Cooking with Manuela: Butter-Free Apple Cake with Ricotta Cheese

Wholesome, moist, soft and delicious apple cake with ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of almonds!

I can't imagine a morning at the beach without a nutritious, healthy and delicious snack for the kids.
That's why on Thursday night I prepared this apple cake with ricotta for Friday morning. It was the first day of vacation for my kids, and I organized a little gathering with some of our friends at the near by beach. I was so much fun! The perfect way to kick off the summer.
My only mistake: I should have made at least two of these butter-free, moist and yummy apple cakes! About a third of it was gone on Thursday night, right after dinner... well, maybe this was another mistake! But my kids, and I :-) really wanted a taste. It's so hard to say no to a just baked, still warm and incredibly fragrant dessert! And I had to make sure it was actually as delicious as it looked, right?!?
Anyways, the rest of the cake disappeared on Friday in less than 60 seconds. I guess I should have figured that out: playing in the water and running around the sand can sure make you hungry. Now I learned my lesson, and I will be better equipped next time!
As I promised my friends, here is the recipe.

Ingredients: to make one doughnut shape cake, 10 inch in diameter

3 apples, I used pink lady, about 1.25 lb total
1 lemon, zest and juice
3 eggs
1 cup of sugar
7.5 oz of whole milk ricotta cheese (half of my package)
1/2 cup of vegetable oil (I used olive oil, because I didn't have any other oil available!)
1 tablespoon (16 gr) of baking powder :-)
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sliced almond, unsalted dry toasted
powder sugar to decorate

Preparation time: about 20 minutes to prepare, plus 60 minutes to bake

Directions:

Step 1: Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and thinly slice the apples. Place in a bowl with lemon juice (half lemon juice should be plenty).

Step 2: In a large bowl, mix well the eggs with the sugar.

Step 3: Add the ricotta cheese, and mix well again.

Step 4: Stir in the oil ... pretty simple, right?

Step 5: Add the lemon zest, the baking powder and the flour. Mix some more until nice and smooth.

Step 6: Last, add the apples and mix with a spoon.

Step 7: Grease the bottom of your baking pan if necessary, and sprinkle the bottom of your mold or pan (which will be the top of my cake) with the sliced almonds.