Almond Ricotta Cake

House hunting in Seattle is an exercise in hope and heartbreak. James and I looked at four houses this week — two in Wallingford, one in Fremont, one in Phinney Ridge. The Wallingford houses were the right neighborhood and the wrong price. The Fremont house was the wrong neighborhood (too close to the troll, James said; I said the troll is charming; James said the troll is concrete and angry). The Phinney Ridge house was perfect and had fourteen offers by Tuesday. We did not make an offer. We stood on the sidewalk outside a house we could not afford and James said, "We'll find it." I said, "When?" He said, "When it's ready for us." This is a product manager's way of saying "I don't know but I'm optimistic," and I married him knowing this was how he communicates, so I nodded and we drove home and I put Hana in her high chair and made kimchi jjigae and the jjigae was warm and the condo was small and the kitchen was too tight and the search continues.

Hana has started babbling — consonant-vowel combinations that sound, if you squint your ears, almost like words. "Ba-ba" and "ma-ma" and "da-da," none of which are directed at anyone in particular, all of which I claim as mine. James claims "da-da." We are in a silent competition over her first real word. The competition is fierce and neither of us will admit it exists.

Banchan Labs: 3,800 subscribers. The late summer box was well received. I am developing the September collection — "Fall Comfort" — featuring kimchi jjigae (always), tteok-galbi (grilled short rib patties), and a new recipe I am testing: hobak-juk, pumpkin porridge. The pumpkin porridge is for Hana. Not directly — she is too young for the full recipe — but the idea came from feeding her pumpkin puree and watching her face light up. If she loves pumpkin, other people's children might love pumpkin. The company is increasingly shaped by my daughter's taste buds. This is not a business strategy. This is motherhood leaking into entrepreneurship. I do not mind the leak.

The recipe this week is hobak-juk — sweet pumpkin porridge, the one inspired by Hana. Kabocha squash (or Korean pumpkin), peeled, cubed, steamed until soft. Blended until smooth. Cooked with glutinous rice flour and water until thick and creamy. Sweetened with sugar or honey. Served warm with a few toasted pine nuts floating on top. The porridge is golden and sweet and velvety. It is a fall dessert, a comfort food, and a baby food all at once. It is the dish that Hana inspired by eating pumpkin with her whole face. Her whole face. She eats with her whole face. She is seven months old and she already has a relationship with food. She is my daughter.

The hobak-juk was the dish I made for Hana — golden and sweet and inspired by watching her eat pumpkin with her whole face. But this is the dish I made for myself: the almond ricotta cake I pull out when a week like this one demands something quietly celebratory, something that says we are still here and still cooking. It is simple enough to make in a kitchen that is too tight, and good enough to share with a product manager who stood on a sidewalk outside a house he couldn’t afford and still found a way to be optimistic.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 10

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs and ricotta. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the ricotta, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and mix until the batter is smooth and uniform.
Fold in the flour mixture. Add the dry ingredients to the ricotta mixture and fold gently with a spatula until just combined — a few streaks are fine. Do not overmix.
Fill the pan and top. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with the spatula. Scatter the sliced almonds evenly over the surface.
Bake. Bake for 42–47 minutes, until the top is deep golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake will pull slightly from the sides of the pan.
Cool and serve. Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack, peel away the parchment, and flip right-side up. Once cooled, dust generously with powdered sugar and slice into wedges.

Nutrition (per serving)

Almond Ricotta Cake — The Recipe I Make When the Week Needs Something Quietly Celebratory