Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Cake

However much you like the traditional winter treats that use dried fruit, spices and chocolate, there are times when you really crave something lighter and fresher tasting. This Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Cake fitted the bill nicely, for a New Year tea party, as I thought everyone else would probably be tired of mince pies and Christmas cake by then, too. As it turned out, not much of it got eaten, as everyone went for the chocolate cake, but my niece was happy to take most of it home for her large family, leaving myself and my husband just a couple of slices each.

I can't remember now, why I chose this recipe; I think it was probably to use up the rest of the ricotta cheese that I'd bought for my Christmas Day dessert. The only change I made to the recipe was that my punnet of blueberries weighed 170g, and I used them all.  I didn't have a loaf tin of the required dimensions, so I baked the cake in my 30cm long loaf tin. Although it is long, it has the cross section of a small 1lb tin, so gives a lot of dainty slices from one loaf.

The batter was quite wet, so I was worried that the blueberries would sink, but everything was OK in the end. Despite a shallower, narrower baking tin, the cake still took the full suggested time to cook, and didn't need covering.

I was in two minds about this cake - it tasted great but I thought the texture was too moist and dense. It didn't have the light crumb that you expect from a cake of this type. I think it would have made a better dessert than a tea table treat, served with a blueberry coulis and some cream. It did make a refreshing change to all the Christmas treats still lying around though!