By I closed on a beautiful home in Seminole Heights this week. The buyers — a young couple, first-timers — looked at the keys the way I looked at my real estate license in 2012: like they were holding the future in their hands.
Alexander called from school this week. He is settling in and building a life with the quiet competence of a young man who watched his mother rebuild from nothing and decided that building is what Papadopouloses do. He still does not call Yia-yia enough. He never will.
Some weeks are ordinary. This was an ordinary week. I sold houses. I cooked dinner. I called Mama. I drove to Tarpon Springs on Sunday. The extraordinary thing about ordinary weeks is that they are the ones you miss most when they are gone.
I roasted a whole branzino with lemon and herbs tonight. The fish was from the market, scored and stuffed with lemon slices and oregano. The kitchen smelled like jasmine and salt air and I thought: this is what survives. Not the money or the stress or the arguments about phyllo. The food survives. The recipes survive. The love baked into every dish survives.
The house was quiet this evening. I sat at the kitchen table with a glass of wine and the remains of dinner and I thought about all the tables I have sat at — Mama's table in Tarpon Springs, the table in the South Tampa house I lost, the table in the apartment where I started over, this table where I have fed my children for years. Every table is a different chapter. The food connects them all.
The branzino was long cleared and the wine was nearly gone when I remembered I had ricotta in the refrigerator and oranges on the counter — and that is all the reason I have ever needed to make a cake roll. There is something about rolling a soft sponge around a sweet, citrusy filling that feels like the food equivalent of tucking a good day in: you fold everything carefully, you press it together, and it holds. This Orange Ricotta Cake Roll has been my quiet celebration dessert for years, the thing I make when the house is mine and the evening asks for something a little more than ordinary.
Orange Ricotta Cake Roll
Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 13 min | Total Time: 2 hrs (includes chilling) | Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tbsp finely grated orange zest, divided
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- Ricotta Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta, drained overnight if watery
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1 tbsp finely grated orange zest (from above)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the pan. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan, line with parchment paper, and grease the parchment. Lay a clean kitchen towel flat on the counter and dust it generously with powdered sugar.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Beat the eggs. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the eggs and granulated sugar on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes until the mixture is thick, pale, and falls in ribbons from the beater.
- Add citrus and vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and blend in the orange juice, 1 tablespoon of the orange zest, and vanilla extract until just combined.
- Fold in flour. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in two additions, taking care not to deflate the batter.
- Bake. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched and the edges are just beginning to pull away from the pan.
- Roll while warm. Immediately invert the hot cake onto the powdered-sugar-dusted towel and peel away the parchment. Starting at a short end, roll the cake and towel together into a tight log. Set seam-side down on a wire rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.
- Make the filling. Beat the ricotta, powdered sugar, remaining tablespoon of orange zest, and vanilla with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks, then fold it gently into the ricotta mixture until light and uniform.
- Fill and re-roll. Carefully unroll the cooled cake. Spread the ricotta filling evenly over the surface, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides. Re-roll the cake without the towel, pressing gently but firmly. Wrap in plastic wrap.
- Chill and serve. Refrigerate the cake roll for at least 30 minutes to set the filling. Dust with powdered sugar just before slicing. Serve cold or at cool room temperature.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 285 | Protein: 7g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 40g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 115mg