Soft-crunchy ricotta dessert with orange sauce

A soft-crunchy dessert that goes well with the soft and creamy body of the Passito Comtess Sanct Valentin 2017 by San Michele Appiano.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 

For the sponge cake : 150g flour, 150g sugar and 5 eggs

For the biscuit s: 250g almond flour, 100g white flour, 175 soft butter in pieces, 100g sugar and grated orange peel.

For the filling : 200g dairy ricotta cheese, 40g grated dark chocolate, 1 tablespoon acacia honey and 1 tablespoon of grated citrus peel.

For the orange sauce : the juice of 3 oranges, 2g agar and 1 teaspoon of sugar

For the syrup : 200g rum, 80g sugar, 300g water and a lemon peel twist

Directions:  

Prepare the syrup by heating the water, sugar and the lemon peel twist. Let cool and then add the rum.

In a fairly large bowl add the eggs and sugar and whip until you have a homogenous and spumy mixture for the sponge cake. Delicately add in the flour using a spoon to mix it from the bottom upwards. Pour the mix uniformly in a square 30cm baking pan that has been previous buttered and dusted with flour and bake in a non-ventilated oven pre-heated to 180°C for 20 minutes. Once the cake has cooled remove it from the pan and using a pasta cutter create discs with an 8-cm diameter and then split then lengthwise obtain 2, thinner discs.

Prepare the biscuit dough by quickly mixing the flour with the butter and sugar on a wood board. When done place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

Strain the ricotta and mix in the honey, chocolate and lemon peel and then place in the refrigerator.

Roll the biscuit dough out to a thickness of half a centimeter. Cut out 8 discs with a diameter of 8cm and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven heated to 200”C until they brown.

To prepare the orange sauce boil the juice in a small pot with a pinch of salt. Add the agar and continue to cook for a couple of minutes so it will dissolve completely. Filter and let cool before whipping into a thick sauce.

Prepare the dessert on each plate using a food ring and build starting with biscuit disc and then add the sponge cake disc soaked in syrup. Between each layer spread the orange sauce on with a brush and on top add some ricotta cream. Repeat and top with a sponge cake disc before garnishing as desired.

Wine to pair:

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Passito Comtess Sanct Valentin 2017

Golden yellow with an intense fruity aroma of apricot and ripe exotic fruit, honey. In the mouth it is soft and creamy, the entrance is wide and the palate refreshed by a good note of racy acidity. Opulent, balanced, concentrated.

Production area: vineyards at the foot of Castel Valentin (600 m) with limestone gravel.

Grape varieties: 90% Gewürztraminer, 5% Riesling and 5% Sauvignon from 20-year-old vineyards facing south/east with Guyot training.

Harvest: the bunches remain on the plant until almost the end of the year, so the harvest takes place in mid-December.

Wine making: the dried grapes are pressed and then fermented (yield: 20 hl/ha). Refinement takes place partly in steel and partly in small wooden barrels. 

Alcoholic content: 12% vol.

Sugar residual: 180 gr/lt.

Serving temperature: 8-10°C.

Suggested food pairings: blue cheeses, but also with fruit-based desserts such as apple strudel, apple fritters with vanilla ice cream, peach melba.

Ageing potential: 8-10 years.

THIS RECIPE IS OFFERED BY SAN MICHELE APPIANO

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