunchy top.
• Make dairy-free with plant butter and Kite Hill ricotta.
• Substitute blended cottage cheese for the ricotta if preferred. I am shocked at how well it swaps in for ricotta, plus it’s higher in protein and half the price!
• Don’t have enough ricotta? – supplement with plain Greek yogurt.
• Another fun idea is to split the cake crosswise into two thin layers and fill the middle with whipped cream for a shortcake.
• There’s no need for an electric mixer in this recipe, though if you prefer to use a hand mixer or stand mixer, you are welcome to. 

Storage Tips

Store in an airtight container or covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. Transfer it to the refrigerator for up to 5 days more. 

The cake can be frozen successfully. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.  Defrost in the fridge and then allow it to come to room temperature.

More Cake Recipes

Ricotta Cake with Chocolate Chips and Citrus

Sour Cherry Almond Cake

Mini Strawberry Swirl Cheesecakes

Olive Oil Yogurt Cake with Citrus Glaze

If you give this recipe a try, snap a pic and tag @pamelasalzman on Instagram so I can see your beautiful creations. I also really appreciate readers taking the time to leave a star rating and review! Lastly, subscribe for free to my site for the latest recipes and updates. 

For more delicious recipes and to learn how to be a better cook, check out my monthly online cooking classes. I have been teaching people for 15 years how to cook healthy food that their families love!  Join me!

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Get the Recipe

• 1 cup granulated cane sugar or maple sugar
• Zest of 1 orange, grapefruit, lemon or lime
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour or GF Flour Blend
• 1 Tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon sea salt
• 3 large eggs at room temperature or ¾ cup aquafaba, whipped or your favorite egg substitute
• 1 ½ cups whole milk ricotta or blended cottage cheese (blend cottage cheese until smooth) or a plant-based yogurt with some fat, like coconut yogurt or Kite Hill almond milk ricotta
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or plant butter, melted
• 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries and blueberries, divided
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 9” springform pan with cooking spray. Or line a 9” cake pan with unbleached parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray.
• Add the sugar to a medium bowl and zest the citrus on top. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until aromatic. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, and vanilla until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix until barely combined. Fold in the melted butter, then 1 cup of the berries, gently. Pour batter into the prepared pan and scatter the remaining ½ cup berries on top.
• Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Cool completely and serve as is or dust with powdered sugar. Keeps well at room temp for 2 days, then it needs to be refrigerated. The cake can be frozen successfully. Defrost in fridge and then allow to come to room temp.

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We love this cake! I have frozen it and sent it home with my college student! She and her friends beg for it and love that it’s not a sugar bomb. Yum!

That makes me so happy to know that! And when did you get a COLLEGE student?? OMG time flies!! XOXO

Can you substitute regular flour with almond flour?

no, sorry. You can’t sub a nut flour for a grain flour one for one without making other changes and I haven’t tested that out.

Very nice recipe chef .I made lasnt

so glad you enjoyed it!

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I come from a large Italian-American family with 28 first cousins (on one side of the family!) where sit-down holiday dinners for 85 people are the norm (how, you might ask – organization! But more on that later …).

Some of my fondest memories are of simple family gatherings, both large and small, with long tables of bowls and platters piled high, the laughter of my cousins echoing and the comfort of tradition warming my soul.

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• 11 Mouthwatering Russian Cakes You...

11 Mouthwatering Russian Cakes You Should Try

Desserts have always held a special place at the Russian table, and the nation’s cuisine has sweet tooths covered with its delicious assortment of cakes. Many of these cakes are dense with sugary sour-cream and laden with nuts and fruit. All of them are rich and decadent. Try any one of these eleven cakes, and it will be hard not to come back for seconds.

Moscow cake.

A new addition to Russia’s cake repertoire, the Moskva was made in 2015, and can now be found throughout the capital. Always glazed with a red icing, the cake is a moist sponge cake layered with walnuts and condensed milk. A true cake of the people, it was given its name after more than 200,000 Moscovites voted on it in an initiative that encouraged Moscow residents to take part in city governance. The cake won the right to represent Russia’s capital over 80 other cake recipes, beating a chocolate and cranberry biscuit cake, and a pistachio and cherry mousse cake.

