Matthew says: “This is an unusual, but deeply satisfying, dessert. The sponge is super light and airy, the ricotta is rich and creamy and the citrus fruit and chocolate flavours pop on the palate delightfully. I also like this dessert because it’s not overwhelmingly sweet but hits all the right notes. The cake is much easier to work with if you bake the sponge the day before you intend to assemble it.”

Serves 10

Ingredients

For the sponge:

vegetable oil, for greasing
6 eggs
180g caster sugar
1½ tsp vanilla extract
120g self-raising flour

For the filling:

500g ricotta
150g caster sugar
150g dark chocolate chips
150g finely chopped Candied Fruits (see below)

To finish:

icing sugar, for dusting
175g marzipan (you can colour it with a few drops of green food colouring if you like)
Candied fruits (see below), for decorating

Method

Stage 1

Start with the sponge. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Lightly oil and line two 22cm round springform cake tins with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, or in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until very pale, fluffy and thickened. Sift the flour into the egg mixture and carefully fold in, ensuring that you don’t knock out the air you’ve worked so hard to incorporate.

Pour the batter into the prepared tins and smooth with a spatula until evenly spread. Bake for 12–16 minutes, or until just firm to the touch.

Remove the baked sponges from the oven and allow them to cool before removing them from their tins.

To prepare the filling, place the ricotta in a fine-mesh sieve and leave to drain for 10 minutes.

Transfer the drained ricotta to a bowl, add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the chocolate chips and chopped candied fruits and mix until well combined. If you are assembling the cake the following day, store the filling in the refrigerator. It will be easier to assemble the cake if all the components are completely chilled.

Stage 2

Line the inside of one the empty springform tins with clingfilm or a generous dusting of icing sugar to prevent the marzipan from sticking.

Roll out the marzipan to about 4mm thick and slice it into a long strip, wide enough to completely line the inside edge of the tin and allowing for a little excess to stand higher than the rim. Carefully line the tin with it.

Place one of the sponge layers into the marzipan-lined tin (you may need to gently trim the edges to help it fit). Spread the ricotta filling over the sponge and top with the second sponge layer. Carefully trim any excess marzipan so that it is level with the top of the sponge, or gently tuck it over the top edge of the sponge. Cover and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 1 hour.

When ready to serve, remove the cake from the refrigerator, gently remove it from the tin, dust liberally with icing sugar and decorate the top with some more candied fruit.

Candied Fruits

Matthew says: “These are traditionally made at Christmastime, but we like to incorporate candied fruits into our bakes and desserts throughout the year. They add a wonderful sweet citrus note to our baking.”

Ingredients

1 orange or pomelo, sliced into 5mm rounds
1 lemon (ideally a variety with a thick peel), sliced into 5-mm rounds
725g caster sugar
500g water
500g angelica stems (if you can find them), thinly sliced

Method

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add your citrus fruit rounds to the pan of water and poach for just a few minutes.

Drain and refresh immediately in cold water (this will help the fruits to retain their colour and stop them cooking further).

Add 500g of the sugar and the measured fresh water to the empty pan and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add your fruit slices to the simmering pot of syrup and cook slowly for about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow the fruits to cool entirely in the syrup. Once completely cooled, add 75g of the remaining sugar to the pan and bring the fruits and syrup to the boil again, then allow them to simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Once cooled, repeat this step, adding another 75g of sugar. Complete this step one final time, with the last 75g of sugar. When cool, transfer to an airtight container. Stored in their syrup, the candied fruits will keep in the refrigerator for up to three months. The leftover syrup can be used for glazing cakes.

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