Roasted Sweet Potato & Ricotta Cake with Orange Syrup

This cake is such a delight. No need to add any extra flour or nut flour. This yummy gluten-free cake is baked in the oven like a pudding, served with orange and pomegranate sauce, garnished with a crunchy pecan and sesame dukkah and micro herbs.

Light and easy to make, melting in your mouth – an Ayurvedic style dessert. Perfect for afternoon tea, to pick you up when you feel a bit drained of energy and blue.

Make it Vegan

You can make this cake vegan replacing the eggs with chia seeds, ricotta with tofu or macadamia paste and adding apple cider vinegar as a rising agent.

Ingredients

The Cake

• 280g sweet potato, roasted & mashed up
• 450g ricotta
• 80 g rapadura sugar
• 2 organic eggs
• 3 organic egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  

Pecan black sesame dukkha

• 2 tablespoons pecans
• 2 tablespoons black Sesame
• 2 tablespoons rapadura sugar
• A pinch od Celtic salt

Orange Syrup 

• 2 cups orange juice
• 1.5 cups rapadura sugar
• 2 cloves

Method

The Cake

1. Preheat oven to 180 C.
2. Line the base of a 20cm cake tin with baking paper and oil it with coconut oil or spray. Make sure to wrap the outside of the tin with few sheets of alum foil as the cake going to be baked like a pudding in water. Fill up a larger baking dish (rectangle) with water half way through, and transfer to the oven to heat.
3. Place the sweet potato mash, ricotta, sugar, eggs, egg yolks and spices in the food processor and process until smooth and well combined.
4. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared tin, then place in the preheated baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes (fan forced oven will be quicker) until its golden brown and set. Or you can insert a skewer that will come out almost dry.
5. Turn off the oven and allow to cool in the oven with door ajar.

Sweet & Salty Walnut Dukkha

1. Combine the sesame and pecans in a frying pan and toast, stirring occasionally on medium high heat, for about 5 mins until the nuts are brown.
2. Transfer to a mortar and pestle (or grinder) add the sugar + salt and pound until the nuts/seeds are coarsely crushed.

Orange syrup

1. Mix ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to boil on medium heat.
2. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until a syrup like consistency forms, about 25 minutes.

To serve

1. Once the cake has cooled down remove it from the tin, drizzle with tangelo syrup.
2. Garnish with the dukkha crunch, micro herbs or fennel fronds.