Is there anything sadder than a half-full container of sour cream or yogurt, sitting forlornly in the refrigerator and waiting to reach its “best used by” date? Yes, actually, there is. You can always put a few spoonfuls of sour cream on baked potatoes. The yogurt can be eaten for breakfast, with fruit or cereal. The saddest container in my refrigerator has always been half-filled with ricotta cheese, because what on earth can you do with it if you don’t have quite enough for pasta or pizza? Inspiration struck one morning when I noticed the words “whole milk” on my ricotta container. I use milk when making cakes, so why not substitute some ricotta cheese?
If the idea of cheese in your cake seems wrong, remember that ricotta isn’t actually cheese. It is made with whey left over from the cheesemaking process, recooked (thus its name) with some acid until small curds form. With more character than milk but less character than sour cream, it can add fresh, creamy flavor to a cake without too much tartness.
For my experiment, I chose a not-too-sweet cake recipe that can be put together in minutes and pulled out of the oven before everyone else wakes up. Rather than creaming together butter and sugar before adding wet and dry ingredients alternately, I use the quick bread method of mixing. (Creaming beats air into batter, and produces a cake with a fine crumb and a high rise.) The quick bread method results in a more crumbly texture, which is just fine for breakfast and snacking. A bonus: You don’t need an electric mixer to make the batter this way. A spatula or wooden spoon will do. And clean up is easy since everything goes into one bowl.
Cornmeal gives the cake some color and crunch. The ricotta lends it moisture and mild dairy flavor. The batter is rather thick, which is a good thing when you are adding blueberries, which would sink to the bottom of the pan if the batter was thinner.