Manufactured in the Soviet Union since the mid-1950s, this cake soon became a popular treat across the USSR. It is made with up to five different types of nuts that are scattered across the layers of sponge, including hazelnuts and cashews, which were both uncommon in Soviet cooking. Despite chronic food shortages, the Kiev cake is indicative of the indulgent cake style of the mid-twentieth century – the original recipe used 600 grams of custard and 400 grams of egg whites for one cake.

Prague Cake

This is as dense chocolatey cake, loaded with condensed milk and seven eggs. It also has no connection to the Czech Republic whatsoever. Made by a pastry chef from the renowned Prague restaurant in Moscow during the 1970s, the cake takes its name from the restaurant. The Prague restaurant was celebrated for its Soviet glamour and was considered the height of cuisine culture at the time. This decadent chocolate cake was one of the most coveted desserts it made.

Bird’s Milk Cake

A symbol of Soviet austerity, Bird’s Milk Cake was created during Soviet times as a reaction to the indulgent cakes of the 1950s and another triumph of the Prague restaurant. A lot of trial and error went into creating the mousse filling as a team of pastry chefs toiled for six months to get the consistency right by mixing gelatin and agar with condensed milk. Also known as Ptichye Moloko , it is a spongy biscuit layered with mousse or a soufflé (or nowadays even marshmallows) and covered with a chocolate glaze. Popular throughout the Soviet era, it remains a favourite treat among Russians and those who live in post-Soviet states.

This cake is also referred to as the anthill cake, due to its mound-like shape. Much like the chocolate salami log, this treat can be whipped up out of broken biscuits or old sponge cake if you can’t be bothered to make the sour-cream-laden cookie dough. Biscuits are mixed up with a chocolatey buttercream and toasted walnuts and then piled up into the hill shape. Sprinkle with poppy seeds or shaved chocolate for the perfect afternoon tea treat.

Medovik Cake

Russian honey cake is a moorish treat and another layered cake, this time slathered with sweetened sour cream or crème fraîche if you prefer something lighter. The cake pre-dates Soviet times and was made by the personal chef of Tsar Alexander I. Honey was a traditional sweetener in Russian cooking and is still added to the biscuit dough along with condensed milk, which gives it that delicious caramel taste.

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Polyot Cake

This is a drool-worthy meringue and buttercream cake that appeared in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Its decadence, like the Kiev cake, is indicative of the indulgent desserts that were popular at the time. Traditionally the meringue is made from ground peas; however, it is often replaced with cashews or hazelnuts nowadays. Although you’ll probably want to eat it as often as possible, its traditionally wheeled out for festivities and special occasions.

Skazka Cake

Skazka , translating to ‘fairy tale’, was one of the most affordable cakes during Soviet times. It is also, comparatively, easy to make and so it is as popular today as it was in the USSR. Generally shaped like a log, biscuits are soaked in an orange liqueur, or a cognac, and then decorated elaborately with icing flowers and candied fruits.

Napoleon Cake

This cake takes its name from a Napoleon-hat-shaped batch of layered pastries made in 1912 as part of centennial celebrations of Russia’s victory over France in the Patriotic War. Layers of pastry are slathered with custard, then sprinkled with pastry crumbs that symbolise the bitter winter that helped Russia defeat Napoleon. While many cakes were made during Soviet times, the Napoleon cake didn’t fare well during food shortages. As a result, it became a cake to bake at home, where people were free to experiment with ingredients.

Another recent addition to Russia’s cakes, Pancho is based on housewife recipes. It may look like a bit of a melting mess, but its odd shape is part of the appeal and has earnt the dessert the nickname of ‘volcano cake’. Chocolate and vanilla layers are soaked in vanilla cream and loaded with nuts and cherries, which are then covered in a chocolate glaze. If you want a denser cake, use sweetened sour cream to soak the sponge layers in.

This is more of a slice than a cake and is a lot lighter than many of the sour cream and butter-heavy baked sweets and desserts . Perfect for summertime, the lemon filling gives the dish a bit of a tart kick. It is made with a shortcrust pastry that has been covered in a layer of minced lemons mixed with a bit of sugar.

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Make it from scratch

There is nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes from making something you would normally buy, from scratch. sure, it takes longer than ducking up to the shops and you do need a bit of forward planning, but the results are worth it (and that’s even before you take into account the bragging rights and instagram potential)..

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