Gluten-Free Ricotta Cake

I came across this recipe in the May 2017 edition of ITALIA! magazine. It's simple to make and and tastes great too. I prefer to eat it at room temperature, but it can be served cold. I ended up beating my egg whites by hand because I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer for the cheese mixture, so keep that in mind if you do not want to bring egg whites to stiff peaks by hand. The cake had

a nice spongy texture that is not overly sweet with a light citrus taste. It also converted to gluten-free by substituting All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. #italia #italy #baking

Gluten- Free Ricotta Cake

24 oz Ricotta Cheese
6 large Eggs, separated
1/3 cup Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
1 cup Super-Fine Sugar
Grated zest of  2 Oranges
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of Salt
Powdered Sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place ricotta in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, blend until smooth. Add egg yolks, flour, 6 Tbsp. sugar, orange and lime zest and salt. Whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites on low speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add remaining sugar, whisking until stiff, glossy peaks form: this may take up to 3-4 minutes.
Gently fold one-third of the whites into the ricotta mixture using a spatula until just combined. Gently fold in the remaining whites until just combined.
Pour the mixture into a springform cake pan greased with butter and sprinkled with sugar, bake 45-50 minutes, or until the center is firm and the top is golden brown. The mixture will rise and then drop slightly during cooking.
Allow pan to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to release from the pan, then turn out and allow to cool completely before serving dusted with plenty of powdered sugar.

Instant Pot Pork Sirloin Tip Roast

This is the very first meal I prepared in my new Instant Pot and I was very happy with the end result. I had prepared one of these pork roasts from Costco the traditional way and ended up with a tough and dry piece of meat. The one prepared in the Instant Pot turned out tender and juicy. You can season the roast anyway that you prefer, the following is what I did.

Pork Sirloin Tip Roast

Season a 2 pound Pork Sirloin Tip Roast with Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder and Horseradish Powder . Set the pot to Saute and add a Tbsp of Cooking Oil and when it is shimmering,  brown the pork on all sides and remove from pot. Add 1 chopped Onion, 4 or 5 chopped Sweet Baby Bell peppers and stir until soft. Add  1/4 cup Hard Apple Cider and deglaze the pot. Return Roast to pot and add remaining 12 Oz. Bottle of Hard Apple Cider. Close and lock the lid, hit the cancel button. Press the Manuel button and set for 45 minutes. Let the pressure release on its own.

We went for a walk and it was waiting for us.  It actually went to the warm setting and it turned out tender and delicious.

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

I finally joined the Instant Pot bandwagon and am very happy with the results so far. The machine can be a little intimidating, but I think it will be worth the time to figure out. One of the first things I prepared were Steel Cut Oats and they turned out perfect. They were creamy and very favorable. I used Penzey's Vanilla Sugar to sweeten mine, although brown sugar, honey or agave would have worked just as well.

Steel Cut Oats

Add 2 cups Water, 1 cup Almond Milk, pinch of Salt, Vanilla Bean and 1 cup of Steel Cut oats into the pot, locked lid into place, set Manuel function to cook for 5 minutes and let the pressure come down. Remove bean, sprinkle with Ground Cinnamon and add sweetener of choice.